I have a cat, Paco, who I rescued a little over a year ago when he was still a baby. Even though he is now "fully grown" he still has that kitten energy and I've always struggled to keep up with him because he just never seems to get tired.
5 weeks ago I fostered a stray kitten, Pipa, who I estimate was around ~3 months old at the time (now ~4 months old)
The first two weeks I kept them separated as Paco would hiss at her and just overall seemed very uncomfortable with her.
I didn't think that they would ever get along so the goal was originally to just foster Pipa for a little while until I was able to find her a home. But by the third week Paco seemed really comfortable around her and I began to allow them to spend a lot of time together.
The two haven't quite bonded in the sense where I've never really seen them cuddle or show any affection to one another. But they seemed to genuinely enjoy each other's companies. Or so I thought. Now I'm not sure if I was misinterpreting the signs?
Basically for the last three weeks or so they have been constantly playing with each other chasing each other around the room, play fighting, crying when the other was away, etc. Since they had been getting along so I had decided to keep Pipa for myself and figured that love bond would just come later as I've heard that it can take two cats months to get to that point.
One thing that did worry me from the start of getting the two together was that Paco wasn't spending much time in his usual favorite spots as Pipa had sort of taken over them. And he also wasn't as affectionate with me as he had been before. Before when I would get home from work he would come lay down next to me and snuggle against me, give me massages, and be very needy. But when Pipa started joining us in bed he started doing this less, still cuddles a little but maybe for less than a minute before settling down farther away from me than he used to, and he stopped giving me massages all together which was something he used to do every single day.
I tried to brush this off and assumed he was being more independent because he seemed to be having so much fun with Pipa so maybe he just didn't need me as much as before.
Yesterday before leaving for work I fed them both but Paco ignored the food entirely. I was already running late so I wasn't able to do much about it. When I got home both bowls were empty but I'm not sure if he ended up eating or if Pipa ate both of their foods in the end. In the morning when I got home from work I went to feed them and once again Paco ignored the food. Eventually he ended up eating a tiny bit, but not as much as he usually does (which concerns me since he usually has a huge appetite.)
I've been keeping an eye on him all day and he hasn't tried to eat any more. I've even brought him Tuna, which he ignored completely. He hasn't been playing with Pipa at all even though just a day ago he was very high energy with her. Ive reached out to pet him and play with him but he doesn't seem interested in interacting with me either. I put Pipa in a different room about an hour ago to give him some space and he hasn't cried for her like he usually does when she is out of reach.
Been worried sick all day. Part of me wonders if there is something else going on since the change was so sudden. I tried to make a vet appointment but they're all booked until late Oct/early Nov.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/j3elic/new_kitten_making_resident_cat_depressed/
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