Indroducing Emmy! With pics.

[slvrwhispr]

Man... I finally switched them back. I held Emmy while I opened the door to let Izzy out. And Izzy circled around my legs, nuzzling. Emmy struggled a little, but nothing serious. I put Emmy down, closed the door, Izzy stayed by my feet, so I picked her up, and now I've got HER snuggling with me on the couch. I think this might end up going better than my best hopes.

[momPaws]

Maybe it was meant to be.

[Traci]

I think you mean FELV/FIV, there is no test for FIP (save for extensive titers from an outside lab, used only when illness/suspicion of coronavirus/FIP is evident)

Watch her carefully, depending on which vaccines they gave her, you have to watch for potential vaccine reactions, most are mild, she's probably very sore and groggy. She also won't want to be picked up til way after she's recovered from surgery. She's sore (any vaccine given in either rear leg can also be painful)!

She sure is a cutie, I'll bet she is so happy to be indoors, with someone to love her!

[slvrwhispr]

That would explain why she twitches when I touch her back end. She's surprisingly not very groggy. She napped with me for a long time, but since then she's just wanted to play. I'm very anxious to let her out for good, but I know it's better to wait.

[slvrwhispr]

... Huh.

Emmy sneaked out between my feet when I opened the bathroom door. She trotted right out into the living room, right past Izzy, and plopped on the couch.

Izzy is sitting on the other end of the couch. They sniff at each other occasionally, but that's it. I have a squirt bottle within arm's reach if one or the other decides to start something, but...

Isn't this supposed to be hard? Introducing two cats?? What the heck happened here?

[E's]

heh... cats exist in the present. Studies indicate they "image" [probably I'm not using the exact term - very tired] on their keepers, female or male, as the "mama" and remain in a sense kittens all their lives... And it occurs to me that you and your DH have all the right stuff for this grouping: you're loving and caring and providing - they are both young. They don't have any of that sibling angst young humans sometimes have, and they don't brood about past injustice.... Cats are not "pack animals" in the same way that dogs are, but they do live in families. Izzy and Emmy will consider the situation in which they find themselves as quite normal. They may get a bit jealous of one another at times, but that won't last long.

[Tina B and crew]

Awww!! She's adorable silver!! Making me miss my kitty snuggles so bad

I'm glad you are finally getting some cuddles and from Izzy too!

[slvrwhispr]

Well, both girls were pretty peaceful last night. There were a couple of stare-downs and a cranky meow out of Izzy, and that was it. I kept them out together with me until I went to bed, then I took Emmy into the bedroom with me. I probably set a terrible precedent with that, but she was so sweet and snuggly. She slept through the night. So if she keeps doing that, I've got no problem with her sleeping in the bed with me. Izzy will get jealous, but Izzy tries to eat the bottom of the bed when I let her in the room at night, so that's tough beans on her. If she can learn to behave, then they can both come in, lol.

Anyway, I'm gonna be offline for a couple of days. I'll give you all an update when I'm back at the computer Sunday night.

[slvrwhispr]

Two quick questions. One, I've got cat kibble and kitten kibble, but both cats are eating each others' foods even though it's on opposite ends of the apartment. Is this bad? Should I not worry? Izzy is used to free feeding; should I not free feed them until Em's bigger?

Also, Em won't stop licking at her incision site. It's sealed up but she's irritating the skin now and the whole area is looking kind of red and raw. I tried putting a cone on her but the dang cat's head is EXACTLY the same size as her neck and I can't get it tight enough to stay on her without choking her. I tried a loose gauze wrap but she just pulled it apart with her claws. Could I use a strip of white t-shirt material? I've got a package of white t-shirts for DH that haven't been used, and it wouldn't be a big deal to cut one of them up. I just don't want her to end up making infections for herself.

Last few days have been busy; I'm worn out. Cats are acclimating fine, chasing each other around but never attacking. Just kind of trotting about. No hissing or claws. Looks mostly like play. Keeping a close eye on them when I'm awake and still separating them at night. They take turns eating from each others' bowls. Not sure what to make of that yet, lol.

[Traci]

Exactly how old did the rescue group say Emmy is? If she's 8 months or older, you can graduate her onto adult food, mix it half kitten/half adult for now for a few weeks, then graduate onto adult only. It won't hurt Izzy to eat small amounts of kitten food, but you don't want her eating soley kitten food because it's a bit high in protein/calories/nutrients and you don't want her GI tract getting upset due to this change.

If Emmy is less than 8 months old, I would continue feeding only kitten food until she's at least 8 months or so.

You MUST get the ecollar to fit properly, you can't risk her agrivating the incision site. If it's raw and red, this is going to introduce bacteria, you can't risk that. I'd advise getting her to your vet immediately for a recheck (because chances are, the spay group won't do rechecks) and ensure that she isn't developing an infection under the skin. It's also possible that she is having a reaction to the suture material, so you need your vet to determine that. Are the sutures dissolvable or were you instructed to get them removed within 7-10 days?

Use the gaze strip provided, and cut it so that there is only an inch or so left on the end once it's tied. When tying, you should be able to get two of your fingers between the collar/gauze tie and her neck. Anything tighter and it is too uncomfortable, anything looser and she will try to wriggle out, she could get a paw tangled up in it or stuck pressing against her neck

If the collar is hard plastic (white or opaque) and has three loops to thread the gauze through, gently bend the loops backwards so the loops aren't pressing against her neck. Keep an eye on the collar to ensure it is stable, and on Emmy to ensure she is comfortable and not hurting herself with it.!