Blue Burmese a Little Out of Sorts!

Question
Hi Ali

We own a three year old Blue Burmese named Violet - actually she owns us as most cats do!  For various reasons this year including an extended overseas holiday and significant home renovations, Violet has been placed in a cattery five times for various lengths of time (five weeks was the longest stint) to keep her safe.  For your info, Violet is an indoor cat with a purpose built cat run outside in our back courtyard.

Whilst Violet has been at the cattery this year, she bonded significantly with a Brown Burmese named Kato.  As it turns out, Kato had been dumped at the cattery and had been there for 4 1/2 months on Violet's last visit.  As they bonded so closely we decided to adopt Kato and give him a new, loving home.

We've had Violet and Kato home now for 6 days and whilst Kato is LOVING the human contact with us, Violet has become very standoff-ish and spends most of her time alone (she was previously very much a lap and cuddle cat).  She's certainly not agressive to Kato and I often see them cuddled up together asleep, but she doesn't want anything to do with us.  It's quite sad.

So, I guess my question is...is this a phase with Violet as she gets used to her new housemate, or has she gotten so used to having him around that she sees no need for us anymore?  

We've also made a special effort to make sure she is cuddled and picked up just as often (if not more) than Kato, but she just wants to get down all the time.

For your info, both cats are sterilised.

Any help would be appreciated.

Danielle and Ben (Australia)

Answer
Danielle and Ben,

I would suggest that you make a concerted effort to tell your resident kitty just how wonderful she is. I think that she might be a bit jealous, Kato was fine as a cattery friend, but now she feels a bit rejected. Not to worry with a bit of work and lots of play time and cuddles she should come around. If this is completely new behavior, as in you haven't seen her act stand offish and crabby before, then I would suggest that she sees a vet as soon as possible just to rule out medical causes. I am not a vet, but to me it sounds like either she picked up a bug at the cattery or she is just jealous. I am thinking that she is probably just jealous, but it's best not to take chances with your fur babies. Out of curiousity, did you isolate Kato for 2-3 weeks so that your resident cat could have a chance to get used to the idea that he was coming to stay in her house? If not I would be inclined to suggest that you do the 2-3 weeks of isolation and be sure that Kato has access to food, water, and a litter box during his isolation. You may find that your resident kitty comes around during the isolation period. If she has not been vaccinated against feline leukemia I would have her tested immediately, simply because you can often find that virus in a cattery. Most cattery operaters try to keep their premises free of contagious diseases like feline leukemia, FIP and FIV, but inevitably it can sometimes sneak in. To summarise, I would say that your little girl needs to see a vet, the sooner the better. You should isolate your new guy for 2-3 weeks, partly because it acts as a quaranteen period and partly because you don't know his behaviors that well and this gives you a chance to learn them. During your visit to the vet, bring up your little girl's sudden change in behavior, mention that she has been boarded at a cattery fairly frequently over the last little while. Have your kitty tested for the major contagious feline diseases that aren't generally vaccinated for by all vets, FeLV, FIV, FIP. If you find that as soon as Kato is out of sight your kitty is acting more normally then I would suggest that the vet check is still a good idea, but it may be more jealousy based. Good luck and please keep me posted as I would be interested to see how things progress. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me again.