My cat recently shared space with a stray kitten, is she still healthy?
My 1 1/2 year old cat shared an occasional water/food bowl and litter box with a rescue kitten for about a week and a half. I don’t have the money for extra vet visits, so I didn’t get to take the kitten in to get him checked out. I did try to prevent the sharing for a while, but I couldn’t keep my eye on them at all times, and my apartment is too small to have kept them completely separate.
I’ve read a lot of conflicting information about things like FIV and how it’s transmitted. Should I be concerned? They never fought or scratched or bit each other, in fact my cat stayed very far from the kitten for the most part. She did not like him at all! What worries me is the saliva from sharing food/water/toys.
More about the kitten: He was only with me from January 27 – February 13; I found him a home. If need be I can still contact the person I gave him to. Of course, I don’t know what his health was like. He was found by a dumpster, most likely abandoned, though he probably wasn’t outside for very long. He was very clean with no cuts or bites on him, his ears didn’t look chewed on and his teeth were good, paws didn’t show signs of living outdoors… (I had a tomcat once who was primarily an outdoor cat, and his ears/teeth/paws were terrible. This kitten was nothing like that. The tomcat died from feline leukemia though, which is why I’m so paranoid about taking in strays now!) He was a very energetic little guy, did the whole crazy 5-minute run around thing, also extremely curious and mischievous! He sure loved to get into everything, and he’d eat anything if you’d let him. (Though on that note, I did keep an eye out for worms and didn’t see any sign of them. He actually gained weight and grew a little while I had him.) It makes me think he has a clean bill of health on him, but he wasn’t neutered, so perhaps he hadn’t been to the vet in a while? He was about half the size of my cat, so I think he was maybe 6 or 7 months old.
Any/all input would be lovely, especially advice from seasoned cat owners! Should I book my cat a vet appointment for blood tests and the like? Or am I being silly?
I almost forgot to add: My cat is up-to-date on her vaccinations.
She does have allergies though! It’s a seasonal thing, her skin gets very dry and she’ll itch a lot.
And she’s been spayed, of course… Though that’s very interesting about toms and mating, oh dear.
Filed under: Pet Insurance
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You’re fine for being concerned! That’s great you want to help animals so much, and it sounds like you’re doing a great job at it. Keep in mind that, although your thought on his not being to the vet in a long time, owners don’t necessarily always neuter or spay their pets, for breeding purposes, usually. Another reason is that the owner may not have been able to afford it. One more thing you want to remember is that toms are available for breeding purposes usually around 7 months. If you want to spend the money on testing your cat to see if she’s been affected by the young tom in any way, that’s your choice. However, I do wonder if it would be best to wait a month or so to see if there are any visual results. I hope this helps, and good luck with your cat!
toms can mate sucessfully at 7 months of age ,so fleas and worms may be the least of your problems