Expert: Norman Auspitz - 9/4/2006

Question
we have 3 cats. All three are brothers. They are brown grey tabbies. Two shorter hair, one long. One of my cats(buddie) started sneezing a few days ago, then stinky started and finally max.
But they were are acting normal and the vet said keep an eye on them to make sure they eat and drink. Well, Max stopped eating and drinking and went into hiding. This was Saturday. On Sunday morning we noticed he was panting and had a fever. So we took him to the emergency vet hospital. Turned out he had a heart condition and was in congestive heart failure. He was of normal weight and always been active. They are indoor cats and didn't see the vet that often because I thought indoor cats would be healthier.But they did see they vet when need. One had crystals and one has paw problems. But Max never seemed to be sick. Well we had to put him down. He didn't have a chance to get better. Now buddy and stinky are left. Buddy seems fine and is hanging around. Stinky is spending time hiding in the basement. I haven't seen him eat or drink. I am afraid he might also be very sick, but am wondering if maybe he is in mourning for his brother. We had them since 6 weeks and they are all 4yrs old.
Hope you can answer me with some sort of clue as to whats going on.
If you can't, well thank you anyway.

Answer
Rosemarie,

Like people, different cats react in different ways to the death of a loved one.

I would keep an eye on Stinky and, if he is still not eating or drinking, a trip to the vet for an appetite stimuant may be a good option.  You can weigh Stinky at the same time each day and record the weights.  If they are not varying by much, he must be eating enough.  A good way to weigh a cat is to weigh yourself + the cat, then weigh yourself and subtract the latter weight from the first weight and you have the cat's weight.

Normally, cats get over the grieving process in a week or so.  One thing to keep in mind is that with the loss of Max, the various pecking orders will have to be worked out anew between Buddy and Stinky.  All this takes time.

Please keep me posted.

Best regards... Norm.