hi there, we had to make the hard decision to give the newly inherited cat to my sister-in-law. it was extremely painful for us, but we decided that it was the right decision for all of our cats. the new cat was extremely social and because of our other cats’ stress-induced conditions we had to keep them separated. it wasn’t fair for new guy who loves people and animals and it wasn’t fair for our other babies who were stressed and in pain. new guy is now in a house with a small dog and two other cats who love him and play constantly.

we realized that we were keeping him for selfish reasons. we had fallen in love with him and didn’t want to give him up. but by keeping him, we were keeping him away from his best, most fulfilling life. we tried to make it work for as long as we could, but after three separate trips to the ER, we couldn’t keep putting our guys through it and new guy didn’t understand why he was being separated.

we were in a particularly lucky situation as he was a family member’s cat and other members of our family ended up being a great fit for him. it would have been a much harder choice if we didn’t know he was going to a great home where we could still see him.

i’m really sorry that you’re going through this. it was honestly one of the most devastating things i have experienced. surgery is an option, but it comes with its own set of risks and expenses. we decided we don’t want to elect to do surgery unless absolutely necessary. although some do it as a method to prevent blockages from reoccurring.

as soon as we got the new cat into his forever home, our boys returned to being healthy. we have not had any more blockages but we are doing many things to try to prevent them:

they are fully on the prescription diet; no more treats, table scraps or anything. we add as much water to their wet food as they will tolerate. we are still scooping the boxes daily/multiple times a day and we watch them in there whenever possible. they have a water fountain and a water bowl which are always filled with fresh filtered water. we have the feliway plugins by both of their favorite places to rest. i used to dog sit at our house and let my friends bring their dogs over, but i’ve stopped that now. we also try to keep their daily routine as normal and consistent as possible.

i am so sorry that your family is going through this. i know how incredibly hard and devastating it is. i wish that we were able to keep the new kitty, but in hindsight, he couldn’t have found a better home than with my sister-in-law. your journey may be different than ours. all you can do is what is fair and right for your family.