My cat is hiding and won't eat after our dog died. What can I do?

Question

This past week my 14 yo pit bull was euthanized in my home. The kitties were not present (they were upstairs). My dog had a conflicted relationship with the cats. My girl kitty would stand her ground and would keep him in check. They other would hide from him. My kitty Kylie has always been around me and comes when I call her name. Since last week she hides and won’t respond. She has barely eaten. Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Female | spayed | 9 years and 10 months old | 15 lbs

Kevin Sanada, DVM · Accepted Answer

Cats can be very sensitive to changes in their environment and will often display this behavior during times of stress. Considering that Kylie is nine years old and your pit was 14, it would be a major change (assuming they lived together this whole time) for the dog to suddenly be missing from the environment; not to mention how stressful this must have been to you and your family. This could be causing her a fair amount of anxiety/stress. As a vet, I always worry about a medical condition causing this, so the best thing that you can do is take her for a vet exam to ensure there is nothing else wrong with her. If it happens to be stress that's causing her to act like this, then it will take some time before she gets back to normal - sometimes a couple of weeks, sometimes a couple of months. One thing that may help reduce stress is a Feliway pheramone diffuser (can get this at the pet store). These create calming pheramones in the environment, that may help her relax and start acting more normal again. I'm really sorry to hear about the loss of your dog and hope you and Kylie feel better soon.

My cat is hiding and won't eat after our dog died. What can I do?

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