Cat lethargic, seems sad and possibly sick?

by Janet
(Syracuse, NY)

Hello, About six months ago we lost our 8 year old cat, Stella. She just never came home. Our other cat, Luna, who is 7 years old, was very close to Stella. Luna cried a lot and seemed depressed, so we got a new cat, Tommy. Tommy and Luna became very close. Then Tommy was killed by a car about 1 month ago. We got a new kitten to try to replace Tommy for Luna (and ourselves), but she has completely rejected the kitten and refuses to come indoors. (We don't let the kitten out EVER, since we've had such tragedies lately.)Now, she has become extremely listless, sleeping all the time and crying weakly. Once I determined that no bones were broken, I picked her up and forced her to come in the house. (We locked the kitten in the basement to avoid further problems.)She's been in for the whole day, just lying in the same spot on one of the couches and sleeping. Could she still be depressed over the loss of her buddies?

Answer by Kate
Hi sometimes a cat needs time to greive the loss of a companion before another cat is introduced to the house. I usually recommened at least 4 months. It sounds like she feels like her home has been invaded by an intruder and this is probably causing her upset rather than anything else.
Please see my pages here on this site about introducing cats to each other under the cat training pages. It may take some time but hopefully once your cat can feel like her home is still hers and that the other cat is introduced slowly, she will be able to get back to her old self.
best wishes Kate