Calling all Cat People - Need help ASAP!

Parents Forum Parent Cafe
#1

<p>A good friend has 2 cats - a mama and daughter - that have been together for 4 years. They have loved each other and get along with no issues. Until yesterday. The mama cat had to be taken for an ultrasound and when they returned home the daughter attacked the mama right out of the crate. My friend knew that the smell of the mama was most likely the issue and thought they would work it out. </p>

<p>Well, she was up all night because of the hissing, fighting, spitting. She separated them when she came to work today. What can she do?</p>

#2

<p>It happens all the time with cats. If one goes to a vet and picks up some foreign scents, the other will be growly and hissy. In our case, rubbing the attacker with a piece of her favorite fleece and transferring the scent onto the other kitty worked well to calm the attacker down. Your friend might have to do this several times.</p>

<p>Aggression</a> in Cats is Common After Visits to the Veterinarian</p>

#3

<p>This makes sense to me. </p>

<p>There's also a product called Feliway that might help -- I'd suggest the wipes in this case, but it comes in several versions including a plug in and a collar. Essentially Feliway emits phernomes analogous to the nursing mother cat, making the cat feel like he's back with mama and everything is hunkey dory.</p>

#4

<p>Separating them was a good idea. This happens (but not to that extent) with one of my cats--when the other one comes home from the vet, she growls at him like he's a newcomer.
However, it usually resolves in a couple hours without a big fight.</p>

<p>Once my indoor-outdoor cat got in a fight and when I shooed the other cat away and brought outdoor guy in, he attacked indoor gal like she was the cat he'd just been fighting.</p>

<p>Once they start fighting, it's kind of like they forget everything except the anger. So separating them, letting them calm down, give the returning the returning cat time to lose that Vet's office smell, and reintroducing (maybe with a few treats) usually does the trick.</p>

#5

<p>thanks for the help. I forgot to add that now the mama is the aggressor. It seems she is holding a grudge against the other cat for attacking her when she got home from the vet. :rolleyes:</p>

#6

<p>bumping for more ideas</p>

#7

<p>Is there another animal in the house that both cats get along with? When one of our cats was not letting go off her post- vet visit grudge, H used the dog as the source of "calming scent". He rubbed the cats (one at a time) against the dog's back and then let them loose in the living room. The kitties sniffed at each other, and that was the end of the WW3.</p>

<p>Sometimes, it takes a few days for the cats to calm down, so your friend should not give up yet.</p>

#8

<p>Thanks, BB. No other pets, my friend does not have any children but she said she feels like she is living with 2 hormonal teen age girls that are in a stand-off!!</p>

#9

<p>It's very sad, but this happened to me some years back. I had two cats that were litter mates - both male. They were over 5 years old when one of them started attacking the other. We tried everything. I would have to put them both in the garage for days at a time while they were fighting (I had two small children at the time). It was scary because they would fight and roll right over the baby. We finally had to get rid of the aggressor. I hope you can work things out. One thing our vet told us to try (it didn't work for us but was good advice) was to give boh of them a bath. Bathing cats isn't easy but it is possible. I would clip the claws first and then stuff them in the bathroom sink and run the water over them, lather them up with my shampoo, and rinse off with the faucet again, towel dry and let him loose. Off runs a very wet kitty shaking his hind feet. Pretty funny. I hope you find a solution.</p>

<p>In present day - I have two young kitties, both male, same age but not litter mates - they became fast friends at the shelter. I took one of them to the dog groomer and got his backside trimmed (he is a long hair) and when I brought him home the kitty who stayed home took a wiff and started hissing. Kitty that went to groomer ignored hissing kitty and strutted his stuff around the house as though he was king of the hill. Hissy kitty got over it pretty quick and they went back to being best buddies. I do need to schedule another run to the dog groomer. I'm thinking about taking both of them this time so they can both smell like dogs.</p>

#10

<p>rom, how are the cats doing? Any progress?</p>

#11

<p>I'm assuming the mama cat received anesthesia while at the vet, and this can sometimes remain in her system for a day or two, making her more aggressive than usual. This is particularly common in cats with a little extra fat. It will likely pass very soon.</p>

#12

<p>Good question about the anesthesia. It was an ultrasound so I'm unsure. She has kept them separated. Her vet suggested she give them time to calm themselves. The vet also suggested the Feliway that cnp55 up thread mentioned. We had to laugh that she spent $100 for 2 plug ins that "claimed" they would calm the cats.</p>

<p>She switched their beds today so they could smell the other and tomorrow morning she is going to put them in their separate carriers and place them beside each other. If they are calm she will place the carriers facing each other. </p>

<p>I think that they are agitated now because they are separated but the fighting was so intense before, she is happy to take it slowly. </p>

<p>I told her to set up her iPad to record the whole thing.</p>

#13

<p>The cat may have had a mild anesthesia even for the ultrasound, otherwise you'd never get the cat to stay still!</p>

#14

<p>Just in case you are interested...they are still fighting. She is letting them have the run of the house one at a time and they hiss at each other through the door. They are both being aggressive - it is not one-sided. Besides the calming plug-ins, she also got them each a calming collar.</p>

#15

<p>Are they spayed? Spayed and neutered cats are a lot less territorial. Also males and females will often get along better than two cats of the same gender.</p>

#16

<p>yes, both of them. Both females.</p>

#17
Thanks for subscribing! Be on the lookout for our next newsletter.

© 2021 College Confidential / Concentrical LLC. All Rights Reserved.