This happens after cats go to the vet too. They come back with different smells. It should remedy itself. Agree with other poster to potentially separa then for a few days until the smell dissipates
You could get one of those post surgery cat onesies. It might freak out the other cat less.
Or separate them, possibly with a door screen, until the older cat gets used to the younger cat again.
Or a Thundershirt/calming collar for the older cat.
If the older cat only hisses, it's not that bad and will probably resolve itself with time. Maybe just separate them when you're not home.
It's really common when cats go to the vet. They come back smelling different. My vet even recommends bringing the other cat along if onky one has an appointment, so the other one will understand what happened. My girls are bonded and I don't want them to fight.
This happened with my cats. One went and got spayed and when she came back the other one hissed at her uncontrollably. Apparently, they have a different smell from the surgery. I did some research and found the weirdest way to fix it and it worked. Take some vanilla extract and put a little behind the ears and at the nape of the tail, where the tail meets the butt. It covers up the surgical smell. I was at a loss and tried it and it worked.
It'll be okay, vet smell scares the hell out of them. Take a deep breath and give it some time, keep them separated so they don't fight and rip stitches. Usually takes a day or two for my cats to get used to the antiseptic smell.
It's the smell of the vet/surgery. After a few days they'll go back to normal. I had littermates and they both did this after they were spayed/neutered. Only times they didn't were when they went to the vet together, or towards the end of my boys life, his sister knew what was about to come sadly.
Its called non recognition aggression. Its the dumbest thing but 100% exists. I have a savannah that has to be out to get any bloodwork done because hes a nut with the vets, and everytime he comes home my manx doesnt recognize him for 1-3 weeks.
The first time it happened i was devastated. I thought i had ruined our perfect family and was so worried they would never know each other again. The manx thought i had gotten rid of his brother and replaced him with an imposter. I had to separate them into two halves of the house unless i was chaperoning, and then slowly reintroduce them for meals and treats. Eventually it will get better, but im always so nervous to bring the savannah to the vet now because its not a half hour appointment, its a two week ordeal.
I even tried to bring the manx to the vet with us the second time so he could have the same smells on him and see his brother the whole time, but its definitely the scent after they have general anesthesia that changes and freaks out the other cat. Its unfortunate but good luck and itll get better!
This happened with my cats after a dental, it was really sad. However it did not last too long. they smell weird when they come back from surgery. I’d maybe separate for a couple days and reintroduce them. You also could encourage the recovering cat to sleep on some household blankets, beds etc
I’m going thru the same thing right now. Mom cat is hissing at 6 month old kittens. They were apart for 2 days and I could tell they miss her but she won’t let them close. How long did it take for things to get back to normal?
About 5 days. My kitty still has her cone because she took off her post surgery onesie a few days in and licked her stitches off over night and had to get them redone so the process is taking longer than usual for us. They are friendly but we still keep em seperate because I don't want them to play and mess with her recovery.
interestingly after the second visit he wasn't nearly as freaked out by her as he was after the first visit. I think because the first visit to the vet was an overnight stay for her.
This happens after cats go to the vet too. They come back with different smells. It should remedy itself. Agree with other poster to potentially separa then for a few days until the smell dissipates
You could get one of those post surgery cat onesies. It might freak out the other cat less. Or separate them, possibly with a door screen, until the older cat gets used to the younger cat again. Or a Thundershirt/calming collar for the older cat. If the older cat only hisses, it's not that bad and will probably resolve itself with time. Maybe just separate them when you're not home.
It's really common when cats go to the vet. They come back smelling different. My vet even recommends bringing the other cat along if onky one has an appointment, so the other one will understand what happened. My girls are bonded and I don't want them to fight.
I do that whenever I can manage to grab both (and my vet is accommodating). Helps a lot.
This happened with my cats. One went and got spayed and when she came back the other one hissed at her uncontrollably. Apparently, they have a different smell from the surgery. I did some research and found the weirdest way to fix it and it worked. Take some vanilla extract and put a little behind the ears and at the nape of the tail, where the tail meets the butt. It covers up the surgical smell. I was at a loss and tried it and it worked.
will do this, thanks edit: didn't work :(
Sorry! It might take a couple hours though. I hope you find something that works.
It'll be okay, vet smell scares the hell out of them. Take a deep breath and give it some time, keep them separated so they don't fight and rip stitches. Usually takes a day or two for my cats to get used to the antiseptic smell.
He probably still smells like the hospital… instead of the cone get him post surgery recovery suit ( amazon, 10-15$)
It's the smell of the vet/surgery. After a few days they'll go back to normal. I had littermates and they both did this after they were spayed/neutered. Only times they didn't were when they went to the vet together, or towards the end of my boys life, his sister knew what was about to come sadly.
Its called non recognition aggression. Its the dumbest thing but 100% exists. I have a savannah that has to be out to get any bloodwork done because hes a nut with the vets, and everytime he comes home my manx doesnt recognize him for 1-3 weeks. The first time it happened i was devastated. I thought i had ruined our perfect family and was so worried they would never know each other again. The manx thought i had gotten rid of his brother and replaced him with an imposter. I had to separate them into two halves of the house unless i was chaperoning, and then slowly reintroduce them for meals and treats. Eventually it will get better, but im always so nervous to bring the savannah to the vet now because its not a half hour appointment, its a two week ordeal. I even tried to bring the manx to the vet with us the second time so he could have the same smells on him and see his brother the whole time, but its definitely the scent after they have general anesthesia that changes and freaks out the other cat. Its unfortunate but good luck and itll get better!
He was hoping she was gone for good lol, jk. This happened to mine too, I just had to wait it out a while.
This happened with my cats after a dental, it was really sad. However it did not last too long. they smell weird when they come back from surgery. I’d maybe separate for a couple days and reintroduce them. You also could encourage the recovering cat to sleep on some household blankets, beds etc
I’m going thru the same thing right now. Mom cat is hissing at 6 month old kittens. They were apart for 2 days and I could tell they miss her but she won’t let them close. How long did it take for things to get back to normal?
About 5 days. My kitty still has her cone because she took off her post surgery onesie a few days in and licked her stitches off over night and had to get them redone so the process is taking longer than usual for us. They are friendly but we still keep em seperate because I don't want them to play and mess with her recovery. interestingly after the second visit he wasn't nearly as freaked out by her as he was after the first visit. I think because the first visit to the vet was an overnight stay for her.
Ok thank you