Advice for spaying and reintroducing cats

[dealiberty]

Hello!

I've been watching posts on this site since I rescued a pregnant cat several months back, and she ended up having her kittens with us; 2 girls and a boy. They're currently 4 months old and ready to be desexed. Because of limitations in my ability to take care of the cats, our vet suggested we neuter one at a time, so we took our little boy in on Wednesday. He had the operation done on Friday, and came home, where we kept him separate from the rest of the family to recover, and so that they don't help him lick his wounds.

On Saturday, we tried to reintroduce him to the family, who all hissed at him... looking up the problem, I realised it was non recognition aggression, and started trying some scent swapping and getting him back to smelling like himself... but it's still a work in progress. Today, one sister just hid, another followed him around, hissing whenever he tried to get closer to her, and mum hissed - ignored him - then chased him and growled at him and swatted him several times hard. We retreated back to our safe room. He cries a lot, which I guess is part of the process. Currently, he is only quiet if he's playing or if he's in my lap. So that's problem #1... I'm not sure what the best way yo deal with this is except to keep trying slowly and letting them spend more time together?

The other dilemma is that, obviously, we need to also get the girls and mum spayed. We're planning to get mum done next, and likely to leave her with the vet for 4 days since she was a stray, and we don't really have as much ability to keep her still or calm as we do with the kittens who have been with me their whole life - after that, she'll come home. I don't know if the vet can actually do all three cats at the same time and, if they can, can we board all three at the same time, because the vet is a very small one - and even if he could, I'm not sure if we should because we'll have to still take care of them when they come home? I'm also really worried that we'll start with the non aggression all over again even though my little boy's still not integrated back into his family.

To add to that, momma cat is already quite aggressive towards her kittens as it's about the right age for them to "leave" the home, and she's defending her territory - also why we want to get her fixed really soon.

So I guess the question is... I'm not sure what the best order to do things in is. What I am guessing needs doing is... getting momma and 2 girls spayed in some order/at some time, reintroducing the boy and his family, and not sure if we'll need to reintroduce the cats to each other after the spay as well. If anyone can help advise, I would really appreciate it! These are my first cats and I'm at a complete loss.

Thank you so much.

 

[Natalusky29]

Hi,do you have any blanket with your cat’s odour?
(For example a blanket that only your female number 2 uses) because this will make the reintroduction way too easy.
* do not put this blanket in the carrier or the vet,once your cat it’s at home rub it against the “newcomer” cat and the other cats won’t be aggressive

 

[vince]

From my experiences, it takes perhaps three days for the non-recognition aggressiveness to pass from a spaying. Normally, my cats get over a vet visit in a few hours, but extensive procedures seem to make things a bit more difficult. Another way to address this might be to put a dab of vanilla extract behind the ear of all the cats. It's supposed to fool their sense of smell somewhat, making reintroduction easier. It's mentioned enough that I suggest it here, but I never had to resort to that for any of my cats.

Perhaps some soothing cat music or even a radio set on a talk station would placate the little guy. Even a ticking clock or heartbeat toy might help. He's just lonely and most likely can hear and smell his housemates. He misses them, and the only relief he gets from the loneliness is interaction with you.

Really, the hissing and bops on the noggin aren't a big problem if there's no fur flying. The rest of the clowder is saying, "You don't smell like us! You're an outsider! Keep away!" You might just let him out again and see how it goes.

Your order of spaying makes sense. He could have been reaching sexual maturity and could have impregnated mom or his sisters. Best to have had him neutered first. At four months, the kittens aren't still nursing, so mom's spay appointment isn't a problem. Since she might go into heat again and it seems the girls haven't come into heat yet, I guess having mom spayed first is the best idea for the females.

 

[Letch]

I'm sorry I posted something in your thread by mistake