We have two cats, Marty and Taylor that we've adopted as kittens a year ago, they're from the same litter so they've always been playing together and we've never seen any hostility. Taylor got hit by a car about a month ago and he sustained several serious pelvic fractures. We put him though surgery though and got to take him home after 4 days in the hospital. We were expecting our cats to be very excited to see eachother again, but unfortunately not so. Marty was probably seriously freaked out by all the weird smells that Taylor was bringing in from the hospital, and would generally stay away from Taylor, and when his curiousity got the upper hand of him and Marty did approach, he would just hiss at his injured brother.
We figured that over time things would probably go back to normal as Taylor would lose the hospital smells, grow back hair on his shaved rear end, and learn how to walk again, but so far Marty is still not friendly to him. Taylor still walks a little wobbly and it may take another month before he can jump and run again (if he doesn't have lasting nerve damage), and of course we have to keep him inside for at least another while. But he's recovering well so far, he's comfortable, starting to get more active, and seems excited and wanting to play with Marty when he sees him. But Marty wants no part of that play. He'll sometimes tolerate Taylor sniffing him out and getting close to him, but eventually Marty will always end up hissing and whacking Taylor on the head. It's like Marty has never seen this cat before. There's been no serious fights yet, I'm not sure if that would be possible since the hostility seems one-sided, and Taylor (who used to be the dominant one) doesn't have the strength yet to put up much of a defense.
I suspect that Marty is stressed out by Taylor's presence in the house now. When he comes in at night and we won't let him out again he will cry and meow for a long time before he will accept the fact that he has to stay in. We just thought we lost him altogether since he didn't come back home for almost 3 days (whereas before he would always come in at least twice a day and spent at least a few hours sleeping inside every night). We of course don't know where he was for 3 days, and he may have been lost or trapped somewhere, and he was very hungry when he walked in again. We suspect that his being gone for so long may be related to his situation at home and his confusion around his brother.
Sorry this is so long winded - but I was hoping someone could help me understand what is going on with Marty. Does he not recognize Taylor as his brother at all? Is he confused about Taylor's appearance, smell, or limited ability to walk? Is he just trying to take the opportunity to establish his dominance now? We'd love to see them play, cuddle up or at least be tolerant of eachother again ... what can we try?
thanks
We figured that over time things would probably go back to normal as Taylor would lose the hospital smells, grow back hair on his shaved rear end, and learn how to walk again, but so far Marty is still not friendly to him. Taylor still walks a little wobbly and it may take another month before he can jump and run again (if he doesn't have lasting nerve damage), and of course we have to keep him inside for at least another while. But he's recovering well so far, he's comfortable, starting to get more active, and seems excited and wanting to play with Marty when he sees him. But Marty wants no part of that play. He'll sometimes tolerate Taylor sniffing him out and getting close to him, but eventually Marty will always end up hissing and whacking Taylor on the head. It's like Marty has never seen this cat before. There's been no serious fights yet, I'm not sure if that would be possible since the hostility seems one-sided, and Taylor (who used to be the dominant one) doesn't have the strength yet to put up much of a defense.
I suspect that Marty is stressed out by Taylor's presence in the house now. When he comes in at night and we won't let him out again he will cry and meow for a long time before he will accept the fact that he has to stay in. We just thought we lost him altogether since he didn't come back home for almost 3 days (whereas before he would always come in at least twice a day and spent at least a few hours sleeping inside every night). We of course don't know where he was for 3 days, and he may have been lost or trapped somewhere, and he was very hungry when he walked in again. We suspect that his being gone for so long may be related to his situation at home and his confusion around his brother.
Sorry this is so long winded - but I was hoping someone could help me understand what is going on with Marty. Does he not recognize Taylor as his brother at all? Is he confused about Taylor's appearance, smell, or limited ability to walk? Is he just trying to take the opportunity to establish his dominance now? We'd love to see them play, cuddle up or at least be tolerant of eachother again ... what can we try?
thanks