Cats Were Best Friends, Now Hate Each Other, Please Help!

LauraLockwood

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I have 2 male cats that have gotten along very well for the last few years. They groom each other and play often and sleep next to each other, etc. Nova is slightly older (~5 years), and Mochi is around 3 years old. A few weeks ago Mochi got sick with a bacterial infection and I took him to the vet. He spent several hours there before I was able to pick him up and when he came home there was instant aggression from Nova (growling, hissing, and chasing). After some research I found out it was because of non-recognition aggression and that Mochi must have smelled like the vet, and also like a sick cat, so I put them in separate rooms to give them time to get used to each other again. Fast forward and it has now been almost 3 weeks, I flip flop the rooms they're in every few days so they can smell each other, I've got a feliway diffuser plugged in to make them calm, I've rubbed them each with the same towel to transfer the smell further, and I've put catnip and treats near both sides of the door that separates them so that they get close to interact. They are calm in their separate rooms and are behaving mostly normally otherwise, though Mochi is less playful than usual. They have batted at each other's paws under the door, and don't growl or hiss when that happens, but every time I try to reintroduce them Nova is immediately aggressive. I'm wondering if there's anything else I can be doing or if it will just take more time? Mochi must smell like himself by now but Nova still clearly views him as a stranger. Any other tips people have are very much appreciated! They were best friends before and I'd hate to think it's all been ruined by one vet visit .
 

rubysmama

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Hello and welcome to TCS. Sorry it's your cat's non-recognition aggression that brought you here.

It sounds like you're doing all the normal things to try to get things back to normal again.

Does Mochi have to go back to the vet? If so, you could maybe take Nova too. We've had members who always take both cats to the vet when one has to go, just so they both come home smelling the same. If not the vet, maybe take them out in the car, just so they both come back home together, and smelling the same.
 
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LauraLockwood

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Thanks, I hadn't heard of the vanilla extract trick but I'll try that. Usually they don't even get close enough to really smell each other before the growling starts but maybe it'll keep them from going at each other's throats.

No one has to go back to the vet but taking them out at the same time is a good idea. Usually they have their checkups together so they're always coming and going at the same time, though Nova had a dental cleaning last year and this didn't happen so I'm not sure why this time was so different. I'm sure I rushed the initial reintroduction because I didn't realize there would be such a huge issue and now I worry that they're overly sensitive to even seeing each other. I had hoped they'd rebound more quickly than complete strangers since their scents should be familiar to each other but so far no dice.
 
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LauraLockwood

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It's especially uncharacteristic because Nova is usually the more submissive of the two and used to let Mochi walk all over him. I never would have pegged him as the aggressor.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. Is Mochi still on some medication, by any chance? The medication might actually make him smell differently, which would explain why this has been going on so long.

It's kind of off topic, but maybe not - just curious as to why Mochi hasn't returned to his normal level of playfullness. Could the illness still be brewing? Sometimes, that will cause another cat to be aggressive as well.
 
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LauraLockwood

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Hi. Is Mochi still on some medication, by any chance? The medication might actually make him smell differently, which would explain why this has been going on so long.

It's kind of off topic, but maybe not - just curious as to why Mochi hasn't returned to his normal level of playfullness. Could the illness still be brewing? Sometimes, that will cause another cat to be aggressive as well.
Mochi was given a dose of antibiotics at the vet that's supposed to last 2 weeks, so I suppose it's possible he still smells different than usual. I'm assuming he's not playing as much because they're separate (they usually played with each other more often than with me), and possibly because he's still a little stressed out from the attacks from Nova. He's also in a smaller space now (we're all in a 1 bedroom apartment so there isn't a ton of room at the best of times) so he can't zoom around the way he used to. Beyond that he's eating and using the litter box and all that good stuff, which is a step up from when he was at his sickest.
 

di and bob

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You might get a large dog cage and keep one cat in it but in the same room as the other. That way they can see and get used to each other but not be able to interact. Then swap them out and let the other one roam. i always take all three of mine in together because of this same problem. No problem since I started doing it. Even two weeks later the antibiotic could be making him smell different, but that is getting to be a long time to be keeping this up. Keep rubbing them down with a towel and then rubbing the other, it couldn't hurt. I think it is just going to take time, more than usual. but it WILL resolve itself, I am confident of that!
 

Furballsmom

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… on the off chance, you could try some music as well.
There's low volume classical harp music, there's an app called Relax My Cat, and there is MusicForCats . com as sources that may prove helpful :vibes::crossfingers:
 
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