Handling no recognition aggression in the right direction?

galaxygal

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Cat A got dental work done. Upon arriving home, Cat B freaked out and started hissing at Cat A. We had to separate them because Cat A was still loopy. On day 3 they could be in the same room. They walk past each other and sniff each other a bit but if it prolongs Cat B will hiss. Cat B doesn’t like Cat A hovering around during feeding time as before.

Day 3 was a breaking point cause they can be in the same room together. Except I had to supervise and there was a few hisses from Cat B . I didfeel comfortable leaving them two together alone so I separated Cat A again.

today I left to work and let them be together while my husband is there. He was asleep but my husband is a light sleeper. I was anxious to leave the cats alone unsupervised.
I don’t know if I’m heading the right direction. We’ve been scent swapping, feeding alongside each other through glass door in between them, play time as a distraction. Vet cat has a follow up so I don’t know if I should take them both to the vet together at the same time to avoid any regress. I appreciate any input on this. I’ve been stressed.
 

FeebysOwner

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It sounds to me like you are headed in the right direction. I will be curious to hear what - if anything - happened while you were gone with your husband sleeping.

Taking both cats to the vet is a good alternative, but if you don't want to do that, take towels and wipe down the non-vet visiting cat so that when the one that visits the vet comes home, they can be wiped down with those towels - transferring smells that way.

Maybe there are some other tips in this TCS article?
How To Deal With Non-recognition Aggression In Cats - TheCatSite
 

rubysmama

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It sounds likes things are going in the right direction. Of course, the vet visit could change that, so taking them both, might not be a bad idea, so they both come home smelling the same.

You could also try the vanilla extract trick.
Ode to vanilla extract
 

ArtNJ

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If they aren't going to fight, they should get over it soon. So yes, heading in the right direction. If it looks like they are going to actually fight, might need to back up and go slower.
 

lisahe

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We've had the exact same problem as you: one cat had a tooth extracted, the cat who stayed home didn't recognize her. My advice: Please, please, take them both to the vet! And make sure the vet handles both cats. We always bring both our cats in now.

Our cats are littermates but their (first and worst) nonrecognition aggression problem lasted about two weeks. There were a couple times when we thought they were doing okay... but then we left them alone too long together and the hissing and attacks started up again. Those setbacks cost us days. As A ArtNJ says, if you think they might fight, "back up and go slower."

Odd though it may sound, for our two, the sure sign they were doing okay was when they started sniffing each others' butts but didn't fight. (We had to separate them again last year, after the same cat had stomach surgery... this "sign" held again.) They were okay if one went off in a huff and even if there was minor hissing. But if one got more physically aggressive, we knew they weren't ready.

One other thing that's helped a lot: keeping a laser toy/pointer of some sort handy to distract the cats if/when aggression resumed during times we let them be in the same space. That saved us many times! Also, someone mentioned vanilla... we didn't use that but we used tuna water. It didn't really help with making them recognize smells but it did distract them for a long time!

Good luck!
 
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