HELLLLPPPPP !! :(

Naomilovescats

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Hey everyone !

I have a problem and i think it may have been my fault.
After my cat Khaleesi got spayed, i kept her and my other cat Finn (who were the best of friends prior) separate until the 7 days the vet recommended.
They would see each other on occasions but Khaleesi would be in a playpen and Finn would hiss and leave.
After the 7 days i started the reintroduction with scent and slowly tried to feed them at the same time with Khalessi eating in the playpen facing Finn on the outside. It took more than a couple of tries for Finn to finally eat her food facing Khaleesi but once she was able to, i tried to remove the playpen (by this point it was about day 9 and Khaleesi no longer had her e-colar on). Now Finn will not stop trying to hit Khalessi when she passes and i have noticed a change in Khaleesi (who is younger but before getting spayed took on the alpha role pretty easy, as Finn is a bit of a scaredy cat) Now it seems that Finn is almost bullying Khaleesi and she is just not the same after her recent interactions with Finn which have a lot of hissing, growling and even hitting involved. Today was the first day i let them both be out and about in the house (without being separate) while i was at work for most of the day, and im not sure what might have happened while i was away at work and its making me feel a bit guilty because i thought they were ready since its been about 10 days since Khaleesi was spayed.

I dont know if maybe i may have done something wrong, but i just want my babies to be besties again how they were before or at least for Finn to stop treating khaleesi as if she doesnt know her.

What can i do ?
Please help !
Thanks so much in advance.
 

sivyaleah

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Oh gosh we just went through the same thing pretty much.

We had been through more than several weeks of introducing a new kitten to our resident senior cat. They had finally gotten to a point where Cocoabean had stopped hissing at Luna, and was accepting her and being calm with her presence. Then, Luna went for her spay surgery. Came home, kept her away from Bean for 3-1/2 days to keep her calm and lowkey (that was all she could deal with, she was going stir crazy by that point). Let her out and Bean was back to the whole hissy personality with her again.

My husband and I were pretty crushed. A couple of time Bean lashed out a Luna, which she had not even had done the first time around. I'm sure it had to do with the fact that Luna smelled completely different from being at the vet for a full day, coming home being woozy and smelling of anesthesia and I have a feeling too, that maybe cats can also sense the difference in the cat themself of having gone through the surgery - that something is different about them. I'm sure too that Luna's behavior was a bit off in her movements from being in a bit of pain afterwards also. So all combined - it made Bean weary and confused.

Anyway, we surely weren't going to lock Luna up again at that point. We personally decided to let it play out but keep a keen eye on their interactions. We did have to separate them a few times - intervene by either throwing a toy to get their attention elsewhere or literally moving one of them to another room temporarily to cool off. But, in 2-3 days it all dissipated like it never had happened on its own. We also had to just calm ourselves down about it also because I'm sure they were feeding off our anxiety to some degree.

Hopefully your cats will also just suddenly realize "oh yea, I DO know this other cat" within a day or so also. Until then, keep an eye on them. Try playing with them together, giving treats and creating good moments in the same space with each other. Separate them if necessary, but I don't know if doing an entirely new reintroduction is the right course of action as it might just be a short lived situation that blows over quickly. Also, if you came home and there was no blood shed, chance are they managed to work out their day together which is a step in the right direction.
 

susanm9006

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You haven’t done anything wrong. It is non recognition aggression. khaleesi doesn’t smell like herself after the vet. Usually this goes away after a couple of days but it may have been that keeping them separated just delayed her getting her normal scent back. Have you tried rubbing each with the other’s scent? Another thing to try is rubbing each with a bit of pure vanilla.
 

sivyaleah

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You haven’t done anything wrong. It is non recognition aggression. khaleesi doesn’t smell like herself after the vet. Usually this goes away after a couple of days but it may have been that keeping them separated just delayed her getting her normal scent back. Have you tried rubbing each with the other’s scent? Another thing to try is rubbing each with a bit of pure vanilla.
Forgot to add last night when I replied to try this.

I used the vanilla and it did not work for me personally but it's worth a shot.
 

rubysmama

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di and bob

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This is not uncommon at all. It is also the reason I try to take all my cats to the vet at the same time for vaccinations. 10 days is not long at all in a cat's world. EWhen My Yammy got rushed to the vet when he wasso sick, it took one of my cats almost a month to really accept him again. he just totally ignored her and she was trying to swat him every chance she got. Things will get back to normal in time. As long as they aren't truly hurting each other (drawing blood) let things take a natural course. Smelling the vet on your housemate is about as traumatizing as going!
 
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