Urgent - Question on non-recognition aggression

[Kelise]

I'm really hoping to get an answer within 2 hours so I know what to do.

One of my cats just had a dental and since bringing him back home, my other cat hates him. I have since learned about non-recognition aggression. It's been 2 days and it's not getting better. I actually have 3 cats and am freaked out because 2 of them already don't get along and have to be kept separate. I can't handle needing to keep all 3 cats separate. It would be impossible.

To prevent things from really going south, I know I need to keep them separate. I only have a few options. I have to leave for work in 2 hours. I can bring the aggressor with me (I'm a vet tech, so he would be going to the same place my other cat got his dental). Would that make it worse? Would it maybe make the aggressor feel less territorial since he spent some time away from home? Or will the stress make it much worse?

I can set one of them up in a big crate in my room with a litter box and whatnot. I'm not super keen on this because my family member is a graveyard shift worker and needs to sleep today. I'm positive the cat will scream all day.

I can leave one cat outside. I have an invisible fence for them but I still have a lot of nerves about leaving them out there when someone is not available to hear something bad happening. But this would probably be the most comfortable option for both cats.

Please help me decide. I very much can't have two cats that no longer get along because I took one for a vet procedure.

I'm also considering getting the aggressor some temporary calming medication. Maybe some Gabapentin. Good idea?

 

[di and bob]

I would go with the most comfortable, leaving one outside if they are safe. The BEST solution would be to lock one indoors in a different room, but if you can't, you can't. Bringing the one to work is a no no, it would just bring home more smells the aggressor would hate. Or you could bring the aggressor and see if that helps. That may be a good solution. Cats absolutely hate vet smells on another cat. Mine get really nervous and will lash out if the vet goer comes too close, it usually lasts for two to three days. Yours will eventually settle down, it may help to try to speed things up by rubbing each with the same towel, or putting a dab of vanilla on the back of their necks to hide their true smells.
A calming agent might really help too, it couldn't hurt!

 

[klunick]

Sorry you are dealing with this. Only similar situation I experienced was when our male cat went to the vet and got an enema. When we brought him home, our normally submissive female went crazy towards the male hissing and slapping him. Not sure if it was the vet smell or the poop smell from the enema. She calmed down within a day or two. So far with Boone and Gracie, I've only taken them together so no idea how'd they do if one went and the other stayed home.

 

[Kelise]

Thanks so much for getting back to me fast. I wasn't going to bring the dental cat (Padfoot), I was maybe going to bring the aggressor (Tank). Part of me feels that getting him out of the house and covered with the same smells would make him feel less like the other cat is an invader, but part of me feels he would get super stressed and it would make things worse. And another part of me fears Padfoot would become aggressive towards Tank, lol.

The weird thing is that I brought my third cat for a dental a few months ago and Tank didn't care. She had a longer procedure with tooth extractions and came home acting all weird because of pain meds and he didn't care! I don't understand why he cares this time.

Leaving one outside is a good option for the most part, it just scares me a little because I live in the mountains so there are predatory birds and we have a feral cat living in the barn. My yard is very securely fenced so no dogs or coyotes can get in (and because of the invisible fence, the cat can't leave the fenced area). I've just never left them outside when I wasn't home. I would also probably need to leave Padfoot outside because he likes it outside and Tank will yowl and bang on the door after a while. I wonder if letting Tank chill in the house and Padfoot not in the house (so not leaving his weird smells everywhere) would be detrimental.

So hard to decide what the right thing to do is.

I can definitely get some medication at work today for Tank. Hopefully that will help. I really wish I had a Feliway diffuser but I don't and no store around here sells them.

EDIT: I've decided to leave Tank in my bedroom until my family gets home from her night shift. Then she can decide how she wants them arranged. I decided it wouldn't be good to introduce more stress by taking Tank to work with me. So she can either leave him in my bedroom all day or she can put him outside. I'll let you guys know if/when this aggression issue resolves...

 

[Kelise]

Well that was simple. Got back from work today and everything is fine now. Tank went from a growling, yowling, very stressed boy to being perfectly normal in the span of the last 12 hours. Thank god.

 

[catlover73]

I have 4 cats in my home. Every time someone goes to the vet's Casey hisses at them when they get home. I rub the cat that smells like the vet's office down with a piece of dirty laundry and it really seems to help get things re-balanced faster. You may have to do this a few times a day. Casey never does anything besides hissing so my cats just ignore it. Hopefully this will help in the future. Sometimes this can take a few days to resolve.

 

[di and bob]

Thank goodness, peace is restored!