Vaccinating recently introduced cat

[noani]

Hi everyone, I've recently introduced a second cat to my little household. They've adapted very well and love (new cat) or more so tolerate (resident cat) each other. They play and eat together and often sleep near each other.

The balance still seems delicate. Vaccines for cats have just become available again where I live and new cat hasn't been vaccinated yet (former stray). Resident cat is due for booster in may and they are both indoor, but I don't want to wait that long for both as 1) vaccines may run out again and 2) I just don't want to take any risks. So new cat is now booked for first vaccine on Tuesday.

So I'm wondering what to expect when taking only one of them to the vet for the shot and should I expect non recognition issues or is it unlikely if it's just for a short time? How can I minimize the risk of issues arising when coming back home?
During past vet visits for new cat, they were still in separate rooms with limited, short baby gate access.

Thanks for any ideas, insights, experiences

 

[Meowmee]

Hi everyone, I've recently introduced a second cat to my little household. They've adapted very well and love (new cat) or more so tolerate (resident cat) each other. They play and eat together and often sleep near each other.

The balance still seems delicate. Vaccines for cats have just become available again where I live and new cat hasn't been vaccinated yet (former stray). Resident cat is due for booster in may and they are both indoor, but I don't want to wait that long for both as 1) vaccines may run out again and 2) I just don't want to take any risks. So new cat is now booked for first vaccine on Tuesday.

So I'm wondering what to expect when taking only one of them to the vet for the shot and should I expect non recognition issues or is it unlikely if it's just for a short time? How can I minimize the risk of issues arising when coming back home?
During past vet visits for new cat, they were still in separate rooms with limited, short baby gate access.

Thanks for any ideas, insights, experiences

It should be ok, maybe a little hissing. Some cats don’t even have any reaction when one of them goes to DVM and comes home. I think Quinn got a little upset once when Merlin went to DVM but he got over it very quickly. If you want you could try washing off the cat that went to DVM with a wipe and then some sent exchange.

 

[vince]

Mine are all bonded, and still hiss for a couple hours maximum at the cat that just came back from the vet. They're always fine by the end of the day.

As suggested above, you can scent-swap or put a drop of vanilla extract behind each one's ears to mask the new smell.

 

[noani]

Thank you for the suggestions! We are back and all seems fine. I did keep them separate a little bit and also gave returning cat many cuddles and scritches and treats. I also rubbed a treat between my hands and then gave him full body pets hoping to mask the vet smell it's a strong smelling treat.
When I put them back together resident cat sniffed him a bit more than usual but they had some more treats / kibble together and are now happily birdwatching side by side again.

 

[vince]

Never heard of anybody using food as a scent-swap, but if it works, so much the better!

 

[noani]

The vanilla sounded logical but I didn't have any so...