Ever since I brought my kitten home from the vet the other cat hates him

So I have a cat and a kitten. They didn't get along at first, but eventually got to be pretty close. Then one day the kitten had to go to the vet over night due to hypogycemia. When we got the kitten back, the cat started hissing and growling again like the first day I brought the kitten home.

I thought that since the vet washed the kitten the cat didn't recognize his scent, but it's now been over 24 hours and the cat is still picking on my kitten.

The kitten is pretty sick and I'm afraid to go to work and leave them alone together! I don't want my kitten to get seriously injured!!

help!

Bekah

You will need to keep them seperated and reintroduce them.

I agree... keep them separated until they are getting along again.

How long did you have them both before the kitten went to the vet? If it wasn't long and the vet bathed the kitten then the kitten is going to smell mostly like the vet's office. Which for some cats can be a very threatening smell.

Keep them separated to protect the kitten. In reintroducing them, a couple of techniques are useful.

Dabbing real vanilla extract under the chins and near the tails of both cats will help them to smell similar.

Feliway diffusers or a Feliway spray in their favorite areas also help to reduce anxiety.

Also, check out the introducing cats article for other ideas to reintroduce them to each other.

Originally Posted by bekah

So I have a cat and a kitten. They didn't get along at first, but eventually got to be pretty close. Then one day the kitten had to go to the vet over night due to hypogycemia. When we got the kitten back, the cat started hissing and growling again like the first day I brought the kitten home.

I thought that since the vet washed the kitten the cat didn't recognize his scent, but it's now been over 24 hours and the cat is still picking on my kitten.

The kitten is pretty sick and I'm afraid to go to work and leave them alone together! I don't want my kitten to get seriously injured!!

help!

Bekah

Click to expand...

the same thing happened whenever I brought my 'Scream' to the vet to be spayed. Her own Mama (my mama cat) started hissing and would not have anything to do with her! It was pretty sad, I had to talk mama into liking
Scream again, it took me awhile, then whenever I got GiGi, after I had her spayed, when she returned, samething...I think they smell all the other cats and their sickness', heck I could even smell the vets office on G after she was back home! I read somewhere you can take a dish towel rub one cat
down with it, pretty good, under the neck and all, then when the other is
not suspecting, you can rub it with the same towel, that way each of their
scent is on the other and they can smell each other and be friends again!
Monique

When one of my cats stayed at the vet for a couple of days, and then was brough home, I had no problems at all. But I've heard it is caused because the cat who has been to the vet smells differently. Can't you lock the kitten in the separate room when you go to work until your older cat figures out it's the same kitten he was before the vet? And like other people said, maybe you can rub them both with the same towel so they smell the same?