Please Help!!!! Recent Neutered Cat Is Fighting With Older Neutered Cat

Hi all,

both my cats are male, one is 1year old (neutered) and another 7months.
My 7months (milo) got neutered on Thursday, he came home tonight.
My 1yr old (Gizmo) is hissing at him a lot when he comes near!!
Milo keeps sniffing and wants to be near Gizmo (they use to be very close and cuddly) but when Gizmo hisses at him, Milo does this long stretch distress sounding mew & corners the older cat. He gets all poofy like he wants to fight him too!!

Is this common when a cat gets neutered, its like bringing home a new cat?

What should I do?!!!!!?!?!? PLEASE HELP!

This is normal for when any kitty goes for a vet visit, especially if it's been for more than just a check-up. He smells like the vet and anesthesia right now. Don't worry - they'll be best buds again.

In the meantime, to help minimize the problem, if you've got kitty wipes around, rub them both down with them. Then put some vanilla on a paper towel and rub the vanilla smell at the base of their tails, behind their ears and under their chins. Do this tomorrow morning and tomorrow evening - and maybe Sunday as well.

I'm glad all went well with the neuter! Poor Milo doesn't understand that Gizmo smells stuff that scares him on Milo right at the moment.



Laurie

Thanks!! I don't have kitty wipes unfortunately :-(
can i do the vanilla thing w/out the wipes? like now?
also why vanilla? i have vanilla extract, will that work?

Yup, vanilla extract. Don't worry about not having kitty wipes. I'll take a quick search - I saw someone else recommend using baking soda (I THINK!) or corn starch or some food-based powdery thing to help minimize the smell.

And yes - you can do it right now. The idea is to help "confuse" the smells, because Milo "smells" funny to Gizmo right now, and that's why Gizmo is reacting the way he is.

In the meantime, I'll look for that other "smell" trick for when kitties come back from the vet.

Laurie

In the past, people here were recommending using perfume. But kitties constantly lick and clean themselves, so someone hit on the idea of using the vanilla extract because it wasn't as bad for the kitties when they're cleaning themselves as perfume is.

Laurie

Found the other thread: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...7;2A+starch%2A

The most important thing to remember is even if these "tricks" don't help, they'll be back to normal in just a couple days at most.

Laurie

thank so much for your help.
I just did the vanilla thing. didnt work right away but hopefully soon.
i have exams starting next tuesday so i dont wanna lock up kitties or have them fighting!

The hissing and puffing doesn't sound too serious. Even if Milo corners Gizmo and Gizmo bonks him for it, I wouldn't worry. We have six cats and a couple of them don't like each other too much - and we find tufts of hair around probably once a day. But whatever fighting is going on is never serious enough for us to worry about one of them getting hurt in any meaningful way. You're just not used to it. Even if the scent-confusing tricks don't work, I'm sure it won't come to locking them up. And by Tuesday I'm confident everything will be fine.



Laurie

It will take about 2 months for all the hormones to get out of his system and at 7 months, he probably knows he's a male

Plus the smells in the vet's office visit are probably the one that is really causing the tension.

Sprinkle both with cornstarch baby powder and rub it in good so they smell the same.