Former friends-now fighting...HELP!!

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum and hope someone can help me. Two months ago, I adopted a 6 wk old female kitten and a 1 y/o female cat from the local SCPA. They were not housed together at the shelter, but became fast friends, playing together constantly. A few days ago, the kitten got out of the house by accident. We thought we lost her, but happily, we found her in a corner of our garage 2 days later. Since coming back into the house, the 1 y/o cat has been hissing/spitting & swatting at the kitty everytime she comes near. She even swats and hisses unprovoked. I thought it might be a smell on the kitten, so I wiped her down with a kitty wipe. It's been 4 days since we found her and the older cat still wants no part of her. I feel so bad because the kitten tries so hard to play with her and gets nothing but hostility. What do you think happened, and what can I do to help the situation. Thanks so much for any hlep

You will need to start the introductions over because the kitten now smells like a stranger. There is a very good article on introducing cats here on the site.

I would recommend putting the kitten in a room away from your other cat for a few days. Wipe the kitten with a cloth and then use the same cloth to wipe the other cat so their smells begin to be familiar. Try feeding them on either side of the door so your older cat starts associated the kitten with good things.

And when you let the kitten out, be ready to play with the two of them. Have a wand toy available to entice them.

It will take time, but I think they will adjust again.

Thanks for the advise. I'll try your recommendations.

Its like when my male cat Patch was in the hospital for a week, when he got home my other cats especially one of them kept spitting at Patch and swatting at him. It took days for him to get over it, I assumed when all the oder was gone off of Patch. Now everything is back to normal with them, like it never happened.

Good luck with yours

A similar thing happened when we had to take Salem to the vet for a few days, when he came back our other boy Rocko was hissing and trying to violently attack Salem.
It will take some time for the scent the other cat knows to come back. We gave Salem a good bath and the next day when he was dry Rocko wasn't hissing or anything- so maybe that has something to do with it as well