TheCatSite.com › Forums › Our Feline Companions › Behavior › Cat Hissing at other cat after Car Accident
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Cat Hissing at other cat after Car Accident

post #1 of 5
7/6/10 at 9:00am
Thread Starter 
Hi

I would really appreciate any help or advice with this….

We recently returned from holiday to find that one of our two cats had gone missing an hour before we returned home. During the time she was missing our other cat Serena was overly affectionate and following us around everywhere. We put it down to her missing Blair (our lost cat). They are not sisters but we did rescue them from a centre together and apparently they were found together so we can only assume they have lived together for sometime.

After 2 days had gone we eventually found Blair (never, never give up looking – we went out looking for her every hour walking around shouting her name) she was hiding in our neighbours garden under a box and had been hit by a car (the vet told us this) as she had a wound on her side. She was also covered in black dirt that smells like oil but looks like coal dust. Since finding her (2 days ago) Serena has been hissing at her and will not go near which is upsetting Blair. We think this maybe due to the smell as the vet has told us not to clean Blair just yet as we need to keep her dry because of the wound.

If anyone has had any experience with this I would appreciate some advice on how to get them friendly again! Before this all happened Serena would go up to Blair and lick her head to clean her and they would lie on the bed together during the day.

Thank you for reading!

Ashley
Reply
post #2 of 5
7/6/10 at 10:02am
She smells differently which is causing the hissing. You might need to use some of the introduction techniques stickied at the top of the forum until they get used to each other again. As they begin smelling alike, the hissing should subside.
Reply
post #3 of 5
7/6/10 at 10:29am
If Blair is pretty badly wounded from this your best bet is to just keep her in a room to herself, or even a crate in a room to herself if she shouldn't be moving around.

Try your best to wipe that stuff off of her. If it's a petroleum product of any kind she doesn't need to be ingesting any of it.
When does she go back to the vet again?

After she is healed enough to get around well in the house on her own, slowly start reintroductions.
Reply
post #4 of 5
7/6/10 at 11:16am
This is common especially after a traumatic injury. It changes the scent signature and now Blair doesn't smell like Blair. If she is on meds, that changes the scent as well. You can use vanilla extract on the cats- be sure it is pure and not imitation. Apply it several times a day to their chins and where the tail bed is- where the tail meets the rump. You may have to do this up to 6 times a day. Also agree to get the oil off of Blair the best you can. I doubt she can be bathed but that would be best- bathe her in a small amount of Dawn liquid dishwashing detergent and warm water. If you can't bathe her- apply Crisco shortening to the areas of oil, take a warm damp washclothe and after 5 minutes, wipe the shortening and oil off- the shortening breaks down the oil and helps remove it. I would even suggest a trimline recovery collar as this will help keep her from licking her wound and also the oil. They are made of flexible fabric and I have several here and would even send you one if you PM me your address. I just wrote a review on them- and they are the best-

Here is the website www.trimlineinc.com
Reply
post #5 of 5
7/7/10 at 4:38am
Thread Starter 
Thank you to everyone for the great advice.

We did in fact speak to our vets via the telephone yesterday and he suggested using baby wipes to clean Blair which we have been doing and it seems to be working. She's also doing a pretty good job of cleaning herself also. He also supplied us with a diffuser which he said would help with both cats. The wound seems to be healing and we're taking her back to the vets tomorrow to get it checked and hopefully she won’t need stitches.

This morning both cats eat together which they haven’t done since we brought Blair home, and my partner tells me that Serena sniffed Blair after eating and didn’t hiss however when I woke up she did hiss at her again.

I think things are improving and I do think it will just take a little time. I dont think they need separating as they dont fight just hiss and they can tolerate each other in the same room as Blair has been lying on the bottom of the bed and Serena on the top they just wont go near each other like they used to but like i said I guess this will take time.

Hissy - thanks for the offer of sending a trimline recovery collar I really appreciate the offer however I think she seems to be healing quite well so at the moment I think we'll wait until she's seen the vet tomorrow.

Again thank you guys
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Behavior
TheCatSite.com › Forums › Our Feline Companions › Behavior › Cat Hissing at other cat after Car Accident