Help! Cat Home from Vet agressive brother

It is normal for them to get that way after one of them comes home from the vet and the other one smells "vet" on them (I imagine it brings back bad memories or something). That behaviour usually stops after a few days - but not always. My Geronimo hasn't let up on Cassidy ever since I brought her home from the vet after having spayed and also having her deformed tail amputated - and it's been over a year since then. But he's always been the bully of the house, and has a tendency to try bullying the others, too: the only difference is is that Cassidy won't fight back, so Geronimo continues to harrass her - in spite of my efforts to stop him from doing it.

I'm hoping this won't be the case in your situation, and that your male cat will give up after a few days and leave your female cat alone. Have you tried separating them for the time being, and slowly reintroducing them again? Have you tried using Feliway? I never had any luck with it myself, but others swear by it. You may also want to try using Nature's Remedy on the male cat: it's a natural anxiety tonic that helps keep the aggressive cat calm.

I hope your male cat settles down soon! Good luck!

Could take a cloth, rub it real good on their cheeks and over their fur and rub each other down with it. Puts their stink on each other.

Might even try out one of those feliway diffusers people always rave about. I know when my kitties are startled or afraid of something and poof up, just acting indifferent to the event and talking in my normal soft voice and perhaps a little giggle like "oh, c'meer silly cats" gets em all chillaxed in no time, so they do seem to pick up on vibes.

But yes, it does seem to be common, which is why if one of my kitties has to go to the vet, they BOTH do and they stay side-by-side.

I'm glad things may be getting back to normal. Swapping out their "bed linens" is a good thing to do. It's part of the integration procedures which I mentioned in your other post you might have to do if things didn't resolve themselves on their own. Did you also try the vanilla trick?

It's not bad memories that makes the cat who stayed home react. It's that the cat who was at the vet doesn't smell like himself. So to the other cat, he is a complete stranger. And when anesthesia is involved it can take several days for the kitty to smell like himself again.

Cats are scent oriented. They identify by scent.

One time when I had my hair cut, my hairdresser forgot I don't like anything put in my hair and she put some kind of styling gel in it that -to me- reeked. My cats were afraid of me, I didn't smell like me. I took a shower and they forgave me.

In the future you can try the vanilla trick. This is you put some cooking vanilla (not perfume) on the nose and chin and root of tail of all cats at the same time. This, presumably, levels the playing field, making every one smell the same and gives time for the vet scent to wear off. I haven't ever had occasion to try it, but I know some people swear by it.

I have a friend who had two cats that were deeply devoted to one another. Whenever the boy had to go to the vet the girl cat would hate him for sometimes up to two weeks. He was a stranger to her. My friend had to keep them separated until the smell wore off and he smelled like himself again.

The boy kitty is gone now, and she has two young cats. The older girl does not get overly upset at either of the two younger cats when they smell like vet. She is not closely bonded to either of them, so I guess she doesn't care if they are the same cat or not.