cat doesn't recognize neutered sons

Hi, I'm Susan and I'm a new poster with a question about my 4 cats.

I have a mom cat (Scarlett) and 3 of her 5-month old kittens, 1 female and 2 male kittens. They live with myself, husband and daughter. Mom has been spayed. The kittens are inseperable, and while there is some distance forming between them and mom as they have gotten older, they are still on good terms with her. At least they were until yesterday.

A few days ago, a strange cat showed up on our doorstep and Mom took a disliking to him through the glass front door. She hissed at him and charged the front door, and has been kind of rattled ever since. She hissed at her kittens when they surprised her the past few days, until she realized she knew them.

Then yesterday I had the boys neutered. When I brought them back home last night, mom and daughter didn't recognize them. Mom was hissing as soon as I set the carriers on the floor and wanted nothing to do with them, while daughter was hissing and cautiously curious. After Mom ran away, I let the boys out and they settled back into home. Their sister smelled the carriers and the boys and seemed to realize who they are, but would still hiss when she smelled their butts. She has settled down and is acting normally with her brothers.

Mom also smelled the carriers and the boys but was freaked out by the smell of their incisions, and is still convinced that I brought two strangers into her home. She is jumpy, hides sometimes and hisses at all 3 of the kittens. She does recognize her daughter after initially hissing at her, but not the boys. It's mostly hissing and a few swats, with a little throaty growling every now and then. They kind of shrug it off when she freaks out at them. Mom also seems to be on patrol around the house, as though she's looking for other new cats.

I've tried to offer the boys' smells to mom, either by my hand after petting them or turning their butts to her to smell, but it hasn't helped. She will smell my hand with no problem but hisses at their behinds. I've even thought of dabbing cotton balls on the boys and leaving them around the house, but I don't know if that would help.

What can I do to mend the relationship between mom and sons, or at least to help them get along? Will mom recognize them after their incisions heal, or will she always think they are strangers now?

If I had to take a guess I think they probably smell like the vet clinic. Antiseptics, cleaning products, stitches etc and that might be what's freaking her out. I'm sure others will have some actual advice though. Things will hopefully improve after a few days. Keep us updated

They will be fine after a few days. Like LokiLove said, they just smell like the vet. Cats acting like they don't recognize each other after a vet trip is common, since cats recognize each other primarily by smell.

Just give it some time, and your kitties should be back to normal.

after he was home from a vet visit lasting a few days. She very docile and didn't hiss or anything just avoided him for a few days I guess until he smelled like his old self again....lol

Thanks everyone for your posts! This is the first time I've had multiple cats, so I appreciate everyone setting my mind at ease.

My girls are litter mates and we go through that every time one has a vet appt. I try to take them together to avoid it some. What Katie said above is what I've read on here before.

One trick I learned here to help them through it is to put a dab of vanilla extract on the back of all the cat's necks. It helps them to all smell like each other again. It did seem to help. But I believe it works best with pure vanilla extract and not the imitation stuff. (Plus the cat's smell good! )