Cat Gone for a While - Reintroduction?

Has anyone had an experience with one cat being seperated from the others for a week and a half?

My cat Link went missing Monday last week. He came home Friday with a broken leg. Currently he is at the vet until his surgery to repair his leg on Wednesday (he managed to break one lower leg bone but not the other, so he needs a confined area to not make it worse before surgery).

So he will have been gone from home for a week and a half and smell like the vet. Are there any precautions I should make when he comes home?

I should mention, he had surgery for something else a few weeks ago and was gone overnight. Link has had a rough month first a cat bite and now a car hit him. Fury didn't notice anything off but Rocket hissed at first but quickly got reaquanited.

And please, don't bring up the indoor, outdoor debate. I know. We've put them on a curfew since both things happened at night and future cats will be trained more like Rocket so they don't go far from home. But going strictly indoor only is not a option.

A week and a half shouldn't be a problem. But if you can, keep him confined to a room by himself until he is healed to he doesn't compromise the leg by playing rough.

And I am with you, my whole crowd likes to go outside and two of them in particular get seriously depressed when locked up. 

Thank you @roguethecat

He came home two days ago and no problems. My female is still skirting around him but the other male didn't even seem to notice.

I don't have much experience in this particular topic but it seems as though your cats should be able to know who he is, might be a little rough between them at first but they'll be okay.

@Kieka...I'm really glad that your Link came through surgery and is doing better.

Some cats will just react to other cats who come home smelling differently from the Vet's office, or meds, or shots.

Sometimes it does not matter if it's just a day appointment.

The only thing that I have read is that members suggest rubbing down all the cats in the household, with your own towels, blankets, or clothes, ...so that this will overmask the vet office smell.

This way all the cats would be smelling the same, and not have such a negative reaction to the vet smell.

(There was another suggestion about using vanilla and placing it on the cats' shoulders....but I would be too afraid to use this method...if it contained any alcohol.

So I would be hesitant in using this method.)

If there were a safer scent, that could be applied to all the cats, then it might lessen any aggression they had, but it does sound like your fur crew are doing okay.

Basically, I would just do the rub down with the household towels, cat beds, cat blankets, etc.

Hopefully, your Rocket (female?) will act like her normal self, quite quickly.

Nice that Fury didn't even seem to notice.

(maybe it's a female cat thing, too, since my female cat is a little pushy with her male siblings.)

If Link has to be contained in a crate, for a while, while healing,..this may take a little longer, but it's probably best for Link to have his space, anyhow.

Give them all treats and a lot of patting, scritches, and praise...which I figure you already do.

Sending you mega vibes for a return to full Health for Link... ...and that Rocket and Fury help their buddy, with eventual purrs or just friendly greetings.    

Rocket, yes female, is doing better with him tonight. Its almost as if he wasn't gone. He's never been close to Fury so they are pretty much acting like nothing happened. Rocket seems to realize he is hurt and isn't trying to play with him but she's also not afraid of him. Yay!

He is not crated. Part of the reason we decided on surgery is he doesn't do well with confinement so happy cat equals better healing so the more expensive but better for him route of surgery. He has little steps to get on the bed and couch and free range of the house. Luckily he's never been a big time climber or jumper so its working out. He's taking short walks of a few feet, resting and a few feet to get around. He doesn't put weight on the broken leg and the surgery stabalized it. My vet is not a believer in wraps or casts, she says they do more harm than good unless the cat tolerates it well and she didn't think he would based on temperment. No e-collar for the same and she kept the surgery site pretty small. He's also on a pain medication with a mild sedative so he's been sleeping alot. I think thats also contributed to him not messing with the staples. But we watch him throughout the day and check them. All good.

Sounds like a great update, for all your fur crew.

Link looks so adorable in that photo. Looks like he is totally relaxing. He must be comfortable to show off his belly like that.

Thanks for the added info, about taking the surgery route, so that you don't have to confine him to a crate.

Definitely sounds like the better way to go, so his healing is faster.

My guess would be that they stabilized his leg with some sort of metal rods/plates, pins,screws...like they do for humans.?

Also sounds like you have an excellent vet, with a lot of experience.

Continued Healing Vibes for your Link...

and you don't need any peaceful vibes for Fury or Rocket...but I'll send them anyway...so they don't get any ideas of rough-playing or rough-housing.    

Yes @cat nap he has two pins down the bone to stabalize it. Luckily it was a pretty clean break and only the tibia broke. My vet feels that between the fibula and the pins it will be internally stabalized enough to heal properly. Pins also mean a smaller surgery site so less wound for him to decide to mess with until the staples are removed next week.

You should have seen us cheering last nighy when he stretched the broken leg out some. He had been holding it up and agianst his body up to that point. He also loves going belly up but I pity the person who thinks it means you can pet the belly. He has very defined petting zones and the belly isn't one, lol.

Stretching that leg out a bit must mean he's feeling better. I'd be cheering, too.

I had to laugh about 'pity the person who thinks it means you can pet the belly' part.

Looks all inviting, but in a split-second...it's not...the old 'cat belly trap' trick.