Nonrecognition aggression after a few hours at the vet

I have two siblings fur babies who will be 7 in February. The are wonderful and I love them dearly. They are Maine Coon/Manx so they are gigantic with tails that aren’t stubs but are definitely too short for their gigantic bodies. It’s adorable!

Sampson (the boy) had to go to the emergency vet on Christmas day and we were gone for about three hours. He seemed to be having trouble eating anything crunchy and wouldn’t even crunch his way through a treat. He was also throwing up randomly but was acting completely normal aside from these two things. Needless to say, I was freaked out so into the vet we went! We did an exam, blood work, a dental check, and an ultrasound but everything was normal. We gave him an anti-nausea shot and subcutaneous fluids. Thankfully, all is well with him now so who knows what was going on.

However! I was too stressed and exhausted to think about what I needed to do before letting him back into the apartment where his sister had been alone for three hours. I know I should have separated them and let him groom himself/reacquire the smells of the apartment. She now HATES him. I know that nonrecognition aggression is a very real thing but it’s not something I have ever experienced before. They have never been separated as we always go to the vet together to make it less stressful for them. I am at a loss! They aren't usually snuggle buddies but they are at least good friends normally.

I've got feliway diffusers up and have rubbed Sampson down with clothes that smell like her, smell like me, smell like feliway… She is okay with eating next to him or watching the squirrels on the patio but as soon as the distraction is gone, the war is back on. Thankfully she has not physically attacked him yet - they are both so huge that I really worry about that possibility. He is sticking to rooms she isn’t in and is confused as to what is going on but seems mostly ok. She is okay so long as he is at a distance.. as soon as he comes close, the growling and hissing starts. They both normally sleep on the bed with me but she hasn't even come into the bedroom since this all started. He is still as comfortable as ever in there though.

Thoughts? Suggestions? I don’t have a great environment to separate them in for more than a few hours at a time but I’ll figure it out if it comes to that. We are scheduled for a regular vet checkup for both of them on January 20th so maybe that will kick start something? This picture was from a distraction yesterday - Sampson is the ginger and Dinah the brunette.

Hello and welcome!!

Two very good looking kitties!

Key is to get the smells of the vet off of him and familiar scents back on him, asap is best of course.

Bathing him or using wipes first, then even using her to transfer her scent on to him.

This is super common.

Thanks for the reply! I know it's definitely a common thing, just not one I've run into with these rugrats yet.

He has been sleeping under the covers in bed with me since the 25th and I've used a washcloth to rub all her scent points and then used it to rub all over him but doesn't seem to be working. She is okay with him for a brief period if she is distracted but it's as though as soon as she stops to think she remembers she should be upset about it.

I'll be trying wipes later today - I'm wondering if I should remove him again from the apartment for a little bit and then reintroduce him after a wipe down? I think I'm worried that I'll somehow make it worse. It breaks my heart that the furballs aren't friends right now - poor Sampson is so confused as to why she doesn't like him. 

I would leave them be to figure it out for themselves. Cats can immediately tell if their people are stressed & agitated so try to relax.

SampsonandDinah said:

 
Thanks for the reply! I know it's definitely a common thing, just not one I've run into with these rugrats yet.

He has been sleeping under the covers in bed with me since the 25th and I've used a washcloth to rub all her scent points and then used it to rub all over him but doesn't seem to be working. She is okay with him for a brief period if she is distracted but it's as though as soon as she stops to think she remembers she should be upset about it.

I'll be trying wipes later today - I'm wondering if I should remove him again from the apartment for a little bit and then reintroduce him after a wipe down? I think I'm worried that I'll somehow make it worse. It breaks my heart that the furballs aren't friends right now - poor Sampson is so confused as to why she doesn't like him. 

Click to expand...

Not if you wipe her down first then use that wipe on him after his own wipe.

catwoman707 said:

Not if you wipe her down first then use that wipe on him after his own wipe.

Click to expand...

Ah! Good point. I just gave them a treat and they ate it side by side with no issues. She wandered away when she was done and he ate her leftovers. She was halfway across the room before she remembered she is supposed to be grumpy and started hissing. I'll try the wipes later tonight.

This happened to me and I found that feeding them on opposite sides of the door and putting a toy under the door for them both to play with together on either side of it were both helpful.

As of this morning, things seem to be mostly back to normal! YAY!

We are headed into the vet tomorrow though as Dinah has a small eyelid tumor that we need to get checked out - the stress from the last week seems to have exacerbated it. Everyone is coming along for this trip so hopefully all goes well and we come back to our regular, loving home. Thanks for the advice everyone!