Am I Overreacting?

My middle "child" (NM, age 5) spent last Friday at the vet for a dental, and since bringing him home have had to separate him from my other two cats (NM age 6 and SF age 2) because of hissing and growling. Up until this point they were all buddies.
I've got a Feliway plugged in and have been rotating them between rooms to transfer scents and have been feeding them near each other with a screen door between them. All seems well until one starts staring and the growling/hissing starts all over.
I've read that they should not be out all together until all there's no more hissing, etc. My sister thinks I'm going overboard and should just let them work things out.
Am I just prolonging the issue by delaying the inevitable or doing the right thing?

Thanks Cathy

Cathy, I think you are prolonging the issue. They live together always have, alwys will. They have to get over it and they will. It is just hissing and is not abnormal! A lot of cats are that way. They have to get used to eachother again. Diffenert smells come from the vet's office!!! I would let them be together and let them work it out!

Originally Posted by emb_78

Cathy, I think you are prolonging the issue. They live together always have, alwys will. They have to get over it and they will. It is just hissing and is not abnormal! A lot of cats are that way. They have to get used to eachother again. Diffenert smells come from the vet's office!!! I would let them be together and let them work it out!

Click to expand...

I agree with you. I've let them alone all morning and they've had their spats (nothing physical) but not let it escalate. I am praying that things get better today cuz I really don't want to separate them while I'm at work all day tomorrow, nor do I want to worry sick that they're trying to kill each other!
I presume that 36 hours after returning from the vet all the scent-issues have been worked out. They were never that close to begin with. The oldest of the three was actually friendlier with both of them than they were with each other. But, they need to re-establish their place in the pecking order.
Thanks for the advice.
Cathy

I heard that you can take Vanilla Extract and dab a little right under their nose to mask some of the small.

Originally Posted by Luvmysphynx

I heard that you can take Vanilla Extract and dab a little right under their nose to mask some of the small.

Click to expand...

I've heard this tooo.......

how long has this behavior been going on....... sometimes cats will get mad at what they have been through, and will take it out on the other cats....Mabby is like that if shes mad cause we clipped her claws..shell go over and bip poppy in the head.....

My policy has always been "let them work it out amongst themselves..unless it gets too bad" and it has always worked for me....but i know it doesnt work for everyone

I think they will be fine. Cats hiss at new stimuli - even newborn kittens do this!

I agree - let them work it out amongst themselves, as long as no one is bleeding or being bullied.

Originally Posted by semiferal

I think they will be fine. Cats hiss at new stimuli - even newborn kittens do this!

I agree - let them work it out amongst themselves, as long as no one is bleeding or being bullied.

Click to expand...

I tried the vanilla a few hours ago..the 2 "combatants" just ate about 2 feet apart without incident. If everything goes well tonight I'm going to leave them all out tomorrow while I'm at work and pray everyone's in one piece when I get back!

Moose was very upset when we got home and that, and the fact he had his teeth cleaned and 2 extractions, may have contributed to his angst. He's eating fine and seems to be chilling out a little.

And being locked in a room does not lend itself to a calm environment. Getting back to "normal" should go a long way to achieving peace.
Thanks sooo much to all of you.

Good News! All went well last night; when I went home for lunch today they were all sleeping together on my bed. Whew, what a relief. Thanks again to all for your advice and encouragement. It's very distressing when your "kids" don't get along!
Cathy, Moose, Rocky and Lucy.