An Injured Cat

[Bpenkal2388]

Hello:
I have three cats all which are brothers and one sister and have been together since they were born. I have them three years and never had any issues really with them attacking each other. Until tonight...
I have two males and one female. Rajah and Jasper are the males, and Gizmo is the female. Jasper cut his tail tonight on a broken edge of a metal bed frame. He was bleeding, and it was a deep cut. I took him to a vet that we don’t normally use, because my normal vet was closed. The vet said the cut couldn’t really be stitched or staple due to its location. But either way she gave us some pain meds and antibiotics, and sent us home. Ever since I came home, Rajah and Gizmo are hissing at him and attacking him. I was wondering if anyone had an advice because I have no idea what or why they are doing this. I think it may be because the cut is still open, but if anyone has any advice please let me know

 

[KarenKat]

Hi, and welcome to The Cat Site! It’s pretty common for cats to hiss, growl or even swat at a cat that has been to the vet. Jasper smells like the vet, and Rajah and Gizmo don’t recognize him as being the same Jasper that left. When we take one of our three to the vet, we usually just let it play out and after a day (or two) they settle back down and are chummy again. Sometimes we play Sherriff and make sure the returned cat isn’t being harrassed.

There is a great article here about this behavior: How To Deal With Non-recognition Aggression In Cats

 

[Bpenkal2388]

Okay thank you. I figured that. It’s just weird because we have taken Gizmo to the vet by herself and the boys didn’t attack her. The issue I have is I really can’t separate the cats because we live with my boyfriend family and we keep the cats in our room due to the fact they have four dogs, and the one dog is aggressive towards all three of the cats. So I’m at a loss. I have no clue what to do about it

 

[KarenKat]

If Jasper needs to be separated what about a large carrier or dog crate? If you can leave food, water and a litter box inside he will be fine.

Sometimes Vet visits don’t bother our guys at all and sometimes it’s weird for days. I never figure out why.

 

[Bpenkal2388]

A dog crate would probably work. Thank you. I didn’t think of that