Cat hissing at other cat after vet visit

[bengaldude]

Wondering if anyone can shed some light on this for me. 

Yesterday, we took our 8-year old bengal to the vet for a dental checkup (she's got some periodontal issues). Last night, our other 9-year old male bengal started hissing at her every time he smelled her. I've done some cursory research online and it sounds like it may just be a matter of her smelling like the vet, but, after separating them overnight in different rooms, wiping our female down with a warm washcloth (to get any scent off her), and even trying a team activity (laser pointer) he's still doing it. 

I'm concerned because, well, she's really stressed out by it obviously. But he's usually a really calm, laid back cat. In fact, he's never hissed at her before that I can remember. It's like he doesn't recognize her at all and feels threatened by her. Really scary and frustrating because they've always been best friends and snuggle buddies.   

Any thoughts are appreciated. 

 

[betsygee]

Fortunately we haven't had had that issue with our cats but I don't think it's that uncommon.  If you do a search for 'non-recognition aggression' you'll find lots of information on it.  Here's a recent thread about it:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/302644/non-recognition-aggression-help