Non Recognition Aggression (siblings)

[MoeM]

I have two female cat sisters, they were both abandoned/orphaned and left by their mom in my garden when they were tiny (1-2 weeks old). 9 Months later they are healthy and have not left the premise of my garden since. They were attached to the hip, playing together all day long, eating together and cuddling every night as they sleep. As days went by I noticed thy do suffer of separation anxiety when they are away from each other. Meowing and overly affectionate behavior towards me when one of them is away from the other. I never separated them but I have a big garden and sometimes they lost track of each other. One example is, they usually climb a tree to sleep on a balcony outside my room when one of them climbs up and the other is down, there will usually be restlessness, meows, looking out waiting for her sister to join her (both reacted same way). It became a nightly habit of mine to make sure they are both on the balcony ready to sleep or else I will have to get up in the middle of the night to find the other one and reunite them. Their bond has always been so heart warming and so cute.

Here is where the problem is, one of the cats got pregnant and has given birth. Her sister witnessed the birth but once she was done delivering I put the mother in an outdoor room where it was comfortable for her and the new kittens. I immediately noticed the other sister in stress
I didn't worry since I was planning on reuniting them and thought this was no problem. (please note Ive never had cats and keep learning) The next day after the delivery, I opened the door of the room out into the garden for the mother cat to get some fresh air and take a walk around.

My main thing was I wanted to give my lonely cat some relief by seeing her sister and reuniting them, boy was I wrong. As soon as she sniffed her sister she started hissing. I saw her do it a few more times when she was around thankfully there wasn't any over the top aggression or fights. It has been a few days now and their bond seems to be completely broken. It has been heartbreaking for me to see her miss her sister this much and not recognize her. She waits on the balcony and meows every night looking down waiting for her sister to join her. I have been crying like crazy watching her go through this and not being able to help. Is it possible for her to recognize her sister again? is there anything I can do? It just breaks my heart to see her this lonely and sad. Is there any thing I can do to have them re-establish their bond for her sake?

 

[Spookymoo]

A new mum will act aggressive towards other cats no matter the previous bond...she is in full on protective mode. There's not much you can do, hopefully as the kittens get older the bond will return. My biggest advice is get them kitties sterilized

 

[MoeM]

Thanks Spokymoo I do intend on having them neutered as soon as they are old enough . Just wanted to point out mother cat seems to be super chilled, she didn't hiss or react negatively to her sister.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I hope that is will resolve itself, as your situation doesn't really lend itself to a reintroduction. However, I'm still going to give you the links to a couple of articles about just that. There's a lot of information in them, and it may give you some ideas.

How To Deal With Non-recognition Aggression In Cats

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction (some of this will cross over to your cats, as well)

Let us know how things go!

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. Congrats on being a new cat "mama", and now cat "grand-mama".

Here's a TCS article that may have some helpful info for you:
First-time Cat Owner's Guide

Since one of the "kittens" has already given birth, I would recommend you getting the "sister" spayed asap, as she could become pregnant too at any time now.

Also, please try to keep mama from running loose, as she can also get pregnant again while still nursing her current kittens.

When To Spay Or Neuter A Cat?

About the non-recognition, maybe mama's scent has changed since giving birth and that's why her sister doesn't recognize her. Hopefully once the kittens are weaned, and both females are spayed, they will be best buds again.

Will you be able to find homes for the kittens?

 

[Spookymoo]

Thanks Spokymoo I do intend on having them neutered as soon as they are old enough . Just wanted to point out mother cat seems to be super chilled, she didn't hiss or react negatively to her sister.

Oops, sorry misread the first post! Then it's probably as the new mum smells differentl with her new kittens around her. My cat always does this when my other has come back from the vets as she doesn't smell like normal. Hopefully it will resolve itself quickly and they'll get back to being friends.