PLEASE HELP!!!! Reintroducing pet cats.

[fry]

Hi everyone,

I am hoping I can find some help on this forum. I have two cats, both just over a year old. They are a male (Fry) and a female (Tilly) from the same litter so have always been extremely close. They are both neutered.

About a month ago, someone in my neighbourhood shot Fry in the leg at point blank range with an air rifle. As you can imagine, I was gutted. The vet only just managed to save the leg and after several surgeries (and with more to come in the future), Fry is now back home with a huge cast on his leg.

When Fry first went to the vet Tilly looked everywhere for him, waited by the catflap for him and was clearly distressed by his absence. Now he is back she is terrified of him. She will not go near him (or even come in the room he is being kept). There have been a few chance encounters, all resulting in Tilly hissing and/or growling and then doing a runner out the catflap. Fry has been home for about 3 weeks now but things have not improved with Tilly.

I appreciate Fry doesn't smell or even look like Fry but, given how badly his leg was broken, and that he will require firther surgeries, it is likely he will be in a cast for months to come. After all the heartache, the last thing I want is for Tilly to leave but I am at a loss as to what to do about it. Should I not even bother trying to get her used to him while he is in the cast? Should I keep her in the house for a while so she is forced to confront him but can't run away? Will she work out it is Fry when the cast comes off and he stops stinking of the vet or will it have been too long by then?

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks

 

[fry]

Having taken a little look around the forum I have seen lots of helpful posts about introducing cats, so I guess my real questions are the following:

1) Does it make any difference that they knew each other before or should I treat it like introducing new cats?

2) Is it worth attempting to get them used to each other whilst Fry still has his cast or should I wait until it is removed and he starts smelling normal again?

Thanks

 

[kit e cat]

My question is, why in the world would you still let your cats outside when one got shot?
I'm sure they'll get a long just fine, but you're going to have to reintroduce them just like you would a new cat. Exchanging blankets, etc, limted interactions for awhile.

 

[fry]

Hi,

Thanks for your response. I am still letting Tilly out because I believe what happened to Fry was most likely an isolated incident, unfortunate as it was. There are lots of cats in the area and when I reported what happened to the police and RSPCA, neither had heard of anything similar happening. If someone had been specifically targetting cats I would imagine more incidents would have been reported. Don't get me wrong, I did really struggle with the decision to let Tilly out again and was very anxious the whole time she was out for a while, but I have kept them as outdoor cats and I am trying not to change their lifestyle based on the actions of some cruel, idiot individual. I hope I have made the right decision but I guess only time will tell. If I hear of anything like this happening again in the area I will rethink my decision for sure! Meanwhile I am working through the wealth of advice on the forum for introducing cats ...

Thanks again

 

[kittymcg]

I'm sorry to hear about you cat. Poor thing, it's terrible that these sick people exist and are able to get hold of weapons. I assume you're in the UK (RSPCA) i always let my cats out when I lived there and nothing ever happened to them, they lived to ripe old ages too. I live in Canada now and my new cats are strictly indoor cats (for many reasons). There are arguments for both but it comes down to you to make the best decision (I don't think I could let my cats out knowing there was some sicko on the loose though).

It must be distressing that Fry doesn't have his sister to comfort him, but in her eyes (or nose) he is different in some way and she is acting the way she is because she is afraid. I expect things will return to normal. After our boy cat was neutered our girl hissed at him for a while; she stopped eventually.

There's a lot of good advice on this site to help. If he will be in and out of surgeries though the problem may persist and you may be better off to make him comfortable and supervise them if they're together.

I'm sure their bond will return in time once things get 'back to normal'.