one cat upset that the other is back from hospital

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equine99

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So I'm very glad that my Snowflake is home from the vet and feeling much better, however, her sister (littermate) is being incredibly pissy about her being home. Their whole lives they'd never been separated for more than an hour or two, or when one was gone the other was too (like when they were spayed). With this most recent fiasco, Snowflake was at a vet for almost an entire day and I think midnight (her sister) really liked being the only cat in the house. Now that snowflake's home, midnight is making all of these angry/upset noises at her. I was laying on the couch with snowflake after she got her subq fluids and midnight just came up to us and hissed, for no reason, and when snowflake was eating midnight was growling at her. I don't live in a very big apartment, so I can't really separate them, and I don't want to put off her getting over this, but are there any suggestions? I've been trying to give extra attention to midnight so she knows I love her too, but I've been scolding her when she growls at snowflake. They've always gotten along at least reasonably well, so I was very surprised that she reacted to her coming home this way.

Any advice on how to calm her down and help her be happy again?
 
Midnight is more than likely reacting to the way Snowflake smells right now....Snowflake smells like the vet's and not like her sister...cats don't rely on sight as much as smell to identify each other.

A couple of things you can try is to take a towel and Midnight down with it and then use the same towel to rub Snowflake all over with so you make them smell alike. Another trick it to put a small dab of vanilla on Midnight's nose so when she sniffs her sister she thinks Snowflake smells like vanilla and not that icky vet office.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
Both are good ideas!
Whenever one of my cats goes to the vet, I can count on something ugly happening when I open the carrier door. The cat who went to the vet is always hissed at or slapped by the one who stayed home. With Bob, that was a big issue, because Mullet has always been the alpha male, so not only did Bob feel like crap from whatever the vet did, but then he'd get picked on when he got back to what was supposed to be his "safe place". I usually put Mullet in another room or let him outside when we'd get back from the vet. Bob had to go to the vet at least once a month for blood work to check his potassium for most of last year, and it happened every time. The next day, all was well though.

When they need check-ups or shots, I bring them both at the same time so nobody feels like the other guy stinks. They both do. So then they just go off and sulk till the next feeding. :smile: That always makes everything right in their world.
Carl
 
Just had a thought and never tried this myself but what about putting Snowflake's sister in the kitty carrier and taking her for a ride in the car as if she's going to the vet. She'll get smells on her from the kitty carrier like Snowflake did and she'll be shaken up because she's been for a ride but maybe that will bring her around and she'll stop picking on Snowflake. If she doesn't readjust soon and you end up trying this, please report back if it helped.
 
thanks for the suggestions! It's been over a full day now (and they've been fed plenty) that she's been home, and midnight is still being awful to her. I don't think midnight would sit still for me to rub a towel all over her, but I just put her (very much against her wishes) in the cat carrier that snowflake was in as a bit of a time-out. At the food area she just swiped at snowflake (everything else had just been snarls and mean sounds), so I thought that required a firmer punishment. This way, she'll get the vet smells on her that are left in the carrier, and maybe it'll help her calm down since she's be confined.

Update: I just sat with snowflake outside the carrier (thinking we'd just sit there until the growling and hissing stopped) and midnight was growling and hissing and then snowflake started to growl back and wouldn't let me hold her there anymore. Midnight is finally sitting quietly, in the carrier. I think I'll let her out in 15 min and hope she's in a better mood (at least glad to be out).
 
Well, that was completely ineffective. I just let her out and she ran around for a while almost like, "you're not getting near me!!" and then went right up to snowflake and hissed in her face. ugh.
 
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