# Reintroduction of a cat after visit to vet



## crazycats (Mar 21, 2015)

Reintroduction of a cat after visit to vet

We have two six year-old female cats, named Mitsy and Kizzy, both from the same litter and adopted together from an animal rescue centre when they were three months old.

They have been indoor cats since birth, and lived happily together up until the day that Kizzy had to stay overnight at the vets. When Kizzy was brought back to the house the following day Mitsy exhibited territorial aggression as if she had never met Kizzy before. We assumed this was due to the smell of the vets and other animals and hoped this would wear off within a few hours or days once she realised that it was her sister.

That was about three months ago and the situation has not improved. Initially the vet advised us to keep them apart in separate parts of the house and to introduce them to each other one sense at a time i.e. by first exchanging their scent by sharing their bedding, food bowls, socks, towels etc., and then next a few days later by sight only e.g. by feeding at the same time either side of a glass door, and then finally by both sight and smell e.g. by opening the glass door a little at a time. During this period we used a feline pheromone diffuser and spray. However, as soon as Mitsy has sight of Kizzy she becomes territorial e.g. by staring, hissing, or standing on her back legs and pawing the glass door. We also bought a cat behaviour book and restarted the reintroduction process all over again but this also failed to work. As Kizzy is the victim, she has the run of the house with Mitsy staying mostly in one room, and once or twice a day they get to swap around, the only dividing line being the pet screen door.

Most of the time Kizzy just seems confused about all the fuss, but on one occasion she did mirror the same standing and pawing action on the other side of the door, perhaps in a defensive way. We recently installed a pet screen door in the hope that a combination of scent and smell would help, considering that Mitsy does not appear too bothered about smell, since they happily use each other's litter trays, feeding bowls and scratching posts. We stopped using the feline pheromone diffuser and spray a few weeks ago as it was expensive and ineffective at dealing with territorial aggression.

Both cats appear to be fairly content to live this way, but with segregated areas and closed doors it's like living in a zoo.

If you've had a similar experience and been able to solve it then please can you share your story?

Thanks.


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## Catharinem (Dec 17, 2014)

What happens if they are in a room together? Cats rely a lot on smell, so seeing each other through glass isn't really letting them get used to each other. Is there any harmful aggression when they are in the same room or is it all hiss and spit and "witch's cat" arched backs?


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

@crazycats - I agree with CatherineM, a glass door barrier is not ideal. It would be much better to use a screen door, so the two cats can smell each other. I have used screen doors whenever I've introduced a new cat or kittens to the resident cats and they work well. My screen doors are DIY jobs made of cheap wood and chicken wire, (though neatly finished by my OH ) and attached with hinges to the door frame, but you can buy screen doors ready made.

When I bring a cat back from the vets I always take him/her in their carrier straight to a room (usually the bathroom), shut the door, then take the cat out of the carrier and wipe their fur thoroughly with unscented baby wet wipes (also include their paws too). Then I rub the cat with a couple of pet blankets that have not been out of the house, and have plenty of 'cat' scents on. I appreciate it's a bit late for you to do this now, as the vet visit has long gone, but it would be worth thinking of it for next time one of the cats has to go to the vet.

What you could do as well as lots of scent-swapping is to rub your hands with powdered cat nip and then stroke both cats, so they both smell of something nice. If you keep this up, as well as letting them see and smell each other through a screen door for a few weeks, I think they will come round. The important thing is not to rush them, let them accept each other at their own pace.


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## crazycats (Mar 21, 2015)

Catharinem said:


> What happens if they are in a room together? Cats rely a lot on smell, so seeing each other through glass isn't really letting them get used to each other. Is there any harmful aggression when they are in the same room or is it all hiss and spit and "witch's cat" arched backs?


They have not been in the same room as yet but they can smell and see each other through the screen door we have put up. I wouldn't say it was harmful aggression as Mitsy only hisses when she sees Kizzy, Kizzy on the other hand just looks confused when Mitsy hisses at her. There is no arching of the back.


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## crazycats (Mar 21, 2015)

chillminx said:


> @crazycats - I agree with CatherineM, a glass door barrier is not ideal. It would be much better to use a screen door, so the two cats can smell each other. I have used screen doors whenever I've introduced a new cat or kittens to the resident cats and they work well. My screen doors are DIY jobs made of cheap wood and chicken wire, (though neatly finished by my OH ) and attached with hinges to the door frame, but you can buy screen doors ready made.
> 
> When I bring a cat back from the vets I always take him/her in their carrier straight to a room (usually the bathroom), shut the door, then take the cat out of the carrier and wipe their fur thoroughly with unscented baby wet wipes (also include their paws too). Then I rub the cat with a couple of pet blankets that have not been out of the house, and have plenty of 'cat' scents on. I appreciate it's a bit late for you to do this now, as the vet visit has long gone, but it would be worth thinking of it for next time one of the cats has to go to the vet.
> 
> What you could do as well as lots of scent-swapping is to rub your hands with powdered cat nip and then stroke both cats, so they both smell of something nice. If you keep this up, as well as letting them see and smell each other through a screen door for a few weeks, I think they will come round. The important thing is not to rush them, let them accept each other at their own pace.


Thank you for your advise concerning future visits to the vets, very helpful. We will persevere with them meeting through the screen door and will keep everything crossed that they will get back to how they used to be. Thanks again.


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## Catharinem (Dec 17, 2014)

To be honest it sounds like you're more worried about it than the cats, and you don't want to drag this on for months. Feed either side of the screen door with something really tasty and smelly (fish/chicken dinner), bowls each about 2 foot from the screen, and when truly stuffing it down remove the screen or open it wide. Hopefully they'll be more interested in their dinner than each other. I never worry too much about spiteful hissing as long as it doesn't escalate, normally resolves within a day for new introductions, I've never had a problem for established groups after a vet visit but I let out of basket at same time as feeding so everybody milling about and jostling together ( the exception has been when we moved from Norfolk to our farm, our British Blue had us as "his" family, but Farm Cat (FC) was already living on "her" territory . They are still only tolerant of each other 7 years on, about 1 m is as close as they get without a warning, but they were both adult cats and FC had been living rough on rats for quite a while, it took 4 months to even catch her to check for a microchip). We introduced a very elderly rescue Siamese to our bunch back in our old house, she was stone deaf. She approached another one in her nice warm basket, first cat started spitting wildly as she didn't want company but couldn't be bothered to fight or move. Other cat being stone deaf didn't even notice, climbed in and fell asleep! After staring in horror at us, expecting us to remove the invader for her, first cat eventually fell asleep curled up with the new girl, who was snoring by then! I'd let them get on with it after a distraction over removing the screen, unless you're seriously worried. They've been together 6 years, wouldn't expect serious trouble, but do it when you can be around for several hours ( so in morning of a weekend day would be ideal). You'll just have to play it by ear as you will be there and we can only go on your description of events, but I probably wouldn't take it seriously.


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## crazycats (Mar 21, 2015)

Catharinem said:


> To be honest it sounds like you're more worried about it than the cats, and you don't want to drag this on for months. Feed either side of the screen door with something really tasty and smelly (fish/chicken dinner), bowls each about 2 foot from the screen, and when truly stuffing it down remove the screen or open it wide. Hopefully they'll be more interested in their dinner than each other. I never worry too much about spiteful hissing as long as it doesn't escalate, normally resolves within a day for new introductions, I've never had a problem for established groups after a vet visit but I let out of basket at same time as feeding so everybody milling about and jostling together ( the exception has been when we moved from Norfolk to our farm, our British Blue had us as "his" family, but Farm Cat (FC) was already living on "her" territory . They are still only tolerant of each other 7 years on, about 1 m is as close as they get without a warning, but they were both adult cats and FC had been living rough on rats for quite a while, it took 4 months to even catch her to check for a microchip). We introduced a very elderly rescue Siamese to our bunch back in our old house, she was stone deaf. She approached another one in her nice warm basket, first cat started spitting wildly as she didn't want company but couldn't be bothered to fight or move. Other cat being stone deaf didn't even notice, climbed in and fell asleep! After staring in horror at us, expecting us to remove the invader for her, first cat eventually fell asleep curled up with the new girl, who was snoring by then! I'd let them get on with it after a distraction over removing the screen, unless you're seriously worried. They've been together 6 years, wouldn't expect serious trouble, but do it when you can be around for several hours ( so in morning of a weekend day would be ideal). You'll just have to play it by ear as you will be there and we can only go on your description of events, but I probably wouldn't take it seriously.


Thanks for your reply. I agree with you, I am a worrier. I will try feeding them from either side of the screen door. thanks again and I loved your story about your Siamese.


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## Catharinem (Dec 17, 2014)

crazycats said:


> Thanks for your reply. I agree with you, I am a worrier. I will try feeding them from either side of the screen door. thanks again and I loved your story about your Siamese.


No worries, let us know how it goes


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