# Kitten hating her sister after spaying



## tochica (May 6, 2013)

Hello, our two 5.5m old kittens got spayed yesterday. Apart from the normal thing, them being groggy from the anaesthetic/surgery it all looked well. At some point during the night, as I was just drifting, we got woken up by a growl. I switched on the lights and saw Bandit had moved next to Smokey and was licking her. Smokey went off and under the bed, and in a minute when I managed to get her back on (I wanted them both where I could see them to try preventing them licking on the wounds) she saw Bandit and started hissing and growing. Since then Smokey is hating being around Bandit we had to separate them last night as she was uneasy just being in the same room. We all together spent most of the day in the living room today but as long as Smokey sees Bandit is near she gets uneasy. There was an instance when Smokey was lying on the sofa and Bandit was walking nearby Smokey growled but Bandit just went up to her and started licking her and Smokey kinda calmed down, apart from that Bandit mostly seems to go around her or ignores Smokey's hissing. I read some stuff on the net suggesting it may be the vet's smell, or it might have been Bandit hurting or startling Smokey in her sleep, I am just wondering if anybody had similar experience and how did it turn out. I am pretty sure once they recover and be able to play and run they should be fine, what bothers me is this seems to stress Smokey a lot. She ate yesterday's evening but has been refusing food (save a few licks of butter of my finger) and water/cream today. She looks scared and down and I am worried she's not recovering. We tried sleeping all together again but Smokey was pretty nervous so Bandit and I moved out of the bedroom again. I am sorry for the long post I am just wondering should we separate them or not?


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## Aeschylus (Sep 19, 2013)

I haven't had this experience but I've read about it. Apparently one solution is to rub a dry towel gently all over each cat to transfer the smell of both of them to each other (hope that makes sense). But I've never tried it so I don't know if it works. I'm sure others here will have some helpful suggestions.

Good luck!


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## tochica (May 6, 2013)

Yea we read about that today as well, tried it not sure if it worked much, certainly didn't harm. I am just not sure it's purely smell/recognition thing as they were fine cuddling at first, also yea Bandit stinks of vet (even I can feel it) but so does Smokey. I do try switching things thought (like bowls but Smokey refuses food). I think Bandit hurt/startled her somehow, or maybe is combination of that with the odd smell. Cheers though!


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## jill3 (Feb 18, 2009)

I think it's because being at the vets she has a different smell.
They will soon be ok again.
Last week one of mine went to a cat show and they hissed at him the next day because he smelt different. They are fine now


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## Jiskefet (May 15, 2011)

They will _both_ smell of the vet, but the thing THEY will notice is that the other cat no longer smells like the cat they know. Aparently, Smokey is more upset by the whole vet trip and strange smell thing than Bandit, and doesn't really trust anyone right now...

I would make sure they both smell very much of you, too. They need to get rid of the 'odeur de vet clinic' in order to smell 'right' to each other again, and I guess Smokey just needed some time to de-stress and settle down again. Whatever you do, don't feed the stress, but help her relax. Hug and cuddle them both, but, till Smokey is comfortable being around Bandit again, not together.
Try to bring them together with treats or a wand toy, so they will associate each other with happy things again. But don't push it, if Smokey doesn't want to, don't force it.


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## tochica (May 6, 2013)

The news with us are bad. Smokey has fluids in her lungs, they aren't sure what has caused it yet. Left her at the vets tonight. All the info I seem to find on the net is dreadful.  I will try to look here on the forums for threads discussing it but links/info would be much appreciated. 

I suppose this is not the right section of the forum for this and I apologise.


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## helenthemum (Jan 25, 2009)

tochica said:


> The news with us are bad. Smokey has fluids in her lungs, they aren't sure what has caused it yet. Left her at the vets tonight. All the info I seem to find on the net is dreadful.  I will try to look here on the forums for threads discussing it but links/info would be much appreciated.
> 
> I suppose this is not the right section of the forum for this and I apologise.


Oh no I hope she gets better soon. I had a ginger cat who had double pneumonia, he spent 5 days at the vets on drips and oxygen, came home recovered but on anti-biotics. Before he had finished the course we had to rush him back as he developed fluid on his lungs again. It is horrible they gave him an injection to help him which made him worse. They kept him in and amazingly he came home the next day as though he had never been ill.

I am glad I came across this thread, my 2 almost 5 month old kittens are due to be spayed week after next on the same day.


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## Aeschylus (Sep 19, 2013)

How is Smokey doing? I do hope she's making good progress.


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## tochica (May 6, 2013)

She is stable, getting better every day, she's at home now we just go there every day for meds. They want to give diuretics + antibiotics for a day or two more and then make another x ray to see how the lungs are. It's still dangerous as they are not sure what has caused it yet. They don't have a machine to check the hearth there so we will likely have to go somewhere else but they want to make sure lungs are fine first. We just hope it's not something that will repeat. 

Helen, from what I read and they tell me this is extremely rare, and it's also possible they made mistake or she had severe allergic reaction or it's possible it was too much of a shock for her, or her heart is poor. I really hope this doesn't scare you of.

I will post to let you guys know, I am just don't have much time.


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## Aeschylus (Sep 19, 2013)

Thanks for posting. Glad to hear she's getting better every day - that must be quite a relief! I hope her health continues to improve and that she'll be all better very soon.


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## Jiskefet (May 15, 2011)

How is Smokey doing now??


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## tochica (May 6, 2013)

Smokey looks a lot better. A week after they found the liquid in her lungs we had to rush her back to the vet because she stopped eating. She had bad fever (41 degrees). They ran tests, and took more xrays, nothing abnormal showed on tests, lungs looked clear and her organs seemed fine. So again they weren't sure  She was on antibiotics for a week and she looks really well now but we are still worried. Hopefully that's the end of it but if she worsens again we should look to take her somewhere else I suppose.

Apart from that they are back to their usual selves, they cuddle and run together crazily most of their 'awake' time. Just hoping they will be healthy from now on. A couple of pics from yday Smokey saw something while cleaning and Bandit with her toilet paper ball (favourite toy ever)


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## Aeschylus (Sep 19, 2013)

Good to hear Smokey's doing so much better, and that they're back to their usual selves. Love the pics - what beautiful cats!


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