Cat aggression: Non-recognition

Non-recognition aggression

It is not uncommon for cats who previously have gotten along just fine, to suddenly start fighting each other after one of them has returned from the vet. Cats that live together create a communal scent, they rely most heavily on scent to recognize each other and when one of them leaves they can lose their communal scent and pick up foreign unfamiliar and threatening scent from the places they’ve been. When you bring that cat home, the cat that stayed behind will sniff the one that was away and not recognize them which can lead to a fight! Depending on the cats this misunderstanding can take a long time to repair especially if the the cat that lost their communal scent now distrusts its housemate.

So how do you avoid this from happening?

1. Arrange to take the cats to the vet together. Even if one of them doesn’t need anything. This way they will smell the same upon returning home.

2. Prepare a sanctuary room for the cat that went to the vet that they will stay in upon returning home from the vet. Give them time to reabsorb the communal smell of the home and lick away the unfamiliar smells as well as decompress from the stress of a vet visit or recover from their ailment. A sanctuary room should have everything a cat needs to feel safe and secure which is, vertical spaces to climb, hiding places, a bed or blanket that they have already slept on, food, water, litter box, scratching post that they have already scratched, and toys.

3. If the cat’s are good friends and you’ve witnessed them grooming each other, rubbing each other, or sleeping together- Take a clean hand towel and rub all the cats with it, including the cat going to the vet, make sure you rub the cheek area, especially the cheek area of the cat’s best cat friend in the home. The cheek area is where the friendly cat pheromones are located. Once your cat is back home and in their sanctuary room, use that hand towel to rub all over the cat who returned from the vet, to help speed up the process of getting the communal scent back on them. If there’s a blanket or towel that all the cats of been sleeping on together you can also use that to rub on the cat that just returned home. If you have a brush that you’ve used on all the cats, you can brush the cat who returned from the vet to distribute the communal scent back onto their body.

If the cats are just roommates and only tolerate each other, never groom each other, never rub each other or sleep together - Take a clean hand towel and rub down the cat who is going to the vet to collect that cat’s scent onto the towel. Keep this towel at home and use it to rub the cat down again when they return home. Cat’s that aren’t best friends are not going to appreciate having the other cat’s scent forced upon them, so just use their own personal scent.

4. Take the time to slowly reintroduce by feeding the cats at the same time with a tall baby gate between them. If everyone is calm and relaxed you can let the cat that went to the vet re-enter the rest of the home. If a more lengthy reintroduction period is necessary contact Jamie for help!