One of my cats just came home from the vet & the other cat is attacking her.Why?
By Rachel1919
@Rachel1919 (81)
United States
March 13, 2009 5:55pm CST
I had to take my youngest cat to the vet because she has an ear infection. We were only gone about an hour. When we arrived home my other cat, who is the alpha female, attacked the sick one unprovoked. The 2 cats usually get along well though the young one is always submissive to the older one.
We have now been home for a few hours and the older cat is not calming down at all. She is hissing and is all puffed up in attack mode every time she catches a glimpse of the other cat. I currently have them in separate rooms. She is even attacking me by hissing, scratching and growling.
Why is she so angry and how to I get her to stop this behavior? She wasn't even the one who went to the vet. Next week IS her turn to go in for her yearly shots/checkup and this will probably start all over again. Do you have any advice? This happens all the time.
3 people like this
5 responses
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Mar 09
Hi Rachel...glad to see you here and you managed to find me..LOL. Small world no?
The only thing I can think of for your other cat's aggressive behavior is perhaps she smells the smells from the vet and has picked up on the scents that may have rubbed off from other cats and dogs and onto your younger cat.
3 people like this
@Rachel1919 (81)
• United States
14 Mar 09
I'm happy to have found you too. Are you still active on Ciao?
I just tried to put baby powder on both of the cats to make them smell the same but so far she is still hostile.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Mar 09
Nope, not very active over at Ciao, hardly ever go there now...just not really the same there anymore
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Mar 09
Have you ever heard of Associated Content? You can write articles there. Even their rate of pay has dwindled though. When I first started there two years ago, one could get about $8 to $10 per article...then last year it dropped by half. They now tend to yo-yo...some articles fetch only $2.00 or $3.00, but did just get an article published for $4.20--a lot better though than what we're getting at Ciao which is practically nothing now
2 people like this
@morgandrake (2136)
• United States
14 Mar 09
I would be guessing that it is the smell from the vet's office that is setting her off. I know that my cats are always sniffing the other when they get home from the vet. And if your cat hates going to the vet, then having their little friend smelling like the enemy is naturally stressful. There is not much more you can do about it, other than what you have already did.
3 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
14 Mar 09
well, one, the younger cat now smells like vet, and this has upset the alpha cat, it has made her afraid because the vet smell scares her, and the other cat is scaring her because she smells that way
the best thing to do is try to get the vet smell away from the other cat and help them get back together
and when she goes, it may start again, but because the alpha is again afraid and will attack anything that she can - some cats do that - I have the scars to prove it.
1 person likes this
@sudalunts (5523)
• United States
14 Mar 09
I do not have an answer for you, but I do know that my younger male cat is the aggressive cat and my older female is very submissive. Actually, my husband took her to the vets last week, and because of the male cat's aggression, we have to separate them at night. I have to feed my female cat in the bathroom, because I am adding medicine to her food, and the male cat will scare her away from eating. My male cat acts like a bully child, he would wait until my husband and I go to bed at night, and then all I would hear is a major cat fight. She does not have to do anything he just attacks just because. Right now they are both laying on the same couch, but if my husband and I leave the room, Mr Bully would be ready to misbehave. I have a spray bottle nearby. He is so cute, but sooooooo bad
2 people like this
@Rachel1919 (81)
• United States
14 Mar 09
That is exactly how it is in my house. The aggressive cat is the biggest bully. I hate it but I don't do anything about it because I didn't really know what to do truthfully. The bully cat seems to be less aggressive if I pay more attention to her than the submissive one. It seems to make her mad if I am loving towards the sweet cat. Now that you mentioned a spray bottle I think that I'll just have to start squirting her with water. I've never tried that before but I will if it will teach her to stop abusing my other kitty.
1 person likes this
