10 tips to stop cat aggression when one cat goes to the vet

Your cat is sick and after taking it to the vet you brought them home expecting your other cats to come and care for their friend, brother, or sister. Instead, you find that they act aggressively and are even fighting with each other. The question you have is How do you stop cat aggression when one cat goes to the vet?

Why your cats hate each other after the vet visit.

It’s not true that your cats hate each other after a vet visit, they just don’t recognize each other anymore. Your returning cat smells different and though the traveling cat may know the cats that stayed home, the non-traveling cats don’t know who this new cat is.

Cats know each other by smell, when a cat shows up with a different smell they think it’s a brand new cat, and they panic. They are threatened and start lashing out. This may seem strange to us humans because we know people by sight. However, this is normal for cats and fortunately can be fixed.

If your cat has been to the vet they may smell like the vet and your other cats may remember that smell and the bad experience that smell represents. This may make them aggressive as it immediately puts them on guard for danger or pain.

There is also another reason your cat may not be welcoming to the traveling cat. The returning cat may have released his or her anal glands while away from home. While this release is simply a potent stinky pet smell to us, it may signal fear and danger to your other cat.

This aggressive behavior is referred to as non-recognition aggression and it’s a very common cat behavior.

Signs of non-recognition aggresson in cats

Signs of an Attacking Cat (Stay at home cat):

• Staring with constricted or small pupils
• Mouth opened threateningly
• Claws are unsheathed and ready for batting
• Facing the returning cat and appearing ready to pounce
• Raised hair along the shoulders and tail they may be wagging their tail

Signs of a Defensive Cat (Traveling cat):

• Dilated pupils: the center (iris) of the eyes opens so that the pupils become large
• Rolling onto their back to fight if there’s no escape
• Their back may be arched.
• Their ears may be pressed back against the head
• You may see raised hair along the shoulders and tail
• They may be facing the aggressor sideways
• Hissing, spitting, and/or growling

Non-recognition aggression can last anywhere from a half-hour to a day. It depends on how quickly your traveling cat gets the strange scent off of themselves.

How to stop cat aggression when one cat goes to the vet.

You can stop cat aggression by just doing a little bit of preplanning. There are many things you can do to keep your cats from attacking each other when one returns from the vet. The most important thing to remember is that it will take time to get your cats readjusted to each other and things back to normal.

If you can take your cats to the vet at the same time.

If you are just taking your cat in for a normal check-up you may want to take them all in at once. This may not work if you have more then a couple of cats, however, it will not only make it easier on you with one visit but will make it much easier on your cat.

When your cats all go to the vet together they will all smell the same and will not fight each other upon returning home. It’s also helpful as a support system so your cats don’t feel as anxious when they go to the vet.

You will want to talk to your vet about how many pets they will allow in at once. If you have a lot of cats you may have to take them in groups. However, the rest of these tips will help if you can’t take all your cats to the vet at once.

You may also want to find a vet that practices fear free or a cat-friendly method of care. This practice is more gentle on your cat and may help them be less stressed during the visit. You can find fear-free vets near you here.

Keep the returning cat seperated for a while

When you bring your cat home from the vet you want to keep it apart from the other cats for a while. Lock them in a bedroom with some food and water and a blanket that smells like home.

Don’t ignore your cat. Go in often to pet them and make sure they are calm and happy. You want to pet them as much as possible to that your scent, or the home scent can get on your cat. This is how the other cats will start to recognize their friend again.

You do not have to stay in the room the whole time, but checking on your cat often is recommended. This will make them feel safe and allow you to make sure they are okay.

Spread the communal cat scent

Once you get your traveling cat settled you will want to find a towel or blanket that you can use to spread the communal scent. What you will need to do is take the towel or blanket and rub it all over the other cats. Make sure you get the face area as this is where they have scent glands that will help to make your traveling cat smell familiar again.

You then want to take that towel or blanket and rub it all over your traveling cat. If they won’t let you do this leave the item in the room with them so they can check it out. They will recognize the scent and may rub on the item or lay on it.

Don’t punish your cats for fighting

If you bring your cat home and can’t keep them away from other cats right away, don’t be surprised if a fight breaks out. You also don’t want to punish your cats for fighting. You want to try to remove the traveling cat quickly and get them into their own space.

Do not use spray bottles or throw things at the cats to break up the fight. This will just cause more confusion in every cat and could actually make things worse. Try to separate the cats by putting something between them or if you think you can safely pick up the non-aggressive cat then do that so you can separate them.

Don’t let your cats fight it out either

You may be tempted to just let your cats fight out their differences, however, that is not a good idea. After all the only reason there is an issue is that your cats both feel threatened by something that seems different.

Letting your cats just fight it out could damage the relationship they do have and cause harm to your cat. In fact, it could result in another vet trip that will just start this whole process over again

That is why it is so important to just separate your cats so that they can give the traveling cat time to rest and start to smell more familiar.

Don’t try to sooth the aggressive cat

You may think that the cat showing aggressive behavior needs to be calmed down and soothed so they will stop. However, this could just cause the aggressive cat to focus their anger and fear on you. Let the cat calm down on its own. Once it is calm then you can approach and show the cat you still love them.

Give your cat a bath

Your cats don’t get along because the traveling cat smells different. Giving your cat a bath may help to reduce that strange smell and help the other cats recognize their friend. You may even want to give both cats a bath so that they both smell the same.

You do want to make sure you are able to bath your cat. If they were just in for a checkup you should be fine, however, if they were in for a surgery you may want to check with your vet on if you can give your cat a bath or not.

Reintroduce your cats to each other

Once you have given the traveling cat and your stay at home cats separation and allowed the traveling cat to gain more of the home scent you can start to re-introduce your cat to the rest of your home. If your cat has had surgery you will want to make sure the recommended time has passed for the anesthesia or sedation to wear off.

Go slowly when reintroducing your cats

You don’t want to just open the door and leave, there may still be issues. You will want to watch each cat introduce themselves to the traveling cat. Try opening the door just a bit so that they can sniff each other and if there are issues you can easily close the door. If all goes well you can go about your day and your cats can get back to being friends.

However, if there is still some fighting you may want to separate again. Keep in mind that you may be separating another cat. If you have many cats in your home and only one is showing aggression to the traveling cat you may want to separate the aggressive cat from the rest until they calm down.

Reintroduce one at a time

You may want to take the time to reintroduce your cats one at a time. this is a great idea to make sure your traveling cat is not attacked by multiple cats or that your other cats end up the focus of a cat’s anger.

You will want to keep the traveling cat in one room and bring each cat in separately. If you find one or two cats are aggressive you can separate them from the rest until they have calmed down.

Reward your cats for getting along

If your cats all get along once they are re-introduced give them a few treats to help promote this behavior. I started taking one of my cats for walks and the other who would never go for a walk showed aggression toward my traveling cat.

Once she started behaving I would give both of them a treat. Eventually, she stopped the behavior. This is of course my experience and this may not happen with your cats.

You may also want to start playing with your cats once they have started to get along. Cats bond during playtime and if you can also be involved in the play your cats will feel safe.

Don’t worry that your cats will never get along again.

Your cats once everyone smells familiar again should start to get along as they use to. If they were not very friendly, to begin with then you should expect that same behavior. If they were best friends then they should go back to that routine.

If however, you notice they have not gone back to normal you may want to give your vet a call. There may be an issue with your traveling cat that the other cat is sensing.

Non-recognition aggression may happen when both cats visit the vet.

It’s not as common, however, there are times where there may be aggression even when you have taken your cats to the vet at the same time. We have to remember. Cats recognize each other by smell and though they have both been in the same area, they may have been exposed to different smells.

If you notice that both cats are acting differently and one or both are aggressive you want to follow the tips above. This is all about scent and once your cats start to smell the same again they will also start to get along again.

---

I hope these tips will help you stop cat aggression and get your cats back together and all of your lives back to normal. It’s hard to know what your cat wants or needs all of the time. They are such secretive creatures. However, we still love them and want what is best for them.