Now Lily is acting totally strange!! (some improvement, as it seems)

Since Luna and I came back from the vet, Lily is behaving weird! She seems to be afraid of Luna, she's growling and hissing, she even hissed at me when I picked her up - and this comes from a girl that never hissed before in her entire life!!

I wouldn't be surprised if that was the first time that Luna came back from the vet, but she's been there many times, and Lily always greeted her friendly after that. Now it seems that she doesn't even recognize her!!!

I figure all the strange vet scents on her - in combination with the effects of the sedation - make Lily think it's a totally different cat. Lily's acting extremely confused and scared!

Kirsten

I bet it is the vet smell. Sometimes a few of mine will react this way when another returns from the vet. They don't always do it.

Maybe rubbing Luna with a blanket or towel that smells like your house with help make her smell normal to Lily and help her calm down.

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Originally Posted by jazzcat

Maybe rubbing Luna with a blanket or towel that smells like your house with help make her smell normal to Lily and help her calm down.

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Good idea! I will do this later when Luna is feeling a bit better! She's still dizzy from the sedation!

Kirsten

I agree with Jazzcat, it's the vet smell. I don't think you need to worry - in fact you could take advantage of the situation and clip Luna's nails, clean her ears etc. :D

I agree, it's the dreaded "vet smell" :)

Kirsten, now that I am back from the vet with Ripley we are having the same issue. Both Rocky and Rumor hissed at Ripley when the first smelled him. Decker and Moxie won't leave him alone. The keep trying to sniff him, poor guy. He's angry enough as it is after having blood drawn and then sub-Q fluids injected. They better watch where they stick their noses, they may get a giant Ripley mitt swat.

They are even acting strange to me since I sat at the vet for an hour.

I have to admit though that I have never had taht happen. When Juke Joint Joseph came home from the Vets All the Found Cats were lined up to escort thier friend up the stairs.
It was touching to see Joey so honored by his friends a payback to when he was niceto them whem they were new at the Found Paradise Cat Hotel.
We are praying that Lily and Luna are pals again soon as you certainly dont need all that stress.

Peppito is doing the same with Jasmine. He also does it sometimes when he is upset, for instance if we don't let him go out, he will hiss and raise his paw to tell Jasmine "stay out of my way, I am the boss", but that's it, there is never any further consequence (no fight or something).

Now, 24 hours after Luna came back from the vet, the situation hasn't changed. There's still a lot of hissing and growling when they meet, and meanwhile, Luna is getting defensive and scared of Lily, and also starts hissing back at her. I'm so upset!! Looks at this point that their friendship has broken, and if this doesn't get any better, I'm afraid I need to rehome Lily. :( This way, it's pure stress for both of them.

Never ever in her entire life I saw Lily acting like this!! :( :( :(

BTW, I tried to rub Lily's scent on Luna, but it didn't help.

Kirsten

Try baby powder on both on everyone, that way they have the same scents. Works for me when my clan is upset with the "vet scent".

:) Oh I think they will clam in time.. You might just keep them seperated for now.. I am very sure that Lily has got the scent of Luna'a Illness.. This could be making her unsettled.. Just wait a bit longer..

momtomany, I'll try that with the baby powder. Just don't have it here at hand right now...

lvpets2002, I hope they'll calm down!! I was wondering if Luna still has strange scent from the infusion she got to fill her bladder. Also, I fear Lily may feel a bit neglected. You know, like two siblings, when one is ill and is getting a lot of extra care and attention, and you just take it for granted that the other one is doing just fine... Need to spend some extra time with Lily now!

I hope this extra stress won't make Luna's UTIs getting worse!

Kirsten

:) I am sure your on the right track.. Just watch them & if needed try to seperate for a bit of time.. I think they will settle..

If you have no baby powder, try a drop of vanilla extract.

My mom's cats - Shiney used to hiss at Pyka for several days!

My cats have, so far, been too darn healthy for me to find out.....knock on wood.

Hi Kirsten,

I'm sure Lily is reacting to all the turmoil of the last few days (resulting in Luna getting lots of extra attention) and the "vet smells" on Luna. She likely is jealous and is afraid Luna is usurping her place in your affections.

My suggestion is to separate them for the time being and reintroduce them to each other's company slowly, and also to spend time with Lily giving her lots of extra attention and caring. And give Luna plenty of the same as she slowly gets used to life going back to its normal routine.

It sounds like you are doing all the right things. Be patient with the girls and with yourself, and take all this a step at a time. This has been a big upset for all three of you. You know all your PT friends are here with you every step of the way.

Sending loads of love and healing energy to Luna, Lily, and Kirsten!

Pat and the gang

Josh acts like this when anyone of the cats goes to the vet now. He even will attack his own sisters and become a terrifying angry ball of fur at his previous best friends. I've now learned that when anyone goes to the vet (particularly Josh) I have to spray a blanket with Feliway and put it in the carrier before I take anyone. If that fails then I have to lock up Josh in a separate room by himself for a couple days until he cools his furry jets and gets along with everyone again.


Now if I could just get Bear, Pooky, and Jack to quit ganging up on Cami all would be great. Those 4 just haven't gotten along good since Dusty had to be separated from the rest for a couple weeks before she was PTS. I think they are taking out their aggression on Cami as a replacement for Dusty. *sigh* So goes life with multi-cat households.

I'm so sorry to hear this, Kirsten. Luna and Lily have always been two of my PT favorites. Have you spoken to your vet about this sad situation?

Hmm, well, sounds like a common thing in multicat household, and yet it never happened here before.

Lily spent the last night on the top of the cabinet (while Luna slept in my bed), she didn't come down for breakfast this morning, and as it seemed, she stayed there all day. Lily was still up there when I came home from work.

Eventually, I opened the catnip jar, and this finally made her come down. She enjoyed her catnip as usual, and soon Luna showed up as well. Didn't take long and both of them were rolling on the floor. When they met each other at the catnip jar, there was some whacking from both sides, but no hissing and growling. With the catnip scent in their fur, they both had something in common, which made it easier for Lily to accept Luna. But when the catnip session was over, Lily went back onto the cabinet.

Not long ago, she came down freely, and is now resting in her kitty bed in the bedroom, while Luna is on my bed. I hope things will slowly get back to normal.

It really seems to me as if Lily did not recognize Luna after the vet visit. Maybe due to the infusion she got, or the sedation, she had another scent. Poor Lily must have thought I took her beloved Luna away from her and brought another cat home. My mother jokingly told me to make sure that they gave me the right cat back at the vets. LOL

Kirsten