Kitties fighting after vet visit :(

Hi guys,

My baby, Cocoa, needed to have his teeth cleaned and I also got him shaved
at the same time (the vet agreed) as the knots on him were just out of
control, no matter how many we cut out (plus I brushed him constantly).

I dropped him off this morning which was unbelievably hard and picked him
up this evening. My other kitty, Karma, was all alone during the day, also
which was unbelievably hard. Now, Cocoa obviously looks pretty funny. He's
got fur only on his face, paws and a bit on his tail. His mouth is also,
obviously, quite tender and he's a bit woozy from the anaesthetic. Karma
won't go near him, if only to hiss at him, and Cocoa just seems to be having
problems settling down and getting comfy. Karma and Cocoa have never hissed
or fought with each other. They're indoor cats who have grown up with each
other from when they were very young (but not brothers). Karma now is
hissing every chance he gets - he even hissed at ME when I picked him up (I
thought he was going to chase Cocoa which I thought was unfair considering
Cocoa's stumbling around from the anaesthetic) which he has never done..

I just stayed with Cocoa and patted him and made sure he was comfortable and
gave him lots of scritches. Then I went and patted Karma and let him smell
my hands and gave him good scritches and on their own they seem really
happy, but when they see each other it's just like POW instant anger :\
Cocoa was sitting in my chair here before so I was sitting beside him typing
this. Karma was looking at him from the other side of the room and Cocoa
suddenly bolted off the chair after Karma! Scared the living daylights out
of me and I ended up catching Karma and holding him. I've since separated
them in different rooms and they're fine, but I just don't know when to let
them see each other again. I'm fine with them working out their problems by
having a bit of a rougharound, but not while Cocoa is still recovering from
anaesthetic. :\

They've always loved each other to death and have never hurt each other at
all so it just makes this all the more difficult to see

I'd be eternally grateful for any advice. Sorry for the long story, too

--
Shellie ^.,.^

Hi, I don't think I am getting the correct picture here. How old are these
cats? Where I am "kitties" are tiny baby cats under a year.

--
Barb
Of course I don't look busy,
I did it right the first time.

Shellie wrote:

Hi guys,

My baby, Cocoa, needed to have his teeth cleaned and I also got him
shaved at the same time (the vet agreed) as the knots on him were just
out of control, no matter how many we cut out (plus I brushed him
constantly).

I dropped him off this morning which was unbelievably hard and
picked him up this evening. My other kitty, Karma, was all alone
during the day, also which was unbelievably hard. Now, Cocoa
obviously looks pretty funny. He's got fur only on his face, paws and
a bit on his tail. His mouth is also, obviously, quite tender and
he's a bit woozy from the anaesthetic. Karma won't go near him, if
only to hiss at him, and Cocoa just seems to be having problems
settling down and getting comfy. Karma and Cocoa have never hissed
or fought with each other. They're indoor cats who have grown up with
each other from when they were very young (but not brothers). Karma
now is hissing every chance he gets - he even hissed at ME when I
picked him up (I thought he was going to chase Cocoa which I thought
was unfair considering Cocoa's stumbling around from the anaesthetic)
which he has never done..

I just stayed with Cocoa and patted him and made sure he was
comfortable and gave him lots of scritches. Then I went and patted
Karma and let him smell my hands and gave him good scritches and on
their own they seem really happy, but when they see each other it's
just like POW instant anger :\ Cocoa was sitting in my chair here
before so I was sitting beside him typing this. Karma was looking at
him from the other side of the room and Cocoa suddenly bolted off the
chair after Karma! Scared the living daylights out of me and I ended
up catching Karma and holding him. I've since separated them in
different rooms and they're fine, but I just don't know when to let
them see each other again. I'm fine with them working out their
problems by having a bit of a rougharound, but not while Cocoa is
still recovering from anaesthetic. :\

They've always loved each other to death and have never hurt each
other at all so it just makes this all the more difficult to see

I'd be eternally grateful for any advice. Sorry for the long story,
too

--
Shellie ^.,.^




My vet has always warned me of such behavior after taking one of the cats
in for a dental cleaning, but I've never seen much of a problem with my
own cats for some reason.

Cats identify their friends more by scent than by sight and the problem
here is that one of the cats comes home smelling "wrong", with hospital
and other animal scents on him, so he gets treated like a stranger. You
could try some of the tricks used in new animal introductions, like
rubbing one cat with a towel, then rubbing the 2nd cat with the same
towel to transfer scents between them.

Oops must have hit the wrong reply button.

They're around 4 years old. Kitties to me is just a term that means cats.
Btw, they've been living with me since they were approx. 3 months old.

"Barb" wrote in message
o.verio.net...
Hi, I don't think I am getting the correct picture here. How old are
these
cats? Where I am "kitties" are tiny baby cats under a year.

--
Barb
Of course I don't look busy,
I did it right the first time.

I've always heard of something like this happening, but Cocoa and Karma have
always visited the vet together, so I've never seen it. This is just
bordering on bizzarre though, now. We all went to sleep and Cocoa slept on
my as usual, but Karma slept under the bed instead of on my legs. This
morning Karma is still hissing and carrying on. I'm afraid to leave them
alone together, still. (good excuse for a day off work? ;-) I've just
tried the towel thing, so I hope this calms Karma down. I thought that
after Cocoa had given himself a bath it would be okay but obviously not :\

Anyway, thanks so much for your advice :-) I appreciate it very much.

--
Shellie ^.,.^




"5cats" wrote in message
...
Shellie wrote:

My vet has always warned me of such behavior after taking one of the cats
in for a dental cleaning, but I've never seen much of a problem with my
own cats for some reason.

Cats identify their friends more by scent than by sight and the problem
here is that one of the cats comes home smelling "wrong", with hospital
and other animal scents on him, so he gets treated like a stranger. You
could try some of the tricks used in new animal introductions, like
rubbing one cat with a towel, then rubbing the 2nd cat with the same
towel to transfer scents between them.

So,. I had mentioned to Shellie that I thought since her kitties were about
4 years old I thought that was kind of young for a teeth cleaning but wonder
what the rest of you think.

--
Barb
Of course I don't look busy,
I did it right the first time.