Help with cats?

Question

A friend's two cats are Maine Coone brothers from the same litter and they have always lived together. On friday one was hit by a car and had to spend three days in hospital having his leg dealt with. He has to be confined to one room to stop infection but the other cat obviously cannot be as it needs to go out to toilet etc. The well brother has taken a dislike to the ill cat since his return from the vets. He hisses and tries to attack his brother. The ill brother still tries to greet his sibling in an affectionate way.
What do you think might be causing it, we have thought maybe that he smells different, the well cat has got used to being an only cat even though his brother was only gone for three days or that he doesn't recognise him? Any help and ways of solving this problem would be greatfully recieved.

Answer 1

It's most likely that it is because he smells different . Cats rely very strongly on their sense of smell, and any scents from other animals, medication etc. that he picked up whilst at the vets, will all be unfamiliar to the well cat. He doesn't recognise these new smells and by instinct is reacting to them in a defensive manner.

The cat with the bad leg will need to be confined for as long as your vet has recommended, and during that time the unfamiliar scents will fade and he'll also pick up the scent of your home. Hopefully by the time his confinement finishes, he won't smell so strange to the other cat. It might also be an idea to stroke the well cat with a cloth first and then use the same cloth to stroke the unwell cat, so as to mix their scents together.

Good luck.

Answer 2

It could be a cats natural instinct to disown sick members of a group or again as been mentioned before the different smell. What could be beneficial is introducing the sick cat back into the house as if it was a new cat. A way of doing this is putting the sick cat in a cat carrier in the middle of a room so the well cat can sniff around him without feeling threatened. Gradually open the door of pet carrier when well cat is comfortable being around it, slowly introducing them back to each other. The well cat should be use to the smell and having the other cat back around. This process can take a good few days.

Answer 3

I have a Maine Tail Coon also along with a solid black short hair. The Maine Tail Coon is VERY, well, opinionated. HE hates any change and cops a major attitude! When my black cat had to spend a couple of days at the vet due to crystals in the bladder, my Maine Tail did not like him coming home either. Anyway, I had to slowly reintroduce them to each other. I think the Maine Tail just knew something was way wrong with his brother, and did not know what to do about it and went into attack mode. Anyway, after a few days of being patient with my cat, he finally settled down and accepted his brother again.

Answer 4

Why not get a seperate litter box for the ill cat. That way you can keep them seperated until it is better?

In time the two cats will come together again. The ill cat probably just has a smell that the other cat dislikes.
I wouldn't worry about it.

Answer 5

It is most likely from the different smell. Try and rub a towel on ur healthy cat and then rub it on the sick one to get the smell transfered. This whole thing won't last long I'd say no more than a week or so if even. Try the rubbing of towel several times.

Answer 6

Give it a few days and the odors the hospitalized cat picked up at the vets will disappear. His brother didn't recognize the scent. They'll be fine. This happens every time one cat visits the vet for any length of time.

Answer 7

Something similar happened to me with my cats. One of my cats was sick with cancer and my other one acted out similar to the uninjured brother. It is most lilely because his brother is injured, and sick. Cats can sense these things, and as others have pointed out there will be a different smell.

Once the injured one recovers they should go back to getting along fine. it might take a while but eventually they will be back to being affectionate towards each other. For the meantime, I'd keep them separate when unsupervised.

Answer 8

The well brother sees that the ill one is not very well and is attacking him cause he is weak. In the wild the cats attack and kill the weak as they are no use to them, just a waste of food. Maybe the well cat has gotten a little confused.

Answer 9

i think it has something to do with the other cat sensing that the injured one is ill -- my dad had 3 cats and when the one elderly one was feeling ill or what ever the others always ran and chased her bit at her etc

when they sense that one is ill they attack it i dont know why but thats just how it is it probably doesnt have anything to do with smell -- its just that he senses that that other one is ill and is going to hurt it now animals are like that for some strange reason

for example when a chicken is injured and the others see blood they will peck at it to death the others chickens will i mean --

it has something to do with mother nature i dont know what or why exactly

Answer 10

My cats were exactly the same when one of my cats came nback from an overnight stay at the vets and it was definately the smell.
they were fine in a few days.