[rush&muffin]

Hi. I have two cats, one male, one female, both about 8 months old. Rush came back from the vet today. He looked sooo cute out cold with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. When he woke up I was a bit worried, he walked into things, threw up a bit after waking up, and had an accident on the carpet for the first time ever. He was just drowsy though, and now is walking fine, and seems to be back to his old charming self. :lol:

I noticed muffin (my girl) was wary around him even when he was passed out. I thought she was just confused, since they're inside cats. He comes in the front door (that's for people! what's going on!) in a box, totally asleep.. I'd be a bit cautious too. :wink: Once he was awake, though, he walked over to see her... she started hissing and growling!

Now, this girl has not once in her entire life hissed or growled. And these two were littermates, absolute best friends, sleep together curled up every night, share food with no problem, clean each other, play together... what's going on???

Probably his smell has changed. But does she not know it's him at all? Will it take them long to get adjusted? Is there any chance this will just last for today and then they'll be back to normal? If not, will they ever be as close as they were? They really got along incredibly well, so I'll be very sad if they aren't as close from now on!

One last thing. Just to complicate things. She's pregnant and due in 2-3 weeks. Is he now a danger to the kittens? Will she be horribly nervous with him around? Would she hurt the kittens trying to protect them? Should I make other arrangements for him for a while, and if so how long before the pregnancy? I'd like to get them to get along first before I take him away or it might just make it harder...

Someone please help, I can't find info on this anywhere (although I guess it is a strange situation kinda.)

Thanks!

 

[Rayona]

He probably just smells funny to her. She should calm down in a couple of days. In the meantime, you can try putting a dab of vanilla on the backs of their necks to help them smell more alike.

 

[rush&muffin]

thanks

even within a few hours of posting i realized they were getting better. She goes up to him and sniffs him a lot, licks him now, but if he comes up to her she still sometimes gets a bit pissy.
I already think she's planning on having the kittens under the bed, since she's been spending a lot of time there. Muffin's mom also wanted to have kittens under the bed, I think muffin was born there and had to be moved... but then her mom moved all the kittens into the fireplace. We'll try to find a nice quiet spot for her that isn't under the bed or in the fireplace.

 

[rush&muffin]

Update

If anyone is interested... they are now best friends again, and are now sleeping curled up in a ball together. When they wake up I'm sure they'll go have breakfast together, then clean each other, then play together... i'm SO glad they're happy again!

 

[Jeanie]

Great! Tayona is right, though, for future reference. Odor is so important in identifying other cats. (and us!)