Expert: Tina - 10/18/2009

Question
my 10 month old cat Kenya had an accident rspca found her i picked her up and took her to the vet she was there two days. when i brought her home. her sister indie is now scared of her hissing acting very aggressively to kenya. they where so close always crying for one another. laid and  slept together always. i dont understand whats happened. i have to separate them especially as kenya is so much smaller with a very badly damaged leg. i dont know what to do.

Answer
HI Adele,

It's not uncommon to have this happen when one cat has been away especially at the vet, they come home smelling different. They will be fine again together but it's best to separate them for now and pretend they never knew eachother. Once your injured cat is healed, start to re-introduce them gradually following these steps:

http://catnet.stanford.edu/articles/introducing_cats.html

You can start out with rubbing a dish towel on the non-injured cat especially around his cheeks where there are scent glands, and then rub the towel all over the cat who was at the vet. This will make him smell more familiar. Also the strange vet clinic smell will wear off after a while.
Give them time, and don't worry they will get over it!