my cat went to the vets my other cat now attacks him

by Kelly
(Martinsburg, WV)

My cat named Brody went to the vet over a month ago to get a dental cleaning. He has a severe case of stomatitis. My other cat never went after him before. Now ever since I brought him home from the vet he will not stop attacking him. He doesn't just hiss and swat at him, he attacks him to the point where it is scarey.

It has gotten to the point where Brody won't come out from under my bed. He will come out and poop on the side of my bed. I've been confineing him to keep him safe and so that he doesn't go to the bathroom under my bed. I feel so bad for him. He already doesn't feel good and now he is scared to death to walk around. I don't know if I am doing the right thing by confineing him or if I am making it worse. My other cat will hunt him down and go after him even when he is hiding. I've tried just shutting all of the doors so that Brody can walk around and hope that they will get used to each other again, but it won't stop.

I have heard that cats will do this sometimes when another one is sick. I don't know what to do!

Answer by Kate
Hi
no this is normal behavior and is due to the fact that the other cats are fearful. This could be because of the initial strange smell of your cat after returning from the vets or it could be that your cats own behavior changed due to his experience at the vet and this frightened the others cats.

Even though it was over a month ago the confidence has not had a chance to rebuild meaning that they always associate this cat with the feeling of being fearful.

My advice would be to use the confining method of introduction over the next couple of weeks. It helps the cats get used to each other again but in a safe environment. the process is described here on this page in more detail

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/introducing-cats.html



best wishes kate

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