My cat is distressed after the other cat had a bath. What can I do?

Great question! Washing Rikku and Lucy will have changed their smell, and they now see each other as strangers. I would separate the cats, and slowly reintroduce them to each other. Take Lucy, and put her in her own room with her own food, water, and litter box. Keep the door closed, and for a few days, feed them both treats on other side of door so they associate each other's smell with a good experience. Then let Rikku into Lucy's room while she is in a cat carrier. They can smell each other, but not be in contact. If either becomes upset or show signs of aggression, remove him from the room, and try again later. Praise them when they interact appropriately. When they are interacting well with each other through the carrier, you can let her out of her room, and see how she interacts with him. Praise them when they interact appropriately, and separate them with any sign of aggression or upset. I would get a cat tree with lots of shelves to give the cats vertical space to get away from each other. I would keep Lucy in her room when you go out until they are comfortable with each other. I hope this helps, good luck!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly because she smells differently. I recommend a product called Feliway which can help decrease stress and anxiety associated with environmental changes and stressors. You may find this online or at your local pet store. It usually works great in this type of scenarios. Good luck and have a great day!

Bathing all three cats may help but may not do much since it has been 9 days. Using Feliway wipes or sprays may help. And removing the cats from each other as you have been is the absolute right thing to do. Here’s an article with some other suggestions http://www.vetstreet.com/care/nonrecognition-aggression-in-cats Good luck. Thanks for using PetCoach.

If the aggressiveness is only occurring after a bath I'd recommend separating them after bathing for a few hours until they have calmed. You can also try using a Feliway diffuser or spray to see if this helps reduce the tension. If the aggressiveness continues or gets worse you may want to schedule a vet visit to ensure Sasha is not having any health issues contributing to the behavior change. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your cats. I suspect that Stella is stressed by the return of her housemate. Callie likely smells and acts a bit different after being gone for so long. I would keep them separate to allow them time to readjust to each other. They should get along fine, but it will take some time. I hope this information helps!

There does seem to be an unusual phenomenon that when one animal attends the vet for a time its companion can react badly on its return. Possibly due to unfamiliar smells. Usually it settles after a week or so. If not you could try bathing the cat or invest in a pheromone diffuser to try and settle them.

Oh dear, how stressful! Unfortunately it can be common for cats to lash out when one cat in the household suddenly smells or acts different - as they tend to do when they come home from the vet. Most of the time they go back to their normal interactions once the strange smell (in this case, from the vet clinic) wears off and the cat relaxes and acts like herself....but in your case, there's nowhere for Tribble to hide and isolate herself while she readjusts to being home. The most important thing right now is to not allow them to fight or have negative interactions. As long as they can be kept separate while they both settle down, they will probably do ok - but if they continue hissing and growing, and worse yet if it escalates into a fight, that could permanently damage their relationship. I would absolutely keep them separate until they seem to be relaxing. I understand that'll be challenging in a 1 BR living space - but if possible, you could put 1 in the bathroom with her own litterbox & food, and then have them switch places tomorrow so they can get reacquainted with each other's smells. If that's not possible, you may need to crate them both while you work on their reintroduction. Perhaps you could borrow dog kennels so they can each have their own living space while they're confined. I know this isn't an easy answer - but the most important immediate intervention is to do what you need to do, to keep them from fighting while the stress levels come down! Finally, adding a pheromone diffuser such as Feliway Multicat may help promote a calming atmosphere. I hope this helps!