My cats hiss at my recently neutered cat. Should I bathe them all?

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!

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Draco. This can happen. He smells differently, and the other cat sees him as a stranger. Keep them separated for the next 48 hours, then slowly introduce them again. Low meowing and hissing is fine, I would not get worried about that. I would only be worried if there was aggression. I hope this helps!

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!

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!

You are doing perfectly! The pheromone diffusers work great but it will take a few days to regulate. Be sure you have enough diffusers to treat the appropriate square footage of the house. I can't think of anything else to do other than getting the pheromone spray and not spraying it on the cats but just put some on a cloth and wipe a little on them each. That may help speed things along. You did great - hope they will start to get along again soon! Cats are funny creatures!

Unfortunately it's going to take time. That said, there are a few things you can make sure of to help reduce stress, especially in a four-cat household (which is a lot!). Making sure each cat has their own space where they can eat, drink, play, observe, etc without the other cats bothering them can help reduce territorial disputes over these items. Pheromone collars and plug-ins (Feliway) can also be placed on stressed out individuals, or in shared rooms (since everyone seems to be stressed) to help reduce inter-cat aggression. Making sure to have at least one litter box per cat will also help reduce stress and competition over them, and reduce the chances of accidents elsewhere. Otherwise, continued slow introduction of the cats is best. If anyone starts to get agitated or too excited, removing them to let everyone calm down and settle back in is best. Continued aggression and upset may also need a trainer or veterinary behaviorist's help. That said, if your home is very small, four cats may just be too much for everyone to get comfortable.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! On the whole, I’m not worried about this yet. It can take a couple weeks to feel completely normal after a neuter, especially in adult males. If you have pain medication still, go ahead and give it as even mild pain can cause some cats to be a little crankier than usual. Sometimes, a long trip to the vet or anesthesia seems to disturb cat relations and anxiety is more of a problem. If this behavior is not improving with pain medication, or persists for another week or more, consider these anxiety-reducing home helps. -Feliway- calming cat pheromone- comes in many forms from pet stores or online. 

- Adding a litter box. Studies show that the ideal number of litter boxes for a home is #of cats +1 . This is regardless of how clean you keep his current litter box.

 -making sure he has plenty of “high space”. The safest (and therefore least anxiety-inducing) place for a cat is up. If you don’t already, get a cat tree or put up a shelf or two that he can go perch on. Best wishes to you and Gus!