Reintroduction of two cats

Question
I have a 16 year old female cat and a 14 year old male cat.  They have been together all their lives and have always gotten along great.  Last week, my female cat became ill and had to be taken to the vet.  I brought her home today and now the male is growling and hissing at her and me...any suggestions to make this reintroduction any easier?

Answer
Terry,

That is normal behavior towards cats that come home from the vet. Cats go by smell and not by sight in recognizing other cats (with humans, they go by voice...not by sight). Your cat brought home MANY different smells from the vet: anesthetic, medicinal smells, and smells of other cats...all clinging to her fur and skin. The male thinks she's another cat because she doesn't smell the same! Things will settle down when the smells are gone from the female.

As the cat grooms herself she will be replacing her regular scent. You can keep them separated if you want until the smells are gone from her fur. It will take a few days.

You can also rub the cat who did not go to the vet with a towel, then rub the cat who did go to the vet with the same towel to transfer familiar smells but do not do it the opposite way because you will then be transferring the vet's office smells to the other cat.

A trick that I've heard a lot of people use in that situation (though I have never tried it) is to put a drop of vanilla on each cats forehead so they smell the same.

Try giving both cats a special treat, like a can of tuna. Feed them next to each other so that being together is a pleasant experience and not a negative one.

You can try a popular cat calming spray and plug-in called Feliway, or Comfort Zone with Feliway. It is available at pet stores like PetSmart, Petco, etc., a vet's office (they use it too), or on-line. It copies relaxing pheromones that cats produce from rubbing their faces on things.

There is also another cat calming product that you can add to his food or water that reduces anxiety called Bach's Rescue Remedy. It is available on-line and in health food stores. Here is a link about it: (copy and paste, or type the whole links into your address bar)
http://www.bachflower.com/Pets.htm

Things will settle down once the smells are gone from the cat that went to the vet.

Tabbi