Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Advice needed

26 replies

miccoops · 29/01/2021 19:09

Hi all. Hoping for advice/experiences - my kitten pepper is just back from her spay op. She’s doing well. Eating, drinking and using littertray.. BUT my adult cat Leo is now hissing and growling at her. They didn’t have the easiest of starts but were really getting on well so this is upsetting.. particularly as she adores him and runs to him. I know this can happen after a stay at vet but do I need to restart the whole intro thing or will it settle? Their intros took ages so dreading having to do that again.. will he recognise her after a while? He’s snipping her bottom a lot but followed by hisses :-( any thoughts much appreciated x

OP posts:
Beamur · 29/01/2021 19:11

She smells unfamiliar. I would imagine once she smells 'right' again they will be fine. Just keep them separate when you're not around until they settle again.

thecatneuterer · 29/01/2021 19:34

Exactly what Beamur said

YesMeLady · 29/01/2021 19:37

Can you mix his scent onto her, feliway plug in, wipe her down with warm water.

Original poster
miccoops · 29/01/2021 20:24

Thanks all. I’ve got a feliway friends plug in and tried wiping her with a home blanket. Leo’s reverted back to hissing at her room and looking very aggressive towards her :-( I’m hoping he’ll settle soon.. it took about 2 weeks to get past the hissing stage first time. She’s wearing a little body suit so I wonder if that’s affecting things too..

OP posts:
Original poster
miccoops · 30/01/2021 12:31

It’s been 24 hours now and it’s still terrible. Leo is literally back like he was when we first got her with lots of growling and hissing. We’re supervising at all times and trying to keep them relatively apart. Will it just stop? We’re so disappointed as invested weeks in their intro/relationship and it’s like we’re back to square one :-(

OP posts:
jobnockey · 30/01/2021 21:57

Hi @miccoops ... just wanted to say I hope things are settling down. Haven’t got any advice , but if you remember we seemed to be having parallel experiences early on with our cat/kitten intros. Our kitten is being spayed on Monday so will be interesting to see if we have the same problem when she gets back from vet! Really hope that Leo settles down soon and realises it’s still his little friend... I can imagine it’s quite stressful for you...

Original poster
miccoops · 31/01/2021 17:38

@jobnockey thanks for your message. Hopefully you’ll have more luck than me! Leo still hissing and growling at pepper. It’s not quite as bad as when we started but feels a long way off where we were before the op. They were getting so affectionate with head bumps and really playful.. Leo had started grooming her too. I’m hoping time will help but I’m back to keeping them mostly separate and then doing joint treats/play and feeding behind closed doors. In some ways it helps with pepper healing as they did play rough and I would have had to separate I imagine anyway. Let me know how you get on! Oh and heads up they offered us a recovery suit or cone. I went for suit and to begin with she couldn’t walk and kept toppling over.. I thought something was really wrong but after a few hours of persisting she got the hand of it and now is totally fine.

OP posts:
jobnockey · 31/01/2021 22:22

Thanks for that, I’ve been wondering if we should have got her a suit... I have no idea if we’ll have a choice tomorrow...
I’ll keep you posted how out two are tomorrow.

jobnockey · 31/01/2021 22:23

Meant to say also that i was thinking we’d have to separate them initially anyway as they do play really roughly sometimes... not sure how that will go down at all!

Original poster
miccoops · 01/02/2021 15:00

@jobnockey some progress today. Leo seems calmer and I even found them sharing a bed!

OP posts:
Prestel · 01/02/2021 15:18

Blimey, she looks like a weird little sausage in that suit. I think it would freak me out, let alone poor Leo Grin. Glad to hear things are getting back to normal. It was just as well to have them apart while she was healing, anyway.

jobnockey · 01/02/2021 15:19

Thank you for the positive update! That’s got to be a good sign that they’re having a snooze together! We’re Just waiting for the vet to call to say we can collect our little one... I haven’t got any work done today as been worrying about her... hoping she wont be too disturbed by her ordeal....

Original poster
miccoops · 01/02/2021 15:43

@Prestel she really does look odd and she struggled to walk to begin with but was ok after few hours. Her stiches are healing really well though so its doing its job - nonetheless I'll be pleased when she can take it off!

@jobnockey I was like that.. and she was very sad when she came home and really cuddly. Its taken her a few days (ops was Fri am) to pick up. She's a little brighter today and eating well etc.. I hope you're little one is ok.

OP posts:
Original poster
miccoops · 01/02/2021 15:51

@Prestel the suit in all its glory!

Advice needed
OP posts:
Prestel · 01/02/2021 16:10

So adorable! And I see she likes to "help" out. We've got one like that. Whatever you're doing she's always around to "help" - a.k.a sitting right in the way of everything looking impossibly cute.

DeusEx · 01/02/2021 16:51

She is very sweet, OP! 😻

Original poster
miccoops · 02/02/2021 10:06

@jobnockey How she getting on?

OP posts:
jobnockey · 02/02/2021 10:35

@miccoops Thanks for asking but she's not home yet Sad She's absolutely fine but they didn't get chance to do her op yesterday as there were a number of emergencies and only one vet in to deal with them.

They didn't call till quite late in the day and suggested keeping her overnight so she could be done this morning... felt awful agreeing she could stay there, she must be so confused... and must have been absolutely starving by the end of the day...

Original poster
miccoops · 02/02/2021 14:06

[quote jobnockey]@miccoops Thanks for asking but she's not home yet Sad She's absolutely fine but they didn't get chance to do her op yesterday as there were a number of emergencies and only one vet in to deal with them.

They didn't call till quite late in the day and suggested keeping her overnight so she could be done this morning... felt awful agreeing she could stay there, she must be so confused... and must have been absolutely starving by the end of the day...[/quote]
Oh bless her.. and poor you, gives you longer to worry! I hope she's ok.

OP posts:
jobnockey · 03/02/2021 10:19

@miccoops just a quick update for you! kitten is back home and although feeling quite sorry for herself she seems to be doing okay and is eating/drinking etc...

Big cat has been acting a bit weird but gave her a really good sniff over when she got back and didn't hiss or growl (apart from when i grabbed him as I though he was going to bite her so he hissed at me instead!). She does smell really 'vetty' even to our human noses so I don't know what he will make of it.

I'm keeping them in separate rooms for today as she just wants to chill out. But so far so good...

Incidentally the vets have given us a collar for her but said we should only use it if she starts licking at the wound... she hasn't so far so hopefully we won't need it.

How are Leo and Pepper today? hopefully they've made friends again?

Original poster
miccoops · 03/02/2021 10:46

@jobnockey Ah thanks for the update. I bet you're glad she's home. That's interesting re the cone.. Pepper is still in her suit although we take it off in the evenings when we can keep an eye. She was licking around the site so I am going to persist with it until Monday when we have vet check.

She is much more herself the last 24 hours and running round the house like a loony again so must be feeling ok.

Unfortunately Leo is still a long way off where he was before op. He is a little more tolerant but showing her zero affection.. whereas before op he would give her head bumps all the time and want to play.

He took a long time to get used to her the first time so I guess its going to take time. He isn't being aggressive but will warn her off if she goes over to him. She still adores him and wants nothing more than to re-kindle their friendship.. I keep telling her to play it cool but she doesn't listen LOL!

OP posts:
jobnockey · 03/02/2021 11:47

Aaaw, hopefully they’ll get there again soon... our big cat doesn’t seem to understand why she doesn’t want to play. She’s very out of sorts but I suppose that’s to be expected...

Here she is feeling sorry for herself...

Advice needed
Original poster
miccoops · 03/02/2021 15:41

@Prestel as I see you as my cat oracle wondered what you thought.. so Pepper has been home from op for nearly 6 days now and Leo is still being pretty hostile. Every time she engages him to play he will either hiss, growl or bat her away. It not quite as bad as the beginning he can be in the same room and settle for a sleep or cuddle BUT its just such a change from things pre-op. Pepper is used to him being fairly affectionate and playing so keeps trying but he is having none of it. is this normal? Feels like it has gone on too long and she must smell normal by now and she is grooming a lot. I am dreading having to re-do the whole intro process as it took weeks and will be challenging with everyone at home.. Would appreciate any wise words??

OP posts:
Original poster
miccoops · 03/02/2021 15:43

@jobnockey

Aaaw, hopefully they’ll get there again soon... our big cat doesn’t seem to understand why she doesn’t want to play. She’s very out of sorts but I suppose that’s to be expected...

Here she is feeling sorry for herself...

ahh bless her. It took a few days for Pepper to pick up. She liked being held in close for a cuddle and lots of company.. poor little things. I never realised what a major operation a spay was.
OP posts:
Prestel · 03/02/2021 19:25

@miccoops My guess would be it's the suit so I wouldn't panic just yet and see how he is once she isn't wearing it anymore (which must be quite soon if it's been nearly a week?). Their relationship will change and evolve a few times until it settles into an established pattern, especially when Pepper starts going outside, so although you certainly shouldn't need to start over, it may well be a while yet before they are really settled and comfortable with each other.

Swipe left for the next trending thread