Hey, I Thought We Were All Friends Here!

Location: Campbellsville, KY (High 74, Low 49)

It was another uneventful week at work. It hasn’t picked up too much yet, with VTO still being offered on a daily basis. Harry and I are still enjoying the picking job, and still doing lots of walking – 59 miles for me over the four days and 64 miles for Harry.

The bigger news around here is what’s going on at home. It all started last week when we took Crookshank to the vet for a teeth cleaning procedure. Both Ariel and Crookshank had previously had this done, so we were prepared for the aftereffects of anesthesia and having to doctor him up with medicine. The first evening we were focused on Crookshank. They had to pull four teeth so he came home looking a little worse for wear. We got him settled and left him to sleep it off.

The next morning he got up and was moving pretty good. We thought that it was over, and life could get back to the usual. But as he was walking around, Ariel started acting like a crazy cat, hissing at him anytime he came anywhere near her, and making yowling noises even when he wasn’t nearby. We ended up having to put him back in the bedroom so she would calm down.

I did some research and discovered that, unfortunately, it’s pretty common. It’s called nonrecognition aggression, and is caused by the fact that the cat that went to the vet apparently doesn’t smell like himself. And of course Crookshank doesn’t realize anything is going on, so he keeps trying to go over to her and do his normal “rub up against her and lick her up” thing. We’ve been trying to stay close but one time she did end up getting him in the eye, which resulted in another trip to the vet for a scratch. (We did take Ariel to the vet also so that she could get some vet smell of her own.) Luckily, the eye scratch was something that would heal on its own, although we did have to add eyedrops to our daily routine.

It’s been a crazy week. They are still not back to normal. (From what I have read, more self-assured cats get over it sooner, but Ariel has always been on the skittish side, so that is not helping.) We have a litterbox in our bedroom in addition to our usual one in the living room and when we go to work, or at night, we have to have the bedroom door closed so we can keep them separated. When we are home we let them mingle but we have to keep an eye on them all the time. Supposedly, as they get used to each other’s scents again, this should pass. I am going to try a tip I read in an article today and give them each a good petting down after I douse my hands in tuna water. Oh, the things I do for the “kids”. It will be so worth it if it works!