It isn’t abnormal for cats, even cats that are bosom buddies, to hiss and growl at each other when one — or both — have been to the vet.
Puss went to the vet on a regular basis (she was elderly and had kidney disease). The boys never hissed at her. Now Chester also goes to the vet fairly frequently (although after he’s neutered, he should be good for about 6 months barring health problems); they don’t hiss at him, either.
I have always taken them to the vet together, and never had any problem with them. When they were small, I took them in the same carrier. I always took two carriers with me, just in case they decided they didn’t want to get back into the carrier together.
As they got older, they no longer wanted to be in the carrier together, so I began taking them in separate carriers.
However, as I mentioned last week, the boys had their first dentals.
When I got them home, they acted normal, although their eyes were still quite dilated. Simba, however, began growling and hissing at Gizmo. I put a little Rescue Remedy on both of them, and he immediately stopped.
One theory about why cats hiss at other cats that have been to the vet is that they smell of the vet. So putting something on them that makes them smell similar is helpful. Some people also report success with vanilla in these incidences.
Since they were both at the vet, though, it didn’t seem to me that smell would be the cause. When I was talking to a friend about it, he mentioned that his vet had told him that cats are usually somewhat disoriented after anesthesia, and that did seem a better explanation.
“Anesthesia in Cats” has a lot of interesting information on the effects of anesthesia.
Gizmo seemd a bit standoffish to me, but was back to normal the next day. Simba was just immediately a lovebug, head butting me and purring up a storm.
Pawprints and Purrs, Inc. has a good article on what to expect “Before and after surgery and dentistry“.
I really didn’t know much about animals, the illnesses they could get, or the warning signs in the first half of my life. Ignorance, as they say, is bliss. I’ve had to learn a great deal in the last five years. My husband gets annoyed with me sometimes when I mention that something he’s observed could be a sign of this or that different health problem. But I’m a firm believer that knowledge is power.
To increase your knowledge of the effects of anesthesia for cats, and what questions you should ask if your cat needs anesthesia for a procedure, “Understanding Anesthesia for Cats” is a good place to start.
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