quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:

quote:

I'd give both of them a bath with the same shampoo.

Good luck with that!

Hey, nobody said at the same time.

I used to have two cats who were sisters from the same litter. One was the alpka female of the litter and the other was the runt. The beta female was extremely sweet, happy go lucky, and had tons of heart (tried way harder than her sister at everything). They got along great, played together, slept together, and shared everything.

Fast forward to them being 9 years old, and the alpha gets an abscesseed tooth and I have the vet extract it. She ends up getting an infection, goes off and hides, and I find her half dead. Emergency vet nurses her back, and when I bring her home they have to be separated to insure she is eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom (remember, they share everything so separation was necessary). The alpha starts doing better so I decide to let the beta visit her for a little bit. The sweet, mild mannered beta decided it’s time for a coup d'état to become the alpha. You could’ve knocked me over with a feather when she went on the attack and she keeps hissing when I pulled her off.

The alpha fully recovers while in isolation and then I put them back together and headoff to work. There was a little more fur in the location of the daily wrestling match (assuming dominance was reestablished) but they were back to being best buddies with the longstanding pecking order. Got along great for the rest of the beta’s days.

Speaking of the rest of the beta’s days, the alpha was super sweet to the beta when the beta got cancer. I suspect it was because the longstanding pecking order wasn’t in question with the beta getting weaker every day and the alpha remaining healthy.

Update:

Last night I got 2 baby gates (geez I thought I was done with those like 13 years ago), and installed them in the doorway leading to the basement. This way, the two cats can see each other and be close to each other, and not be cramped in a small carrier. The first attempt went pretty well. The aggressive brother was in the basement behind the gate. They came together and smelled and touched noses a few times and remained calm. Then the other brother who was attacked originally started a low growl and a little hissing. Not too bad. Then they separated. The brother would walk by slowly now and then and hiss a little bit, and then sit and observe from a distance. I think this was progress.

This morning we are going to do the same thing, but with the cats in opposite locations and see how that goes. We're really hoping it proves to be fruitful, because they do miss each other. We are also treating the cat's eyes with eye drops to improve his vision.

Thanks for the continued suggestions.