sibling rivalry

can anyone please help. i have two kittens aged 5 months, they are sisters and have always gotten along really well, (the odd play fight gone too far - but never any real fighting, hissing or scratching) they havent been neutered yet, but they have never been outside the house. yesterday morning one of the kittens fell out of a ground floor window and fractured its leg so she had to stay at the vets overnight for an operation. she came back half shaven and smelling slightly of antiseptic. now the other cat will not have anything to do with the injured car and growls and hisses at her. i know the smell may have had something to do with this, has anyone got any ideas how to get them to be friends again?!!! much appreciated, katie x

 

:m23: This thread might help:
http://www.auspet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4541&start=0

I'm so sorry about your kitty. They should get along soon once the smell wears off. Try the towel rub thing. It might facilitate their getting along faster. What are their names and do you have pics? We love pics!

 

thank you

thanks that was really helpfull, i will try that tonight when home. their names are dori (from finding nemo!! as she is really dumb!) and the one who was injured is named jinx (go figure!) i just cancelled my pet insurance a few weeks ago and yesterday jinx fell out the window ! she has now got a shaven leg huge stitches (7 in total) and pins in her leg at a cost of £300. so i'm not very happy ! at least now i know this is most likely a temporary thing. pictures will follw i promise ! thanks x

 

Welcome to the forums, Katie! I hope Jinx heals up well. I'm sure they will get back to being friends again in no time.

 

still not any better

the hissing growling and striking with the paws continues. into day 4 now. poor jinx doesnt know what to do, she goes to say hi to dori and the growls start. this irritates my partner who puts dori into the vet carry box that jinx sleeps in to try and get the smell on dori. i've tried the towel thing - no use. i've tried rubbing a bit talk on each of them (advised by vet) - no use. any other ideas ?!!! can you wask kittens - i know they dont as a rule like water but it is urgent. !!!
please try and think up some more suggestions guys !!! i'm thinking about getting them both spayed next month - that should do the trick as they will both smell of antiseptic again - but i dont want to wait that long. we are trying to give both cats equal attention so it shouldnt be jelousy.

 

Washing both cats sounds like a good idea. You can try using baby shampoo or those new baby wash wipes without dousing both in water. I'll go see what else I can find. BRB. Ok. Have you tried Feliway and you may need to separate the cats for a couple of days and slowly reintroduce them like for the first time:
http://search.netscape.com/ns/boomf...ove_url=http://www.vetinfo.com/cataggres.html

Here some more good read. Just browse for the topics you are interested in:
http://search.netscape.com/ns/boomf...ities.com/Heartland/Pointe/9352/behavior.html

 

yey !

finally it has worked, i came home to find jinx cleaning dori, so i think the smell of the vets has just worn off !!!
unfortunatly it may be short lived as we think jinx may need to go back for corrective surgery, the fracture may have healed but she is walking with that leg pointing sideways a bit so its apparently ''angulated'' 90 degrees - oh dear, more expense.

 

I'm happy to hear things are getting back to normal. Poor Jinx! Best of luck with your next trip to the vet. Hopefully whatever they need to do won't be too major. Keep us posted and get us some pictures!