Cats' amazing sense of scent serves to protect them in many ways. However, it can backfire when a cat comes home from the veterinary clinic reeking of strange and frightening scents. Amy Shojai calls the resultant cat fights a form of redirected aggression, and explains it here:
"One of the most common forms of intercat aggression occurs between cats that formerly were best friends. This type of cat attack can be emotionally upsetting to the victim cat as well as owners. In many instances, the unexpected attack results from redirected aggression when the aggressor lashes out at a surrogate target since the actual target can't be reached."
Read more of Amy's revealing article, along with 6 tips for nipping a cat fight in the bud.
Photo Credit: © Amy Shojai, CABC
Comments
Two of our cats get aggressive either when they have been to the vet or when someone else has (our calico will even track down and shred receipts from the vet if we don’t file them in the desk right away). When the hissy ones have been to the vet, we sneak them a small treat when they get home, which seems to distract them from the vet visit. Also, no matter who has been to the vet, that cat gets a wipedown with a kitty wipe (kind of a baby wipe made for cats). These have a light scent that seems to placate the vet-haters. The wipes also are used whenever someone needs a little help with cleanup, so they are not associated only with vet visits.
These tactics don’t necessarily eliminate all hissing, but now it stops after one or two token comments, with the hisser walking away afterward instead of beating the poor patient over the head with her paw.