Friendly sibling cats dislike each other after move

This is a strange cat behavior problem and I don’t have a ready made answer. Or any solid answer except some guesses or more questions. The problem has been raised by one of the Catster visitors and we are going to try and find a solution because the Catster site can’t 😉

The Problem

The cats are litter mates, siblings. They were always best friends and got on very well, grooming each other and so on. Their owners moved home. They had to fly to their new address which is in a different part of America. The cats were shipped by air to the new address. I am not sure if they were in the hold of the aircraft or in the cabin. I have presumed they were in the hold. After getting into their new home the siblings decided that they disliked, even hated each other. After several weeks they became more friendly but fell out of friendship. When one approaches the other he gets hissed at and swatted.

That is the scenario. What is the solution? What has happened?

Cat at airport
Cat at airport. Photo by The Consumerist.

The Solution

We can’t find a solution until we know what has caused the change in behavior. In my experience when siblings fall out in such a way it is usually because of a change in their scent. They can no longer recognize each other. I will pursue that argument initially.

Scent

Cats, including siblings, recognize each other by their smell. I guess sight is also a factor but if a cat’s scent is removed, cats that at one time were friendly will no longer see this cat as a friend. The cat with no scent, or a different scent, becomes a complete stranger. It is as if a stray cat walked in off the street instead of a well loved sibling being in the room.

Because the sibling becomes a stranger he gets hissed at because he is intruding on the other siblings’ territory. If the scent of all the siblings is removed or changed the siblings are no longer siblings but strangers to each other. They have to adapt to get on. This is what appears to have happened. Initial hostility has given way to reluctant tolerance with the odd flare up. There is, at best, an uneasy peace.

I have to conclude that the scent given off by these siblings has not returned to the way it was when they lived together at their previous home.

If that is correct, and it might not be, what could cause a cat’s scent to change for a long time or permanently?

One possibility is the conditions under which they were shipped. The crates or environment in the aircraft may have given off a chemical that has been impregnated in the cats’ fur. It may have been ingested and is coming out of their skin.

Alternatively, they may have been vaccinated etc. and the vaccine has changed their scent. I have not heard of this happening but it seems to me to be a possibility albeit a very long shot indeed.

There may be something in the air in the new home that is masking the cats’ scent, which has confused the cats.

I presume that the cats’ owner is not bathing the cats regularly. If she is that would remove scent and cause the problem.

Travelling Conditions

It may be the case that the cats went through a traumatic journey in the airplane when shipped to their new home. Alternatively, they may have suffered some sort of traumatic event at either of the airports. This may have left them in a state of defensive aggression towards anything and everything including each other. If they were in the hold of the aircraft one of them may have become upset and caused a breakdown in the group friendship.

What To Do

Reestablish their natural scents or try and find out if anything happened before, during and after the flight that may have impacted on their body scent and/or psyche. Then pursue a course of treatment that corrects the changes.

16 thoughts on “Friendly sibling cats dislike each other after move”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. Thank you so much Janice & Michael for your dialogue above on suggestions. I am relieved that I now have guidance to help my two boys get re-introduced to each other! You guys are life savers, I have been so worried.

  3. Many thanks, Janice, for updating me and I am very pleased you have solved the problem. It is great to know. Well done.

  4. Hi there, I’m so sorry for such a late response, I washed my boy cat down with a damp cloth and a tiny little bit of baby dove bath wash, I then dried him with a towel and removed the other cats carrier he was travelling in from the room, it took a couple of days but with a little help from a felliway plug in and calming tablets for cats, all was well, they went back to being very friendly after my female went to investigate her brother while he was snuggled asleep on my bed, she gave him a good sniff and then just simply lay down next to him and started to clean and lick his ears and neck then fell asleep snuggled together so that was her back to normal, the only problem I have now is that when they are out and about in the fields around the house, usually when he returns or she does and they go to sniff each other she hisses at him and “slaps” his head but this is only happening when their is a different scent like when she’s in heat even tho she has been neutered there still is some sort of scent that shows she’s at that time somehow, even the bijon frise dog tries it on with her every few months🙄🤣. Anyway as I said all is good now and they are both very settled, very loved and very spoiled and r living back in harmony thankfully. Time and patience is key (I also rubbed his face slot to get his own scent on my hands then I would pet the female so she picked up his own scent again) this also worked wonders for me.

Leave a Comment

follow it link and logo