A cat has come home from the vet to a less-than-warm welcome from his feline housemate, but the viral clip has received more than 1 million views.
In the TikTok video posted by @el_zochoo, a striped Egyptian Mau cat can be seen relaxing on the sofa, while a grey British shorthair hisses at him. The caption explains: “My cat doesn’t recognize my other cat after the vet.”
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It then reads, “looses his balls and comes home to get hissed.” One TikToker commented: “It’s amazing how much they use smell instead of vision. One of my cats was sick and the other didn’t recognise her for days. Lots of hissing.”
Animal charity Paws Chicago reports: “A cat’s sense of smell is the primary way he identifies people and objects. Cats have more than 200 million odor sensors in their noses; humans have just five million. Their sense of smell is 14 times better than that of humans.
“Because their sense of smell is so sensitive, it’s important to be aware of things like scented litter, other animals’ smells on you, or an unfamiliar scent in your cat’s environment (such as a new piece of furniture or a house guest). These things may upset your feline friend,” the charity added.
It’s not uncommon for cats who live together to be aggressive to one another after they have been separated for a short time.
According to The Spruce Pets, “a common scenario occurs when one cat from the household goes to the groomer or veterinarian. When the cat returns home, former kitty friends either snub or outright attack the treated feline.
“It almost appears that the cats don’t recognize each other. This is essentially true because the absent cat has an altered scent that its housemates don’t recognize.”
To get around this common problem, they recommend scheduling vet appointments at the same time, keeping the sick cat separated but within smelling range, or using a cat bed or blanket from the sick cat to re-familiarize the other cat with their scent.
TikToker In Great Britain wrote: “Orrrr… he thought you getting rid of him and is disappointed you took it back home.”
User tifaharoni commented that “it’s not about recognizing, they just smell the strange smells from the vet.”
Julya Olivia posted that “this happened to my cats too. My cat still doesn’t recognize the other. It’s been 5 months, I feel like my little family is broken.”
Newsweek has reached out to the original poster for comment.
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