Do I Know You?

By Gordon Hopkins Yes, my cat got sick. Yes, I am going to milk it for every last column I can get out of it.As mentioned previously, Archie, the orange cat, had a urinary blockage and needed catheter. He was gone from home for three nights and the vets took very good care of him.Archie was in much better shape when he was returned to me, though still a bit fragile. I had my own recent bought with illness and my own, much briefer, hospital stay. So, I understood how he felt.Archie was glad to be home. I was glad to have him home. I also assumed at the time that his little brother, Groucho, the black cat, would also be glad that Archie was home. This assumption proved to be, as so many do, not entirely correct.When I first let Archie out of the cat carrier, I was worried that his little brother would want to play immediately and, given Archie's condition, perhaps be too rough. Instead, upon seeing his sibling, Groucho hissed at him and then took a swipe at him.I was, frankly, shocked at this. I had thought Groucho was missing his big brother. Instead, he acted like he didn't even recognize him.A little research told me that was exactly what was going on. It is called “nonrecognition aggression” and it is apparently quite common.Unlike people, who primarily use visual cues to recognize one another, cats identify one another primarily by smell. Admittedly, there are some folks I can identify by smell but I usually try and avoid them.During his three-day absence, Archie had acquired some smells unfamiliar to his brother. Indeed, had been given a bath by the vet, so he didn't even smell the same to me, and I don't make it a habit of smelling my cats.After the initial hostility, things calmed down a little bit. Groucho just stayed away from his brother for the most part, occasionally hissing at him from across the room. This lasted for about three days. I guess that’s about, how long it took Archie to re-acquire his old smell. Since then, things are back to normal, with the brothers wrestling, grooming each other and, occassionally, getting into fights as cats, and brothers, do.

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