Last night his brother Noki slipped out the door while I was trying to get the dog inside. This isn’t a huge deal, he used to be a partial outdoor cat, I usually just wait and he comes back in an hour or two. Here’s the trouble though, when he came back, this one (Scooter) decided he’s never seen this cat in his life and will therefore attack and chase him viciously. I managed to wrangle Scooter into his carrying cage and get him in my bedroom. He spent the night with me with the doors closed, and when I woke up they seemed to be sniffing each other under the door and not hissing or howling, but when I opened the door all hell broke loose. Scooter will still not leave him alone if he sees him. I tried rubbing Noki with the towel from Scooters cage trying to get him to smell more familiar, but I don’t know what else to do. They’ve always gotten along really well and their play fights never involved hissing and howling. Scooter lost a whole claw in the exchange last night. Noki seems fine but is hiding in a closet and I had to bring him food because Scooter won’t let him come downstairs.
Update: Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! I kept Noki in a separate room overnight with a litter box and food/water. I fed Scooter and him treats on either side of the door. This morning I switched and put Scooter in the room and let Noki out. When I got home I fed them both treats under the door and then cracked it so they could see each other. No hissing or aggression so I let Scooter out and they finished the treats with their faces touching. After the treats were finished, Scooter gave a quick hiss and Noki walked off but there was no chase and no fighting. I think I’m on the right track! Noki is still hiding so I’m going to keep them separated and continue feeding them treats together until I feel like they are back to normal. This community is awesome, big thanks to everyone who commented♥️
It might be a smell thing. My friend has 2 cats, litter-mates, and they would do the same damn thing every time one came back from the vet. It would settle down after a few days when the smell dissipated. She used to have to take them both to the vet even if only one needed to go. It’s called non-recognition aggression.
Then the vet changed their brand of disinfectant and it never happened again so they never got to try the following advice the vet gave them:
What you can try is de-outside-smelling your escapee by giving them a damp-cloth bath and then rubbing them all over with your worn clothes to reapply your smell.
Also, maybe stinking up your aggressive little idiot by leaving the same clothes with outside smells around them. Pick the clothes your aggressive cat loves to snuggle the most if they’re that type of cat. If you can mix up their smells enough, it will hopefully break the association of “smell = the other cat” and your aggressive one will begin to recognise the escape artist again.