New cat agressive to resident cats-help

About 4 months ago I found an adult Orange Tabby sleeping in one of my cat beds in the garage. I had put the cat bed in the garage because my cats had decided it was much better to sleep on my bed. I was planning to give it away. Well anyway, one of my kids left the garage door open.. and there he was. He opened his eyes, looked at me and meowed like he was home..so I was hooked.

He smelled terrible, looked terrible and was not fixed. He was skinny and not taken care of in any way. I took him to the vet had, him fixed, cleaned him up and he became part of my household. That's when the trouble started. In order to understand, I will describe the personality of my other cats:

Harry - Maybe about 8..was a stray too. Very loving, overweight. Not aggressive unless he has to be. Lately has had health problems. On a special diet.

Hannah- 3 Years old. Small female - Excellent health - Hunter and fighter. Never backs down from a fight--even if it's clear she will loose. (several trips to the vet from Hannah vs. raccoon or squirrel fights)

Cocoa- 2 years old - small female- frail - definite runt of her litter. Afraid of everything. Very loving - does not want or like to fight

and then there is Smoochey. Smoochey is the orange cat that I found in the garage. We named him Smoochey because he is very loving to people.

However, Smooch is beating up on Cocoa and Harry. Cocoa has taken to living behind the computer. She comes out to eat and go to the bathroom. Smooch has never caused any injury to any of the other cats. He will sit by the computer desk on the floor to prevent her from getting down and having access to the rest of the house. When I see him do this I move him right away. He knows I'm on to him. He will sometimes wait until I go to bed to try to jump on the computer table. I have been putting him in the garage at night to seperate them. He has never caused any injury...but Cocoa is scared to death of him.

Harry was the "alpha male" by default. Hannah could care less and cocoa didn't want the job either...however Smooch tries to corner him in the bathroom and the bedroom. Again, no injury has been caused. Just intimidation.

Hannah isn't scared of Smooch at all. He tried in the beginning to push her around but she wouldn't have it. He learned it's better to avoid her because she would fight him.

Any suggestions on how to handle him. I hate that I constantly have to worry about them and I would like Cocoa to come out from behind the computer..even when he's in the house.

Thanks

Please drop me a personal PM and we can talk more about this. I had the same thing happen on 2 occasions. When we found Cleo (an abandoned cat) and took her in she made life living hell for Ameratto. Cleo would attack her on site, sleep in front of her food dish so Ameratto couldn't feed, and she even once took a chunk out of Ameratto's backside. We were ready to give up and show Cleo the door when our Vet told me It can take up to a year for a new pet to integrate with the other animals, one year! Slowly at about the 6 month mark Cleo stopped camping at Ameratto's dish and let her eat normally again. They would still fight but if they are not drawing blood and causing major injury its ok. The cats will establish a pecking order, Cleo would fight until Ameratto would yield and become submissive. That is the state of their relationship now. They sleep together, play together, and are great with each other, but every now and then Cleo will cause trouble with her just to remind her who is boss.

Now when we adopted the make kitten last year (Cassius). Cassius started doing the same thing to Cleo that she did to Ameratto. Now he is at the top of the pecking order (isn't payback grand). Its a long process so please keep that in mind.

A few tips

1.Put Smoochey's food away from the others and feed him first. While he is eating feed the others.

2. Feed them treats as a group, taking turns and showing all animals its safe for them to be around each other.

3. If no injury is occurring (as you said) let the selection of the pecking order continue. It could take another 8 months to iron things out. The fight sounds bad at times but its mostly just the noises they make. We see Cleo and Cassius roll across the floor in a great big ball of hair, hissing and howling but no wounds are ever given.

4. Smoochey is battling to establish some territory in his new environment. Remember everything smells of your other cats and nothing is his. He may feel lost and insecure because of the lack of familar scent.

Cheers

Jason

I would be very sure Cocoa has a really safe place to go at any time, besides behind the computer, with a box and water. My vulnerable female uses two places - one's the top of my h's dresser, with a big but flattish pillow on it (no room for another cat). She jumps up from a nearby chair and as long as she's ahead of the guys, she's ok. She also has a place in the corner of a large half-wall niche, up on a milk crate and folded blanket, again having the high place to herself. And if we go out for any length of time (besides mid-morning nap time) we close the door. Going after females is very hard wired into some males and you may be able to lessen Smoochey's instinct somewhat over time, but it will be a long time and may not be complete, so you need to protect Cocoa (and maybe even Hannah in future) now.

Not sure how to personal PM?

D