First of all, sorry for the long post!
My fiance and I took in a 10-month old male stray a couple of months ago, and at the beginning, he got along pretty well with our existing cats - a 4 year-old fat orange male and a 3 year-old tiny siamese female. We probably introduced them much too soon (within a week), but they got on quite well at the beginning (some hissing, but mostly they ignored one another). Unfortuneately, since then relations have been steadily deteriorating.
First the new cat started bullying our big male, who is generally a easy-going wimp, so it wasn't really surprising that his dominance would be challenged. Despite her small size (she's only 6.5 lbs), our female has always been a toughy, so we were surprised when the new guy started going after her a couple of weeks ago. Now, every time the new cat sees her (which isn't often, as we now keep them separated) she bolts, he chases her, and if he catches her, he attacks her really viciously. Today he managed to escape from his room when I was going in to feed him, and he caught my female and attacked her so ferociously that I got pretty torn up tearing them apart. I honestly think that if I hadn't intervened, he would have killed her. (I'm not kidding, I've never seen cat fights so one-sided and savage before.)
Now, we're hoping to give the new guy (who is super sweet and playful with humans) to a close friend and her husband. The problem is, they have to await approval from their condo board, which seems to be taking forever and is not a sure thing. So, if we end up having to keep this guy for longer, is there any way to reintroduce him to our cats and undo the damage? We'd happily keep the new cat (he really is a gem, aside from the anti-cat aggression) if he could get along with our existing cats.
A few more details:
- We had the new cat neutered about 3 weeks ago. This didn't change his behaviour at all.
- I've successfully introduced cats several times before, with no problems (which is probably why I was overconfident and introduced this new guy too soon this time). My original two cats usually get along well with other cats (they stay at my parents' house with their 2 cats when we go away).
- I've heard Feliway can help, but haven't had any luck finding it here (Calgary, Canada).
- The new cat is VERY affectionate to people, but occasionally play-aggressive and aggressive from over-stimulation.
- I'm probably not helping by yelling like a crazy person whenever he starts chasing my female cat, but it's hard stay calm and rational when my sweet little female is in mortal danger!
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!
My fiance and I took in a 10-month old male stray a couple of months ago, and at the beginning, he got along pretty well with our existing cats - a 4 year-old fat orange male and a 3 year-old tiny siamese female. We probably introduced them much too soon (within a week), but they got on quite well at the beginning (some hissing, but mostly they ignored one another). Unfortuneately, since then relations have been steadily deteriorating.
First the new cat started bullying our big male, who is generally a easy-going wimp, so it wasn't really surprising that his dominance would be challenged. Despite her small size (she's only 6.5 lbs), our female has always been a toughy, so we were surprised when the new guy started going after her a couple of weeks ago. Now, every time the new cat sees her (which isn't often, as we now keep them separated) she bolts, he chases her, and if he catches her, he attacks her really viciously. Today he managed to escape from his room when I was going in to feed him, and he caught my female and attacked her so ferociously that I got pretty torn up tearing them apart. I honestly think that if I hadn't intervened, he would have killed her. (I'm not kidding, I've never seen cat fights so one-sided and savage before.)
Now, we're hoping to give the new guy (who is super sweet and playful with humans) to a close friend and her husband. The problem is, they have to await approval from their condo board, which seems to be taking forever and is not a sure thing. So, if we end up having to keep this guy for longer, is there any way to reintroduce him to our cats and undo the damage? We'd happily keep the new cat (he really is a gem, aside from the anti-cat aggression) if he could get along with our existing cats.
A few more details:
- We had the new cat neutered about 3 weeks ago. This didn't change his behaviour at all.
- I've successfully introduced cats several times before, with no problems (which is probably why I was overconfident and introduced this new guy too soon this time). My original two cats usually get along well with other cats (they stay at my parents' house with their 2 cats when we go away).
- I've heard Feliway can help, but haven't had any luck finding it here (Calgary, Canada).
- The new cat is VERY affectionate to people, but occasionally play-aggressive and aggressive from over-stimulation.
- I'm probably not helping by yelling like a crazy person whenever he starts chasing my female cat, but it's hard stay calm and rational when my sweet little female is in mortal danger!
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!