Hoping you can direct me to the right threads as I'm sure this has been addressed before but having trouble finding what I need.
I had a household of two cats. One who is three (MIKE) and one who is around 9 (FUNNY) who lived his whole life on the street until he came here 7 months ago. The two were doing fine.
There was a death in the family and I have taken in a 3rd cat (BUD) who is about 8. This cat has a history of being very mean, biting and scratching any time someone touches him or tries to make him do things he doesn't want to do. He has been here for three weeks and has been confined to a room separated by lattice. So everyone can see each other but no one can attack.
Since his arrival Mike has become very aggressive. He stomps around, swishes his tail, yesterday attacked Funny in the yard (who he used to like)and has taken up living outside on the roof of the shed. (They have a big fenced yard. bud is not allowed out there.)
Funny wanders around howling, snarling, growling, hissing at anything and everything that moves. I would best describe his verbalizations as hysteria. I mean we call him the exorcist. I am worried he is going to have a nervous breakdown. He is ok when he is in his room but when he comes out he just goes on and on almost like he is announcing DON"T COME NEAR ME. It is non-stop and he sounds like a maniac.
Bud acts like he is very happy and follows me around his area. He doesn't really seem bothered by the other two cats. He is continuing his aggressiveness whenever you try to pick him up or make him do something he doesn't want to do. He growls at me, hisses and swats. He has been known to bite but so far he hasn't bit me. Not sure what to do I just give him a stern no and proceed to do what I want with him (praying that he doesn't attack me). So far if I remain calm he seems to settle down and let me do whatever. I am trying to let him know that he doesn't scare me and I'm wondering if this works with cats?
So far everything is going ok however we've kind of stopped making progress because everyone hides in their own area. Bud's is in his room, Mike's on the shed and Funny is in his room. They never really see each other.
I decided to slowly introduce them by letting Bud out of his room into the living area (supervised). I'm not making much progress because Funny and Mike retreat to their area to hide out.
So my questions are:
Is is a good idea to stand firm when Bud becomes aggressive?
Is it normal that Funny makes such racket when moving around outside of his room?
Do you think that given that yesterday Mike attacked Funny that I am pushing things too quickly?
Do you think it would be a good idea to put all three and me in the same room for short periods so that they can get used to spending time together or should I just let them retreat to their respective hideaways?
Thanks for your help on this. Any and all recommendations are welcome because I don't reallly know what I'm doing. also if there are specific threads I should read that would really help too.
take care- sue
I had a household of two cats. One who is three (MIKE) and one who is around 9 (FUNNY) who lived his whole life on the street until he came here 7 months ago. The two were doing fine.
There was a death in the family and I have taken in a 3rd cat (BUD) who is about 8. This cat has a history of being very mean, biting and scratching any time someone touches him or tries to make him do things he doesn't want to do. He has been here for three weeks and has been confined to a room separated by lattice. So everyone can see each other but no one can attack.
Since his arrival Mike has become very aggressive. He stomps around, swishes his tail, yesterday attacked Funny in the yard (who he used to like)and has taken up living outside on the roof of the shed. (They have a big fenced yard. bud is not allowed out there.)
Funny wanders around howling, snarling, growling, hissing at anything and everything that moves. I would best describe his verbalizations as hysteria. I mean we call him the exorcist. I am worried he is going to have a nervous breakdown. He is ok when he is in his room but when he comes out he just goes on and on almost like he is announcing DON"T COME NEAR ME. It is non-stop and he sounds like a maniac.
Bud acts like he is very happy and follows me around his area. He doesn't really seem bothered by the other two cats. He is continuing his aggressiveness whenever you try to pick him up or make him do something he doesn't want to do. He growls at me, hisses and swats. He has been known to bite but so far he hasn't bit me. Not sure what to do I just give him a stern no and proceed to do what I want with him (praying that he doesn't attack me). So far if I remain calm he seems to settle down and let me do whatever. I am trying to let him know that he doesn't scare me and I'm wondering if this works with cats?
So far everything is going ok however we've kind of stopped making progress because everyone hides in their own area. Bud's is in his room, Mike's on the shed and Funny is in his room. They never really see each other.
I decided to slowly introduce them by letting Bud out of his room into the living area (supervised). I'm not making much progress because Funny and Mike retreat to their area to hide out.
So my questions are:
Is is a good idea to stand firm when Bud becomes aggressive?
Is it normal that Funny makes such racket when moving around outside of his room?
Do you think that given that yesterday Mike attacked Funny that I am pushing things too quickly?
Do you think it would be a good idea to put all three and me in the same room for short periods so that they can get used to spending time together or should I just let them retreat to their respective hideaways?
Thanks for your help on this. Any and all recommendations are welcome because I don't reallly know what I'm doing. also if there are specific threads I should read that would really help too.
take care- sue
Best of luck!!!
