Feral Cat vs. House Cat

So about 6 months ago a black and white feral cat starting hanging around our front porch and in that time he's gone from not coming within 20 feet of us to letting us pick him up and carry him around. We have had him fixed/shots/tested for all the bad stuff and he is fine. He has a pretty sweet setup on our porch and we live on a huge farm far away from the road.

My problem is that my two house cats are not happy that he is out there especially my big cat Mikey. The two of them try to attack each other through the windows. Mikey is more the aggressor and when he can't get to the black and white cat (since they are on opposite sides of the windows) he goes after my female house cat who is a lot smaller and his mother, btw. I guess he doesn't want to waste a 'poofy tail'. One time Mikey got out by accident and beat the crap out of b&w. I was so scared for both of them. I tried to reach in and grab Mike but they broke it up as soon as I reached for them. I can't open any windows on the ground floor because I know Mikey will go through the screens to get at black and white, he's really mad! We were hoping some day to maybe bring in b&w but I'm afraid it will be a blood bath. Everyone involved is fixed but they all have their claws and are not afraid to use them. My husband thinks they will never get along but I was wondering if there was anyone who has acclimated two cats that are that po'ed at each other. Thanks for listening.

Welcome to TCS!

Well done on making friends w/ your outside kitty & getting him fixed/vacced/tested!

When Mikey attacks his mother, that's redirected aggression. Basically he's royally peeved & cannot get at his object of hatred (the outside kitty) so goes after whoever is around (inconveniently his mother).

As far as whether or not you could bring in your outside kitty to make friends - I don't know. Some cats just do no accept others.

I'll say there's redirected aggression. We had a turn for the worse last night black and white got up on our roof and then came down and was looking in our bedroom window that's on the second floor. Well Mikey almost went through the screen after him so I got up and tried to shut the window and because it was dark and he couldn't see me he just started attacking me and then his mother joined in for some reason so I now have about 30 cuts and scratches all over my body, the screen is ripped and now we can't have any windows at all open not even the skylight which he will sit on to try to get in. I don't think they will ever get along at this point. Thank you for your comment.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

As far as whether or not you could bring in your outside kitty to make friends - I don't know. Some cats just do no accept others.

Click to expand...

This COULD be the solution. If it werent as violently as it is now, I would suggest this. Inside, the B&W will be more meekly, and thus - less threat. So the inside meeting is often - even usually - easier than you fear, the newcomer usually submissive and eager to please himself in.

But now, when they did had open fights, it is of course more difficult.

The easy solution is prob if you can find some other place for the B/W, as someone others outside - or perhaps even inside, kitty. It will be easier now for another owner than it was for you one year ago, right?

IF you try to take in. Use Feliway profusely. (why, you can use Feliway already now.). Calming harp music...
Scent swapping with positive vibratos... And so on. Look at acquitance-threads...


some thoughts. Hope other will fill in.

(I hope you are minding the scratches. there are often lots of bacteria, and scratch wounds can easily get inflammed)

Good luck!

Hi and sorry you are dealing with this situation. IT IS NOT hopeless. You are better off taking in the B&W cat immediately and keep that cat in a safe room away from the other cats. Right now your resident cats see this B&W cat as a serious threat because this cat is trying to get in the house without your approval. Once you readily accept this cat as part of the family, so will your resident cats. I am absolutely not saying this will happen over night. You must follow the appropriate steps in a VERY slow introduction and this will take time. I know of an exact situation. Once the people took in the stray that was trying to get in their windows, their resident cat did in time accept this cat and they became very, very close buds. If you don't take in this cat, then you must find another home or rescue for the B&W. Obviously, this cat wants a home, and badly, the poor darling. Your cats scratching you is transferred aggression and I feel bad for all of your scratches. Much luck to you as you make your decision, but either way something must change.

Thanks for your comments. I am nervous about bringing him in and I don't want to give him away but I do need to change something. If I do bring him in I hope my house and my body can take it. After seeing how my sweet kitties can turn into raging tigers, I don't know. Mikey is alot bigger than black and white cat but I know it will take a while.

Right you are.
Begin with the easy part, set up one or a couple of Feliway diffusers. You can do it already now. Some cats goes helped almost immediately. For others it takes some week before the Feliway begins to work on them.

Have also some Doctor Bachs drops handy for emergency situations. For a quicker calming down. There are a number of solutions, one classical is the "Rescue remedy".

Build up a library of soft, calming music - preferably harp classical music. PM to LDG, she knows which pieces of music are the very best.

Good luck!