introduction gone wrong or miffed mama?

Well.....he meant well....

My Hubby has decided he likes cats - yea - good news but....

He has brought home a (unknown to him)pregnant stray who "followed him home". But I think he made a major mistake by throwing two cats together without my knowledge.

This is obviously a cat who has been around humans - she is highly friendly towards humans, but has made my other cat's life miserable with her agressive behaviour towards him (we've had him for 5 years, neutered male). We made an effort to find her owner, but no takers. She is just in too good of shape to be a random stray. And litter trained from day 1.

No real fights yet - on the contrary - he cowers before her and then runs (usually to me).

BTW - she will not engage in agressive behavior if she knows we are around - only if she thinks we are not looking. She is definitely the dominant cat in our house right now.

We are going to get her spayed after birth (due in about 2-3 weeks), but could this be a significant part of the problem? She is physically about 6-7 months old and this would be her first litter.

I don't expect them to curl up together, but a little detante would be nice. I'm wondering if alot of this has to do with her pregnancy.

Any advice appreciated.
Kim

Pregnant cats often get quite territorial once they feel that they are in a place that is safe to have their kittens. If she has lived outdoors for at all, she might be very street savy also. If this is her first litter, she has no experience with what is going on in her body and she could be pretty stressed.

Once she has the kittens, don't let your boy by her or her kittens - she will definitely attack, and attack quite viciously. Neutering will calm her down. I recommend trying to keep them separated until that happens.

Thankfully your male is neutered, so he isn't a threat. I would put her in her own room where she can just spend time and be in a quiet part of the house. If she hasn't been to the vet, you need to take her so that she is not bringing something with her that your other cat could catch.

Once the kittens are born and weaned, then you can spay her, or as unpleasant as this subject is, you can take her to the vet and ask him to abort the kittens, she is quite young to have babies at this stage of life.

Sorry but I rescue and deal with the hard facts at times. Putting the two cats together right away without a vet visit is risky at best, depending on if she is a stray or just belongs to someone who doesn't care about her.

Good luck with her.

Thank you so much for the advice

I was getting to be at wits end on what to do with these two. We'll be providing a private space for her in an upstairs bedroom which should help the situation.

Again, thank you.

Kim