Didn't get much of a response on petfinders

so I will try my post here. I would appreciate any and all insight into this thanks!

I am the person that posted about adopting "Cammie" a little Aby-mix. Well, the good news is the shelter is bending over backwards to make sure things go smoothly. They are letting me foster her w/option to adopt so that I won't lose out on $75 IF she doesn't work out. The reason they are doing this is because Cammie was turned in by a woman who found Cammie in her barn. She had her two months and turned her into the shelter because she said Cammie didn't like other female cats (unfriendly towards them). Now Cammie came in with another female cat and has a female cat for a cage mate at the shelter (for the past six months). The shelter staff said Cammie has shown NO aggression to the other female cats in the shelter even when loose in the cat room.

Now here is my situation that I need advice on. I already own a rather large female cat that CAN be dominant IF the other cat is submissive. However, she will back down and take the subordinate role IF the OTHER cat is dominant. The main problem is that Cammie (the one I will be fostering) has ALL her claws and Lily (my cat) has NONE. Am I asking for disaster? Should I even try getting these two cats together with the history on Cammie that I have given? The shelter seems to think it is worth a try, as they haven't seen Cammie be aggressive with other cats.

Please let me know what you think and offer suggestions. If you think this is a bad idea and not to do it at all, I want to know that too.

P.S I know all about gradual introductions and keeping them seperate for awhile, I just don't want my de-clawed female to be ripped to ribbons by a clawed cat. Do any of you have clawed and de-clawed cats living somewhat peacefully in the same household?

1st clip the claws short.
2nd be available during the first several introductions. Don't leave them alone together until you are sure.


as for clawed & declawed in the same house.........not now, but in the past I had this combo (3 without, 1 with). And the cat WITH the claws always took the beatings, she never defended herself. Later, as the family grew and the declawed ones died off, I was left with 1 declaw and 8 clawed and I still never had a problem. (by the way, the declawed cat in THIS instance was the ALPHA). go figure.

I have one with claws and one without. The one without is the Alpha, and I have never seen Ophelia use her claws on Trent - even when he deserved it! I think with gradual and proper introductions, Cammie should do fine. Especially with her history in the shelter. I would guess that the lady who turned her in didn't properly introduce the cats, just threw them together, which we all know can lead to aggression.

I have two clawed and one declawed. Buddy (declawed) is the agressor, toward Opie. For no reason at all, Buddy will walk up, hiss and growl at Opie. Usually, Opie just gives him a disgusted look. The few scraps have ended with noone getting injured.

Same situation here. Sam is alpha, and he is declawed. Bailey has never used her claws on him, and they swat at each other and wrestle all the time. Both are pretty good natured cats, but there were a few arguments at the beginning when Sam let Bailey know that he was boss. They seem to use hissing and growling as a threat much more than actually fighting.


I watched carefully, however.

You shouldn't have a problem as long as you do a very careful introduction of the new cat into your home. Please click here to read a thread which gives detailed instructions on how to successfully introduce a new cat to a resident cat.

BTW...I have 5 cats with claws and one who is declawed. Although the declawed cat is not alpha, she has never been hurt by the others.