Aggressive territorial behavior in former stray

Hi,

I'm happy to find this group.  I've been a cat owner for almost 50 years, having taken in kittens born to strays and/or helped place strays with friends on occasion.  But I'm dealing now  with an adult male who's been on his own for awhile. He had been visiting my front porch since January and in April showed up with an injured foot. I could not catch him to get him in a carrier, so contacted organizations and found someone who had a humane trap. He avoided entering the trap (smart boy!), but I started feeding him in the open trap for a few weeks so he would enter it.

On July 6th I finally outsmarted him and  trapped him.  I had him neutered at a non-profit vet service along with his shots. The foot injury is pretty much healed.  He unfortunately has FIV, which is not uncommon in battle-scarred, unneutered males like this guy.   I would like to find a good home for him with someone who has experience dealing with FIV cats.

While on my porch, he allowed me to pet him (I only petted his head). I knew he was an "assertive" cat because of his behavior - loud meowing and vocalizing, standing or lying in my path, etc. On the day I trapped him, he nipped at my hand when I reached over to give him a treat while he sat on a chair he liked.  He had never hissed or bitten or scratched before that one time.


Isn't he cute???

He is now living in my office. He has become territorial to this entire room.  When I enter to feed him or clean the litter he hisses and meows constantly and jumps off "his" chair or couch and stands in  my way.  I washed his towel and he hissed and would not let me get near the chair to replace it. Last week I foolishly  tried to stand my ground and he went for my ankle. I now wear boots and long pants when I go in the room. He does let me work at the computer at least (after hissing at me when I come into the room).

I would like to socialize him, but don't know how to socialize a cat I'm scared of.  I've never been afraid to handle cats and have always been able to gain their trust, even if it takes awhile. I can bathe cats, cut their nails, and I'm a whiz at pilling sick cats. I've had cats who bite/scratch when over-stimulated.  But I've never dealt with this kind of assertiveness.  All my males were neutered as kittens so this is new for me.

I was hoping he'd calm down once the hormones were gone, but he hasn't changed much in a month, and if anything the territorial attitude is getting worse, as it started with just the chair/food area and now it's the entire room. It will be hard enough to find a home for an FIV cat, but if he is aggressive, no one will ever want to take him. 

Any advice?

Hey, subscribing to your thread since your issue is similar to mine.

My guy has calmed a little as he has realized that I am the one feeding him, I think. He will regress a bit if he is reminded that there are other cats living in the same apartment, or if our routine is disrupted. In my case "his room" is also my bedroom, so I have been forced to socialize even though he scares me.  (I also had quite a bit of cat experience and had never been really afraid of a cat before.)


In my limited experience, here are some things I have done. (They're all pretty basic, so you probably know all of these already):

- I avoid injury by always bringing food with me when I enter/leave the room. I feed him in the same spot near the back of the room, so he has learned to go there to eat when I have food, and I can then move about the rest of the room while he is eating without bothering him. I basically have to plan out every trip in or out of my room to make sure I'm taking everything I need with me, because entering and leaving the room causes the most drama.

- Sometimes I try to sit near him and talk to him / pet his head while he is eating (depends on his mood). He has gotten a lot better about food since he arrived and will wait patiently for it instead of hissing now, I think because he is realizing the food is not going to disappear / is not a limited resource.

- I always avoid prolonged direct eye contact, and I move very slowly. I talk to him when I move, especially if I have to walk near/behind him, so he knows where I am. He will block my path and rub on me, and I will just stand still until he moves, and then I walk very slowly until he stops me again. I realize I'm probably just letting him "dominate" me, but that's preferable to me at this point over getting bitten.

- I made sure he has plenty of places to climb / hide, and I use calming spray all over the room. I also keep the room fairly dark with one not-too-bright lamp on, and I have calm music playing all day for him.

- I try to sit in there and read to him for a while every day.

- If I know I have to do something that is going to involve a lot of moving around or anything that might upset him, I put him in the bathroom to avoid having him hiss and try to bite me the entire time.


Basically everything I am doing is just trying to avoid stress, for both him and myself. Anything that says, "This is your space, and you are safe here. Look at how calm and safe everything is. I am not here to hurt you."

No idea if this will be helpful or if I am doing things the right way, but so far it's helped a bit. I'm sorry to hear you're not seeing progress even after neutering. I hope more time will help. I imagine it's a pretty traumatic change in a cat's life to go from the street to inside.


 

Skitzabeth has some great advice.

It also occurred to me that he may be feeling a tad more comfortable now - hence his stance.  He may be saying "THIS IS MY SPACE." and is not yet ready to share it, even with the human who brings him food.

FIV is only really bad when he doesn't have good nutrition and or is stressed out (like unneutered, outside on his own).  You've taken care of those problems, so if you can't find him a home and can't keep him inside, is outside your own home out of the question?  Not ideal, I know.

I do think he will calm down more, especially as he realizes he's safe and as the hormones decrease.  It may be a combination of a new environment, surgery and a general feeling of "now what?"

Blessings on you for helping him!

skitzabeth said:

 
 I basically have to plan out every trip in or out of my room to make sure I'm taking everything I need with me, because entering and leaving the room causes the most drama.

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Ha Ha Ha!  This is me exactly.  Whenever I have to leave "his" room and come back it's a pain!  Thanks for the good suggestions, but more importantly, it's great to know others are having the same problem!  The most inconvenient part is my switch to thick rubber boots and jeans in the middle of summer. Good luck!

Outside again will be the last resort.  He did survive a horrible winter 2013-2014.  But I talked to my vet, and although she generally recommends keeping FIV cats inside to avoid spreading the disease, now that he's neutered and less likely to fight, returning him to our porch may be a solution.  But for now he's comfy (if unhappy being inside) and I can keep an eye on him. Thanks! 

How has he been doing?

Napping as usual.  Still grouchy and nasty if I get near "his" chair or food area.  I've been playing with him (jingly toy on a string) and petting him when he's out of the room.  I still don't trust him. He's a work in progress!  How's your little guy? Has he been neutered?

Good luck!

My boy is doing well! He got neutered on Monday. He had been doing fairly well before that, and I was afraid the procedure might set him back / freak him out, but he's been more cuddly than ever! I think he now fully associates me with his food (his seemingly only motivation in life) and is trusting me. (I also think it helps that I have to sleep in there with him.) I haven't been hissed/growled at or bitten in a week or so. We're going to give him a few weeks for his hormones to settle and then start with introductions to our other cats.

I'm glad you are still working with yours. Sounds like he is going to need more time than mine to come around, but I hope you are seeing improvements from when you first took him in! Let us know if there are any milestones! I have been thinking about you guys.