Military Family Trying to Reintegrate Cat

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could have some advice about introducing a cat with some special circumstances. It's a bit of a long story but basically our cat's only interaction with other  cats has been to chase and antagonize them. We are hoping to integrate him into a house hold with one cat and dog.

We are a military family and have been living in Japan for two years. We are getting ready to move back to the States. When we got orders out here, we were told our year old kitten, Wolfgang, would have to be at a quarantine facility for 6 months. Unwilling to take away his kitten hood, we arranged his living with my brother-in-law. Unfortunately shortly after. said brother in law ended up moving to South Korea and gave Wolfgang to his mother to take care of, who already had two cats. She never introduced them properly and, with Wolfgang being a bit of a spit fire, learned to chase and antagonize the other cats anytime he saw them. He has had to spend the last year and a half primarily in one room, being allowed to roam the house a few hours a day after both other cats are put away. The only real interaction he has had with them has been negative with him being the dominate cat. I am anxious about how to go about introducing him to the two animals we have acquired while in Japan. One is a full grown, female cat, who is amazingly adapt to meeting new animals- she has gone through several military families and been in foster care and gets comfortable with new cats and dogs within a few hours. The other is a small (13 pound) dog who is very sweet but still very much a puppy and loves to play. We will be moving into a new, neutral environment for all of them and I am wondering what the best way to go about introducing them. We love all three and are hoping to create a peaceful, comfortable home. Thanks for your time!

First, is Wolfgang neutered? What about the other cats your mother in law has?

You will first need to give Wolfgang his own room at the new house and give the other animals a room of their own. You will first need to redevelop a relationship with Wolfgang and get to know his personality. It's very likely that his behavior is just play aggression and some good daily interactive play sessions can help alleviate this.

Know going into this that it will at least take weeks, but more likely months to a year or so to integrate everyone. The goal being that all can coexist peacefully and share space. Remember to move at the animals' pace and that that is going to be different that your pace.

I would forego any introduction attempts until all animals are fully comfortable in their new environment and Wolfgang is fully comfortable with you as well.

I will post a link to an introduction article in just a bit.

When you do reach the point of introducing, you'll want to have plenty of options with vertical space...cat trees/shelving and the like. (This is good for all cats in general).

The first article is about introducing cat to cat

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-successfully-introduce-cats-the-ultimate-guide

This is about integrating cats and dogs

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-dogs

Thank for your your insights! Yes all the animals are fixed.