Can rescued cats personality change once adopted?

[ragmuffin]

I just rescued a red tabby male kitten(i think he is around 6 months old) off the street today. He popped up out of no where and I feel as though he was destined for me. He is currently in a shelter getting spayed, the appropriate shots and ect.. He was VERY SWEET, came right up to me, rubbing his head on me and purring like crazy once I brought him into the house. I already have an 7 y/o male cat who is a bit docile when it comes to humans and other animals so I am worried about having an too aggressive cat around with him.

So i am wondering do you guys think that his personality will become more aggressive once he gets use to the family? Have you ever rescued a cat and have its personality do a 360 on you?

As you can tell I have never had more than one cat at the same time before. My 7 y/o cat has been my only child since he was a kitten. I hope I am not sounding crazy, hopefully my question is making sense.

 

[catwoman707]

Getting him neutered won't change his personality, but in time and he feels adjusted you will see his full personality shine through, and so will your other guy.

Depending on his personality, whether he has a stronger way about him or not, I expect he will do just fine with your male cat. They may very well get along and be great buddies, and since you mentioned that your older guy is not an aggressive type, means an even better chance they will do fine.

He is young and adaptable too, so don't worry yourself needlessly, things will likely go quite well.

Be sure you go about their introduction properly, rather than simply bringing him home and setting him down in front of your older cat, especially because he will have that vet smell, and might freak your other cat out and make him avoid getting acquainted with him

 

[42cattier]

Same experience here, brown tabby that displayed the same behaviour as resident ragdoll cat while he was in the shelter playroom, and become aggressive when he was brought home, nothing even close to behaviour in the shelter. When alone, he is friendlty and fine, but not when he sees the other cat.

Full introduction was made, safe room, pawing under the door, baby gates (3 of them, one on top of each other, climber), Felliway diffusers, supervised direct contact at first was peacefull.

But new cat attacked humans and old cat when they turned their backs to him. Well, people can stand for themselves, but to peaceful ragdoll with agression traits weeded off it was a great stress in addition of bodily harm (I was nearby and was late for a couple of seconds only to stop an attack). Judging from new cat behavior, he was not even nervous or agitated afterwards, it was just a right thing to do. Looks like he was outdoor cat before, and hyperactive one too.

With no improvement and life paralyzed at home due to neccessity to disassemble baby gates barricade each time one needs to access a kitchen or bathroom, new cat, sadly, had to be returned to the shelter. They were not happy, neither were we, but there was no other choice. The only hope is that he will be adopted soon in detached home is less populated area and will have proper for him conditions, he is the best looking cat in the shelter, longhair, friendly and young.

Lesson for us: cat can be "no other cats" type not only because of being aggressive, but also because resident cat will not fight back. Sad and sore (guilt) after this experience.

You can find similar stories all over the internet...

 

[ragmuffin]

Thanks for the answer. I am mainly worried about the older cat since he's practically another family member in this house(and hes earned his keep lol) so I would want him to be comfortable!

I hope everything works out as I would love to care for this new kitten.