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I have ten all-indoor cats, all of whom are spayed and neutered. None are declawed; everyone's still armed and dangerous. <g> Five are recent rescues (via humane traps); of these five, four are ferals, and one is a very well-domesticated stray. Three of these five are kittinish one-year olds, two are 2-3 years old adults.
The two adults are former tomcats. They include Shadow, a 2-year old male, father of two of the three kittens, and the former feral "top cat" of my area. The other adult is Bandit, a 3-year old, extremely well-domesticated stray.
I have known Shadow for nearly a year now. Last fall, I began a small feral rescue operation with a neighbor after a small colony had taken up residence in our yards. The colony included one male (Shadow), two female queens, and two sets of two kittens. The queens were trapped, spayed, ear-tipped, vaccinated, and released (we have shelters and food set up for them in our yards); the two sets of kittens were brought indoors (one set with me; the other, with my neighbor). Shadow proved untrappable.
I watched Shadow throughout the fall and into the winter, as he'd wander through the neighborhood and eat food off of my back deck. The only other cats I saw with any regularity were the two TNR mothers. Then in January, a fight broke out on my deck. It was Shadow and a large long-haired tuxedo cat I'd not seen before. I ran outside and the two cats scattered. I began seeing the tuxedo cat semi-regularly, and dubbed him Bandit. I also saw another terrible fight between the two (Bandit and Shadow) in March.
Meanwhile, the two feral kittens I took in (Satin and Selima, son/daughter of Shadow), were doing well, and adjusting to life indoors. I still saw Shadow (still an intact tom) and the two TNR mother cats almost daily, while the mysterious Bandit was only seen once or twice a month. I also talked to all three regularly, in hopes that Shadow could at least be trapped and neutered, and that both mothers -- like Shadow, still extremely feral -- might one day prove adoptable.
Flash forward to June. During an unrelated rescue trapping attempt, Bandit was trapped. I took him in, and as with the kittens, isolated him in a huge dog crate (with food/water/private litter box) while he was neutered, vaccinated, de-wormed, de-flead, tested for everything under the sun, and given time to adjust to life indoors. This is when, to my surprise, I found out he wasn't feral at all, but rather sweet, tame, and obviously happy to be indoors. He got along well enough with my other seven cats, including Shadow's offspring, Satin and Selima.
About five weeks later, during another unrelated rescue attempt, I caught Shadow, and as with Bandit, isolated him in a big dog crate, etc., etc.
To put it mildly, assuming that Shadow and Bandit were the only two fighting toms in the area, they has beaten the crap out of one another. Both has broken upper canines; Shadow's lower canines were so damaged they needed removed. Bandit's coat was torn off in huge patches; both have tears in their ears. Shadow has scars on the side of his face; Bandit, obvious deep puncture wounds.
Both are feline leukemia negative, yet both test "faint positive" for FIV via in-house snap test, yet negative for FIV when lab work is done on their samples.
Otherwise, both are OK.
Bandit is, again, very well-socialized, very playful, and handleable. Shadow came in untouchable, but has since warmed up to (carefully) being petted. Both get along well with my eight other cats, including our resident top cat Franklin. Neither Shadow nor Bandit show any outward signs of aggression towards the other. Yet the two have already fought here twice, pretty badly at that.
As best as I can tell, Bandit is the instigator. Whether he wants to play (he's extremely playful) with Shadow, and Shadow misinterprets as an attack, attacks back, and causes Bandit to attack is unclear. But until I can be certain that the two will get along, I'm keeping Bandit in a huge dog crate in my living room (with food/water/box) unless under my close supervision.
OK, that's the long-winded explanation of what I have going on. Two former enemy tomcats: one feral, one domesticated stray. The feral -- Shadow -- has a hair trigger, and is very guarded. Bandit is playful like a puppy. Bandit is also the bigger of the two, and was here for five weeks before Shadow joined us.
Both, again, are neutered, and there are multiple food bowls, water dishes, and litter boxes in multiple locations to prevent any kind of competition for resources.
So how can I learn to trust that letting Bandit out of the cage when I'm not around will be OK? How can I be sure that these two, Shadow and Bandit, won't fight? (Bandit doesn't come close to fighting anyone else, even when my much-smaller and bratty cat Crawford swats him.) Has anyone ever taken in two former enemies like this and made it work?
I appreciate any thoughts on the matter. Thank you.
I have ten all-indoor cats, all of whom are spayed and neutered. None are declawed; everyone's still armed and dangerous. <g> Five are recent rescues (via humane traps); of these five, four are ferals, and one is a very well-domesticated stray. Three of these five are kittinish one-year olds, two are 2-3 years old adults.
The two adults are former tomcats. They include Shadow, a 2-year old male, father of two of the three kittens, and the former feral "top cat" of my area. The other adult is Bandit, a 3-year old, extremely well-domesticated stray.
I have known Shadow for nearly a year now. Last fall, I began a small feral rescue operation with a neighbor after a small colony had taken up residence in our yards. The colony included one male (Shadow), two female queens, and two sets of two kittens. The queens were trapped, spayed, ear-tipped, vaccinated, and released (we have shelters and food set up for them in our yards); the two sets of kittens were brought indoors (one set with me; the other, with my neighbor). Shadow proved untrappable.
I watched Shadow throughout the fall and into the winter, as he'd wander through the neighborhood and eat food off of my back deck. The only other cats I saw with any regularity were the two TNR mothers. Then in January, a fight broke out on my deck. It was Shadow and a large long-haired tuxedo cat I'd not seen before. I ran outside and the two cats scattered. I began seeing the tuxedo cat semi-regularly, and dubbed him Bandit. I also saw another terrible fight between the two (Bandit and Shadow) in March.
Meanwhile, the two feral kittens I took in (Satin and Selima, son/daughter of Shadow), were doing well, and adjusting to life indoors. I still saw Shadow (still an intact tom) and the two TNR mother cats almost daily, while the mysterious Bandit was only seen once or twice a month. I also talked to all three regularly, in hopes that Shadow could at least be trapped and neutered, and that both mothers -- like Shadow, still extremely feral -- might one day prove adoptable.
Flash forward to June. During an unrelated rescue trapping attempt, Bandit was trapped. I took him in, and as with the kittens, isolated him in a huge dog crate (with food/water/private litter box) while he was neutered, vaccinated, de-wormed, de-flead, tested for everything under the sun, and given time to adjust to life indoors. This is when, to my surprise, I found out he wasn't feral at all, but rather sweet, tame, and obviously happy to be indoors. He got along well enough with my other seven cats, including Shadow's offspring, Satin and Selima.
About five weeks later, during another unrelated rescue attempt, I caught Shadow, and as with Bandit, isolated him in a big dog crate, etc., etc.
To put it mildly, assuming that Shadow and Bandit were the only two fighting toms in the area, they has beaten the crap out of one another. Both has broken upper canines; Shadow's lower canines were so damaged they needed removed. Bandit's coat was torn off in huge patches; both have tears in their ears. Shadow has scars on the side of his face; Bandit, obvious deep puncture wounds.
Both are feline leukemia negative, yet both test "faint positive" for FIV via in-house snap test, yet negative for FIV when lab work is done on their samples.
Otherwise, both are OK.
Bandit is, again, very well-socialized, very playful, and handleable. Shadow came in untouchable, but has since warmed up to (carefully) being petted. Both get along well with my eight other cats, including our resident top cat Franklin. Neither Shadow nor Bandit show any outward signs of aggression towards the other. Yet the two have already fought here twice, pretty badly at that.
As best as I can tell, Bandit is the instigator. Whether he wants to play (he's extremely playful) with Shadow, and Shadow misinterprets as an attack, attacks back, and causes Bandit to attack is unclear. But until I can be certain that the two will get along, I'm keeping Bandit in a huge dog crate in my living room (with food/water/box) unless under my close supervision.
OK, that's the long-winded explanation of what I have going on. Two former enemy tomcats: one feral, one domesticated stray. The feral -- Shadow -- has a hair trigger, and is very guarded. Bandit is playful like a puppy. Bandit is also the bigger of the two, and was here for five weeks before Shadow joined us.
Both, again, are neutered, and there are multiple food bowls, water dishes, and litter boxes in multiple locations to prevent any kind of competition for resources.
So how can I learn to trust that letting Bandit out of the cage when I'm not around will be OK? How can I be sure that these two, Shadow and Bandit, won't fight? (Bandit doesn't come close to fighting anyone else, even when my much-smaller and bratty cat Crawford swats him.) Has anyone ever taken in two former enemies like this and made it work?
I appreciate any thoughts on the matter. Thank you.