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- May 20, 2018
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Some days, I feel like my wife and I are at our wits end introducing our new stray/feral to our two indoor cats. This process has been going on for over four months and though we have made significant progress, I still feel we have a long way to go. We are open to any suggestions to continue making progress.
Life before the feral/stray
We had two indoor cats, OT and Theodore. OT was my wife’s cat and Theodore was my cat. They were both kittens when we adopted them—OT was rescued from a barn with his littermates and Theodore was a city alley cat who we got from the shelter. After a short period, they integrated well and are now great brothers with a very good relationship. As of now, they have been living together for about five years. In terms of personalities:
OT is a large (about 17 pounds) orange tabby - we like to describe him as our gentle giant. He is extremely sweet and friendly and very easygoing. He is always with me or my wife and purring all the time. He is also the more dominant cat. We had some issues with him in the past with territorial aggression. The problem arose because a cat sitter we were using pulled him out of a hiding spot when she came to visit and he was fearful of people entering our apartment after that. Though he is still a bit nervous when we are away and a cat sitter comes to visit, the issue has largely been resolved through a fair bit of work.
Theodore is a black, American domestic short hair (about 14 pounds) and is introverted and relatively standoffish. He is friendlier and loving with me, though he has warmed up to people considerably over the years. He will oftentimes howl if he doesn't get enough play time or if he isn't allowed to be in the same room with us. When OT developed his territorial aggression, Theodore became very protective of the cat sitters and would intercede when OT was acting out. This not only helped the cat sitters, but it also incidentally helped them develop a more equal relationship (rather than OT acting dominant all the time and Theodore always acting submissive).
While OT is the more dominant personality, the two now peacefully coexist and we will see them curled up with each other from time-to-time. Though they get into spats, it is infrequent and generally will not occur when they all get enough playtime. They never hurt each other or draw blood.
Taking in the feral/stray
We recently introduced a new stray/feral that we rescued about four months ago and it has been a very time-consuming process. We do not know his origin before he came to us, so are unsure whether he was feral or a stray. I believe that he is most likely a feral and my wife thinks he may have been a house cat which was left as a stray at a very young age. The feral/stray's name is Mackerel. When we first began feeding him outside our workplace, we thought he was a kitten because he was so small, though admittedly, nine pounds is only small compared to our two indoor cats who have been fed well since they were kittens.
We think he started coming around to the office because he lost his ability to hunt for food (which we later suspected after taking him to the vet and learning he had two broken canines). The veterinarian informed us that he was probably around three years old. We had him neutered and gave him all of his shots; the vet removed his two broken front canines and a few loose small teeth. After that, Mackerel lived with us in the office (with occasional home visits when he was recovering from surgery) for about four months. During that time, he was completely separate from OT and Theodore, who lived in our house. While at the office, he stayed pretty hidden for the first month or so in an unused bathroom, though he really bonded with my wife and would generally come out to greet her, as he was scared of other people. He is a very food-motivated cat and through a lot of time and treats, he started to warm up to people.
When we first got him, he was incredibly nervous and anxious and would bite/swat at us to let us know we were getting too close. Also, when his environment would change, he would get very anxious and sometimes bite pretty hard. However, after living with us at the office for months, he got used to our presences and became super sweet. If he is only with us or other humans, he is very friendly. Our cat sitter, who has experience working with ferals and strays, says that he is the sweetest cat ever.
Introducing OT/Theodore to Mackerel
After Mackerel was with us for four months, our work situation changed. We ended up moving to a different city and had to figure out how to introduce OT, Theodore, and Mackerel. Given that Mackerel was so incredibly sweet with us, we figured that we would be able to slowly introduce him to the other guys. We followed the typical protocol for introducing a new cat, but ran into some setbacks. We kept Mackerel completely separated from OT and Theodore in different areas of the apartment. Mackerel had his home base in our bathroom and walk-in closet and OT and Theodore had free range of the rest of the apartment. We scent-swapped and conducted feedings on opposite sides of the door. Mackerel was very aggressive and nervous towards the other cats if we tried to push things too quickly. After a few weeks, we also put in place a policy of site swapping after every meal and making sure we alternated nights they slept with us.
Currently, we have settled on the following routine. After waking up, we try to play with each of the cats for 20-30 minutes. This typically involves using a feather toy or some other wand so they can really jump and be active. After this, we prepare them a meal of wet Fromm's cat food (we change the flavor after going through an entire case since they like variety) and also add either a 1/4 cup of goat milk or bone broth from Honest Kitchen. We helped my wife's father take care of his cat who recently passed away from chronic kidney disease and are now very sensitive about making sure the cats get enough liquids. We are able to feed the three cats on a 3'x3' mat that we place on the ground. During feeding, either my wife or I will hold Mackerel in a harness while they eat. During mealtime, all the cats seem mostly interested in food and not so much with the other cats. After the meal is over, we try to sit with all of them for another 10-20 minutes, so that they can spend some calm time together. Typically, OT and Mackerel will blink at each other and OT will come up to Mackerel to smell his nose. While Mackerel will usually reciprocate with blinking, he still gets very nervous when OT gets that close. After mealtime, we site-swap Mackerel with OT and Theodore and they nap for the day. We follow the same routine for dinner. It has taken us a lot of hard work and effort to get to this stage. However, Mackerel still needs to be closely held on a leash, as we do not trust him not to lunge at the other cats. If he is ever left unsupervised near the other cats, he will lunge and attack them.
Problem 1:
OT seems relatively fine with this entire situation. When we site-swap him and Theodore and they are not with us at night, Theodore does not sleep and howls for an hour or two straight. One night, he lost his voice from howling the entire night. We realize that he is unhappy being separated from us and have found that giving him CBD oil before we site-swap will sometimes help him sleep at night.
Problem 2:
When Mackerel is just with me and my wife, he is incredibly sweet. He sleeps on our chests and loves to purr and get tummy rubs. The cat sitter—who knows of his aggression problems—says he is a “lovebug” with her. Now, the only time Mackerel is aggressive is when he is with the other cats and he is vicious. We had about five setbacks during this time. If he gets into contact with OT or Theodore, very serious fighting occurs and we are worried that he will seriously injure the other cats if we do not immediately break up the fight. Over the past four months the following has happened:
Month 1: Mackerel slipped past us and got into the room with OT and Theodore. OT ripped off his toenail and Mackerel lost a bit of fur.
Month 2: Mackerel slipped past us. My courageous wife jumped into the fray and Mackerel latched on to her arm and tore up a chunk of skin. Shortly after this event, Mackerel lunged at the cats and I caught him, but he bit me badly.
Month 3: Mackerel got nervous after being out on a leash with OT and Theodore. We should have ended the session earlier but we did not. When we were taking him back to his spot, he bit my wife’s arm.
Month 4: Mackerel lunged at OT and Theodore. My wife grabbed OT to get him out of the fight and she was able to prevent those two from drawing blood, but Mackerel did wound her arm pretty badly.
Needless to say, we've more or less become experts at dealing with cat bites in humans. We realize that, at the end of the day, Mackerel is nervous and probably still terribly scared of other cats because of his former life as a stray/feral. We are currently at a bit of a loss and are open to any suggestions as to continue the introductions. Currently, we are discussing Prozac for Mackerel to help with the aggression, but are reticent about medicating him. Clearly, if we cannot find a solution, though, we will have to rehome Mackerel with one of our family members. That, however, is not something that we are currently considering.
Life before the feral/stray
We had two indoor cats, OT and Theodore. OT was my wife’s cat and Theodore was my cat. They were both kittens when we adopted them—OT was rescued from a barn with his littermates and Theodore was a city alley cat who we got from the shelter. After a short period, they integrated well and are now great brothers with a very good relationship. As of now, they have been living together for about five years. In terms of personalities:
OT is a large (about 17 pounds) orange tabby - we like to describe him as our gentle giant. He is extremely sweet and friendly and very easygoing. He is always with me or my wife and purring all the time. He is also the more dominant cat. We had some issues with him in the past with territorial aggression. The problem arose because a cat sitter we were using pulled him out of a hiding spot when she came to visit and he was fearful of people entering our apartment after that. Though he is still a bit nervous when we are away and a cat sitter comes to visit, the issue has largely been resolved through a fair bit of work.
Theodore is a black, American domestic short hair (about 14 pounds) and is introverted and relatively standoffish. He is friendlier and loving with me, though he has warmed up to people considerably over the years. He will oftentimes howl if he doesn't get enough play time or if he isn't allowed to be in the same room with us. When OT developed his territorial aggression, Theodore became very protective of the cat sitters and would intercede when OT was acting out. This not only helped the cat sitters, but it also incidentally helped them develop a more equal relationship (rather than OT acting dominant all the time and Theodore always acting submissive).
While OT is the more dominant personality, the two now peacefully coexist and we will see them curled up with each other from time-to-time. Though they get into spats, it is infrequent and generally will not occur when they all get enough playtime. They never hurt each other or draw blood.
Taking in the feral/stray
We recently introduced a new stray/feral that we rescued about four months ago and it has been a very time-consuming process. We do not know his origin before he came to us, so are unsure whether he was feral or a stray. I believe that he is most likely a feral and my wife thinks he may have been a house cat which was left as a stray at a very young age. The feral/stray's name is Mackerel. When we first began feeding him outside our workplace, we thought he was a kitten because he was so small, though admittedly, nine pounds is only small compared to our two indoor cats who have been fed well since they were kittens.
We think he started coming around to the office because he lost his ability to hunt for food (which we later suspected after taking him to the vet and learning he had two broken canines). The veterinarian informed us that he was probably around three years old. We had him neutered and gave him all of his shots; the vet removed his two broken front canines and a few loose small teeth. After that, Mackerel lived with us in the office (with occasional home visits when he was recovering from surgery) for about four months. During that time, he was completely separate from OT and Theodore, who lived in our house. While at the office, he stayed pretty hidden for the first month or so in an unused bathroom, though he really bonded with my wife and would generally come out to greet her, as he was scared of other people. He is a very food-motivated cat and through a lot of time and treats, he started to warm up to people.
When we first got him, he was incredibly nervous and anxious and would bite/swat at us to let us know we were getting too close. Also, when his environment would change, he would get very anxious and sometimes bite pretty hard. However, after living with us at the office for months, he got used to our presences and became super sweet. If he is only with us or other humans, he is very friendly. Our cat sitter, who has experience working with ferals and strays, says that he is the sweetest cat ever.
Introducing OT/Theodore to Mackerel
After Mackerel was with us for four months, our work situation changed. We ended up moving to a different city and had to figure out how to introduce OT, Theodore, and Mackerel. Given that Mackerel was so incredibly sweet with us, we figured that we would be able to slowly introduce him to the other guys. We followed the typical protocol for introducing a new cat, but ran into some setbacks. We kept Mackerel completely separated from OT and Theodore in different areas of the apartment. Mackerel had his home base in our bathroom and walk-in closet and OT and Theodore had free range of the rest of the apartment. We scent-swapped and conducted feedings on opposite sides of the door. Mackerel was very aggressive and nervous towards the other cats if we tried to push things too quickly. After a few weeks, we also put in place a policy of site swapping after every meal and making sure we alternated nights they slept with us.
Currently, we have settled on the following routine. After waking up, we try to play with each of the cats for 20-30 minutes. This typically involves using a feather toy or some other wand so they can really jump and be active. After this, we prepare them a meal of wet Fromm's cat food (we change the flavor after going through an entire case since they like variety) and also add either a 1/4 cup of goat milk or bone broth from Honest Kitchen. We helped my wife's father take care of his cat who recently passed away from chronic kidney disease and are now very sensitive about making sure the cats get enough liquids. We are able to feed the three cats on a 3'x3' mat that we place on the ground. During feeding, either my wife or I will hold Mackerel in a harness while they eat. During mealtime, all the cats seem mostly interested in food and not so much with the other cats. After the meal is over, we try to sit with all of them for another 10-20 minutes, so that they can spend some calm time together. Typically, OT and Mackerel will blink at each other and OT will come up to Mackerel to smell his nose. While Mackerel will usually reciprocate with blinking, he still gets very nervous when OT gets that close. After mealtime, we site-swap Mackerel with OT and Theodore and they nap for the day. We follow the same routine for dinner. It has taken us a lot of hard work and effort to get to this stage. However, Mackerel still needs to be closely held on a leash, as we do not trust him not to lunge at the other cats. If he is ever left unsupervised near the other cats, he will lunge and attack them.
Problem 1:
OT seems relatively fine with this entire situation. When we site-swap him and Theodore and they are not with us at night, Theodore does not sleep and howls for an hour or two straight. One night, he lost his voice from howling the entire night. We realize that he is unhappy being separated from us and have found that giving him CBD oil before we site-swap will sometimes help him sleep at night.
Problem 2:
When Mackerel is just with me and my wife, he is incredibly sweet. He sleeps on our chests and loves to purr and get tummy rubs. The cat sitter—who knows of his aggression problems—says he is a “lovebug” with her. Now, the only time Mackerel is aggressive is when he is with the other cats and he is vicious. We had about five setbacks during this time. If he gets into contact with OT or Theodore, very serious fighting occurs and we are worried that he will seriously injure the other cats if we do not immediately break up the fight. Over the past four months the following has happened:
Month 1: Mackerel slipped past us and got into the room with OT and Theodore. OT ripped off his toenail and Mackerel lost a bit of fur.
Month 2: Mackerel slipped past us. My courageous wife jumped into the fray and Mackerel latched on to her arm and tore up a chunk of skin. Shortly after this event, Mackerel lunged at the cats and I caught him, but he bit me badly.
Month 3: Mackerel got nervous after being out on a leash with OT and Theodore. We should have ended the session earlier but we did not. When we were taking him back to his spot, he bit my wife’s arm.
Month 4: Mackerel lunged at OT and Theodore. My wife grabbed OT to get him out of the fight and she was able to prevent those two from drawing blood, but Mackerel did wound her arm pretty badly.
Needless to say, we've more or less become experts at dealing with cat bites in humans. We realize that, at the end of the day, Mackerel is nervous and probably still terribly scared of other cats because of his former life as a stray/feral. We are currently at a bit of a loss and are open to any suggestions as to continue the introductions. Currently, we are discussing Prozac for Mackerel to help with the aggression, but are reticent about medicating him. Clearly, if we cannot find a solution, though, we will have to rehome Mackerel with one of our family members. That, however, is not something that we are currently considering.
. No IV but it hasn't fulled healed after the full course of antibiotics so we are scheduled to go back in to the doctor. We never knew that cat bites were such a big deal before taking in our new little feral.
