New Cat Stalking the other Cats

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vlf4230
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New Cat Stalking the other Cats

Post by vlf4230 »

Hello all,

We have 4 cats that we have rescued over the last 8 or so years. They are all indoor/outdoor cats and take care of the squirrels and rabbits in the neighborhood.

2 months ago a stray cat showed up in our yard. We finally enticed him in the next morning and contained him in our daughter's room while we tried to find his owner. Meanwhile we had him tested for FIV and anything else the vet recommended. He was NOT fixed so we set up an appointment for neutering in case no one claimed him.

We had him fixed, and since he tested negative for everything else, we started introducing him to our other cats. Our youngest named him Cointreau. Our original 4 ( 3 males and 1 female, all fixed ) did the typical hissing and such but nothing much beyond that. Cointreau, however, took to stalking them and attacking them. No hissing. Just stalk and attack.

We have tried medicated treats and scents and a host of other tricks and procedures that the vets have suggested. They told us we would have to wait a few weeks for the hormones to quiet down and for him to become friendly. Nothing has worked.

2 months and he still takes every opportunity to stalk and attack our other cats. He will hiss and swat at our dogs when they get close to him, but with our cats he waits, watches, and then attacks all silently. He is wonderful with people and super affectionate. I'm ready to find him a new home but thought I would try here first.

Does anyone have any realistic suggestions?

Thanks!

Jim
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lilynmitz
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Re: New Cat Stalking the other Cats

Post by lilynmitz »

Hi Jim, thanks for taking this lad in hand. As you say, things may settle down a bit once his hormones balance out. However, it's quite possible that he's just one of those cats who hates other cats, and is trying to create his own territory. Having been a stray, he will be used to a MUCH larger territory than sharing a house with four resident cats, so this is pretty uncomfortable for him.

Feliway etc may help, but looking at it from his point of view, he's finding this pretty hard to cope with, and isn't going to make any headway in driving your other cats off (hopefuly!). So it might be better to view yourself as a foster home and see if you can find a home where he is the only pet. Don't consider rehoming him a failure, you've done a great thing for him, taking him in and getting him tested and neutered, which are all necessary steps in finding him a permanent home that is more suited to him. I know we all want our rescues to be eternally grateful and reward us with a close relationship with the humans and four legged members of the household, but at the end of the day it's a matter of finding a home that's right for each cat.

Others may come along with different advice, and perhaps a few more tips on settling him in, but if it works out that this is just making everyone in the house unhappy, most of all Cointreau, then putting him up for adoption through a responsible rescue is the kindest thing for everyone.
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Janey
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Re: New Cat Stalking the other Cats

Post by Janey »

I agree with what lilynmitz has said. It’s great all you are doing trying to incorporate him into your gang, but if it doesn’t work out your lot have to come first. We had a cat come to us from a home nearby, kept indoors with lots of other cats, and long story short we ended up taking her in - us having no other cats and she could come and go as she pleased. However, we have looked after feral cats for many years now and she was trying to chase them out of the garden, well the female of the three, which upset me because they were here first. So we got in touch with rescues and tried to rehome her directly from us, but a female black cat with attitude, needing safe outside access wasn’t easy to rehome, and we ended up keeping her. Thankfully things have worked out for us, but we still have to be careful when we let her out we have a bit of a rota system, whereby she goes out morning and the female feral comes back round after dinner, once she is in, for the rest of the day and night, and everyone seems happy with that!
If you don’t get things sorted then here is a list of rescues you could contact:
https://www.catchat.org/index.php/cat-r ... uk-ireland
Best of luck!
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Lilith
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Re: New Cat Stalking the other Cats

Post by Lilith »

Hi Jim and welcome :)

I can't add much to the good advice already posted, but I've had 2 feral toms move in on me in the past (to say nothing of an invasion attempt by a neutered boy with a perfectly good home nearby!)

Yes, he's proclaiming his manhood, dominance and all the rest of it, and the testosterone levels will take a good while to drop. Cointreau - does that mean he's ginger? Gingers! I'm certain gingers are stronger, wackier characters than the rest of catkind.

My first was Finn, ginger of course, middleaged and starting to lose his fights, if the running abscess on his backside was anything to go by. Cleaned up, neutered, slightly shocked, he moved in and became a total teddybear - but he still tried to dominate my black tux Mouse (who I believe is his daughter - there was a local feral colony and some had already moved in with me.) I did my best to be vigilant and the bullying tailed off, as did the spraying; eventually, with gentle training and lots of praise, he became clean. From being a badass streetwise lad he became very gentle and when Mork, the neighbourhood bully with a home of his own, tried to move in, it was Finny he targeted. I had to MENACE Mork, who got the message - he wasn't in need! Years later when I took in a very aggressive kitten named Molly (another ginger!) she thought the world of her Uncle Finn but would stalk and jump on him ... he could have sent her flying with one clout from a giant paw but tolerated her and let her snuggle up to him ... he was a lovely cat.

Ali Kat, white with ginger patches, was a different proposition. He too was a feral tom, elderly, scrawny and dirty - and very aggressive. I got him neutered but the aggression lingered. He too targeted Finn and if I broke up a fight, Ali attacked me. He was a menace! Twice I was on antibiotics from bites. But somehow he settled. He grew into a placid gorgeous cat, still had to watch him at times, but he did settle, we all rubbed along together, and when he disappeared years later it was awful.

Now I just have three girls, Mouse, ginger tux Emily (Mouse's cousin and possibly Ali's daughter) and the dreadful Molly, who it's taken years to socialise. Well, if you can call it that :lol:

Sorry for the blog! But you can see it can take a long time, and it all depends on whether the household settles down or whether the incoming cat just doesn't fit in; they're all so different.

Good on you for caring for Cointreau. At least now, whatever happens, he's along the right lines. I think the best remedy is time, and vigilance - if he starts stalking, come down on him like a ton of bricks but don't shout, just hiss, no! Let him know that he's out of order. But then, when things have calmed down, give him loads of praise. Underneath it all he's vulnerable and many cats of this sort will want to please you; it's amazing how they get the message.

All the very best - please let us know how you go on. :)
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Re: New Cat Stalking the other Cats

Post by Sniper1 »

Several years ago we had to clear a feral colony from a garden 4 males 5 females who all lived together peacefully, after neutering etc they were released from the pens for daytime freedom but all the males acted just as you describe no warning just stalk and attack the other resident cats they all did get over it after about a year but it caused a lot of problems , I think its more about sharing territory than anything else I think if I were you I would look at the rehoming option and limit the time he has contact with the other cats and hope that one of those things works for you I really don't think anything other than time will see an improvement and by time I mean many months and maybe longer for him to adjust
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