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- Feb 6, 2018
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Hi all, I brought Doodlebug, a male 1 1/2 to 2 year old stray into my home in November. I had him neutered and dewormed. He lived in my finished basement during that process. I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to introduce him to my 2 formerly feral cats, Pixie, a small female, and Charlie, a large male. It’s not going well at all. Every time I let Doodlebug upstairs he attacks Charlie. Pixie runs and hides. Charlie isn’t aggressive, but does growl at Doodlebug. Before bringing Doodlebug upstairs, I switched towels they sleep on and fed them on each side of a glass door where they could see each other. The first time together, Charlie & Doodlebug touched noses, but then Charlie growled and Doodlebug went after him. I separated them and put Doodlebug downstairs. Now, every time Doodlebug comes upstairs he goes for Charlie. One time Doodlebug attacked Charlie and bit and wounded his rear area. It happened so fast I didn’t even know Charlie was hurt until later. My latest ploy has been to halter and leash train Doodlebug so I could control Doodlebug when the cats were together. That seemed to be going well. Doodlebug got used to the halter and leash and I was bringing him upstairs, and even came into the living room twice when Charlie was there and Doodlebug didn’t try to attack him. But yesterday when I had Doodlebug upstairs, he saw Charlie under the bed, got excited, and managed to wiggle out of his harness. I managed to get Doodlebug out from under the bed and out of the room before either one was hurt. I don’t consider Doodlebug feral. I was feeding him outside all summer, and after a couple of months, he let me pet him. I brought him inside when it got cold and because we have coyotes coming into our back yard. He is very affectionate with me and my husband. He never uses his claws or his teeth with us and loves to be petted. I spend plenty of time with him, and our basement is as big as some one bedroom apartments. I feel bad though because he can come up to our entryway and see us upstairs from a glass paneled door. I know he would like to be with us, but we can’t risk the other 2 cats getting hurt. Does anyone have any suggestions about what else we can do to stop his aggressive behavior with the other cats?
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