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- Jul 15, 2016
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Hello! I'm new to the forum, and although it seems this is a common problem I'm about to ask about, it seems each situation is a bit different, so hopefully this isn't redundant!
Background story:
2 years ago we adopted a 4 month old kitten (who we named Wellington/Welly) who was brought back to the shelter for "behaviour problems". Really, he was just really hyper. With a lot of playtime and attention, that eventually died down. Although he still has random bursts of energy, especially at night, he's turned out to be a fantastic cat.
A week and a half ago, I was outside watering my garden when I heard small cries. I looked at an old/abandoned van across the street and saw a small black kitten under it panting, trying to cool down in the 40C degree weather. I grabbed my cat carrier, a bowl of water and a can of wet food and tried to catch the little fellah. One of my neighbours came out and told me that the kitten had been living in the engine of the van and they've been trying to catch him for a while. Being a feral kitten he was very afraid of people. Any sudden moves, such as to close the carrier once he was inside, and he'd bolt. After about 2 hours I almost gave up and thought I'd try one more thing, bringing out Welly to see if he'd be more comfortable with another cat. Sure enough, they took to each other right away and within 15 minutes we had the kitten in a carrier. I called the SPCA and they said that they couldn't take him because they were at full capacity and told me about their foster to adopt/surrender program. So instead of sending the little guy off to be euthanized, we decided to foster him, and if he got along with Welly, we'd end up adopting him.
We decided to name the little guy Duke. We slowly introduced Welly and Duke, but it didn't seem to be quick enough for either of them. They would sit on opposite sides of the door and just cry and stick their paws under the door. Duke spent most of the days either at the door or hiding under the bed, being terrified of humans. After a few days, we moved Duke to a dog crate in the living room so they could see and touch each other but still be separated. Duke would sit as close to Welly as he could and vice versa. If we walked by, he'd run and hide in the box we put in the crate. After a few days we opened the crate. Right away Welly and Duke began playing. Duke follows Welly around like a little puppy, trying to do all the things Welly does. He's become a lot more comfortable with us too, although sudden movements still send him running and he won't let us touch him. Sometimes Welly would pin Duke down by the scruff and then start grooming him, all of which seems to be normal displays of dominance.
Lately though, things have been getting a bit rough and more frequent. Welly will grab Duke by the neck, flip him over, and start kicking him with his back paws. Some times he gets his whole mouth around Duke's neck, which is really scary. Duke starts to cry and Welly doesn't let go until we distract him either with calling his name to be pet or with a toy. As soon as that distraction is gone, he goes right back to trying to grab Duke. Duke doesn't seem to be hurt, but he won't let us get too close so I can't check him for injuries. Once he gets away, within a few minutes he's back to following Welly around. Neither cat has shown any sign of aggression, no growling, hissing, or anything like that, Duke just cries out and meows when Welly has him pinned. I'm afraid to leave them home alone unattended, but both cats seem really stressed out when they are separated. I'm not quite sure what to do, I really don't want Duke to be injured, nor do I want to give him up, especially since he isn't eligible for adoption yet and I'm not sure what would happen if we give him to the SPCA.
Welly is fixed, Duke is due to be fixed in a few weeks. They estimate he is about 3-4months old. Otherwise both cats are healthy.
This is the first day after we took Duke out of the crate. They'd wrestle a little bit, but it was mostly adorable harmless stuff!
Background story:
2 years ago we adopted a 4 month old kitten (who we named Wellington/Welly) who was brought back to the shelter for "behaviour problems". Really, he was just really hyper. With a lot of playtime and attention, that eventually died down. Although he still has random bursts of energy, especially at night, he's turned out to be a fantastic cat.
A week and a half ago, I was outside watering my garden when I heard small cries. I looked at an old/abandoned van across the street and saw a small black kitten under it panting, trying to cool down in the 40C degree weather. I grabbed my cat carrier, a bowl of water and a can of wet food and tried to catch the little fellah. One of my neighbours came out and told me that the kitten had been living in the engine of the van and they've been trying to catch him for a while. Being a feral kitten he was very afraid of people. Any sudden moves, such as to close the carrier once he was inside, and he'd bolt. After about 2 hours I almost gave up and thought I'd try one more thing, bringing out Welly to see if he'd be more comfortable with another cat. Sure enough, they took to each other right away and within 15 minutes we had the kitten in a carrier. I called the SPCA and they said that they couldn't take him because they were at full capacity and told me about their foster to adopt/surrender program. So instead of sending the little guy off to be euthanized, we decided to foster him, and if he got along with Welly, we'd end up adopting him.
We decided to name the little guy Duke. We slowly introduced Welly and Duke, but it didn't seem to be quick enough for either of them. They would sit on opposite sides of the door and just cry and stick their paws under the door. Duke spent most of the days either at the door or hiding under the bed, being terrified of humans. After a few days, we moved Duke to a dog crate in the living room so they could see and touch each other but still be separated. Duke would sit as close to Welly as he could and vice versa. If we walked by, he'd run and hide in the box we put in the crate. After a few days we opened the crate. Right away Welly and Duke began playing. Duke follows Welly around like a little puppy, trying to do all the things Welly does. He's become a lot more comfortable with us too, although sudden movements still send him running and he won't let us touch him. Sometimes Welly would pin Duke down by the scruff and then start grooming him, all of which seems to be normal displays of dominance.
Lately though, things have been getting a bit rough and more frequent. Welly will grab Duke by the neck, flip him over, and start kicking him with his back paws. Some times he gets his whole mouth around Duke's neck, which is really scary. Duke starts to cry and Welly doesn't let go until we distract him either with calling his name to be pet or with a toy. As soon as that distraction is gone, he goes right back to trying to grab Duke. Duke doesn't seem to be hurt, but he won't let us get too close so I can't check him for injuries. Once he gets away, within a few minutes he's back to following Welly around. Neither cat has shown any sign of aggression, no growling, hissing, or anything like that, Duke just cries out and meows when Welly has him pinned. I'm afraid to leave them home alone unattended, but both cats seem really stressed out when they are separated. I'm not quite sure what to do, I really don't want Duke to be injured, nor do I want to give him up, especially since he isn't eligible for adoption yet and I'm not sure what would happen if we give him to the SPCA.
Welly is fixed, Duke is due to be fixed in a few weeks. They estimate he is about 3-4months old. Otherwise both cats are healthy.
This is the first day after we took Duke out of the crate. They'd wrestle a little bit, but it was mostly adorable harmless stuff!
