Ideas for aggressive stray

[Timewarpcat]

I saved an approx 2 year old stray cat in late winter/early spring in Minnesota. He really wants to be a house cat but I have 3 cats already, 2 with serious health problems, and he's aggressive. I had him neutered about 3 or 4 months ago. He bites my husband and me less often. He nips hard and draws blood at times. I squeak in a high pitch... he still bites. He bit me very hard in the head once, my skull stopped his teeth. I don't know why he does that.

He comes to the house and literally scares the pee out of my female cat. She recently developed diabetes and is on insulin, and she and a male have seizures and take phenobarbitol.

I live on a rural property with outbuildings. He lives in the garage wth free run of the building and is allowed outdoors about 6 hours a day. The garage has windows. I used a heated feral cat pop up tent with him, but it's not adequate for deep winter here in my opinion.

Idk, is there any hope? I'm thinking I will have to have him as an outdoor cat, and make a permanent warm place in an outbuilding, but this is central Minnesota. I could build a house for him, I just don't know. My plan has been to have him indoors, but now I have a diabetic cat and she pees herself when she sees him.

I can't adopt him out because he bites. He also has a ruined eye. The vet got him all fixed up, and he's otherwise in great health.

Thx for ideas. I prefer to have him as a house cat, but he's still aggressive after months of training. I can have him in the basement for a while, but there are no windows. He wants to be with people and cries for that. But when he sees one of my other cats, he charges at them.

My husband's idea is to have him in the house in a large cat carrier a couple hours a day to interact with the indoor cats.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
I like your husband's idea

 

[poolcat]

Well, it's certainly not fair to your other cats to let this guy bully and terrorize them. And awfully good of you not to have given up on him, after being bitten! In fact, I'm guessing you've gotten attached to him.

I'd probably let him be an outdoor cat most of the time, maybe bring him into your basement if you have a terribly cold night. If he's outside during the fall, won't he grow a heavy enough coat to keep him warm in a normal winter? (If there is still such a thing.) Can you put a cat flap in the garage door so he can go in and out on his own? With a cozy shelter inside the garage, seems like he should be okay. And he can be with you and your husband when you're outside.

 

[di and bob]

Is your cat tent heated,plugged in? We have brutal winters here but I have heat pads in each of my huts and the cats stay toasty warm. if you had a heat mat he should be fine in the garage.

 

[Furballsmom]

He wants to be with people and cries for that.

Try a purr toy or a heartbeat toy for him, and for everyone try some Cat music. There's Relax My Cat, Musicforcats and Spotify and other sources have harp music for cats

 

[Timewarpcat]

Thanks for the support. He does like the garage, it's his home, but we're losing the use of the building for chores. If we can't integrate him indoors, maybe I can get the cat tent under a workbench and have a backup source of heat.

He wants to be a house cat, so we'll keep working on that. My vet says there are no cat behaviorists in the area.

 

[Furballsmom]