Hi all, I have 3 well adjusted, bonded cats, the younger 2, I rescued from my job as kittens, at close to the same time, so they are like brother/sister, the younger male was VERY feral when I caught him , and came from a feral colony I ended up finding in a rarely used equipment barn at my job site, he is an odd little cat, he is a nervous personality, loves to play, sensitive, sometimes he seems to be aggressive/dominate towards other cats ( my 2, and neighborhood cats ) and then other times extremely fearful, and timid.
I have a very small trailer, but on a 300 acre ranch, and about 3/4 of a mile away from closest road, my 3 spend a lot of time inside, moreso in extreme weather, but are free to go out, the younger former feral I referred to above, often spends most of his time out, but due to lack of indoor space I had limited myself to no more than 3 cats.
I continued feeding the feral colony at work, most were totally wild, but there was a male that over almost a years time of feeding, socializing, became very tame, my former boss hated cats, and would shoot them if he had chance, had told me not to feed them, threatened to lock barn up where they were living so I could not care for them, and I was planning on quitting so did not want to leave this male out there, so a while before I quit , I started trying to find home, and a woman said she would take him as barn cat ( I am in a very rural area, and it is VERY hard to find a good inside home, or even barn cat home ) I took him to be neutered, and then to new home, new home was 30 miles from my job, after 3 weeks when I went into barn in morning to feed ferals he was there, he had come 30 miles back over unknown territory, so I took him home to see how he would do, I kind of thought maybe he came back to my job site since it was "home" to him, and that he may try to go back from my place, but he did not try, this was around last November, he became very playful, and did not do bad with 2 of my 3, but my younger male was terrified, and new male started fixating on him, and I saw some play attempts from new male towards resident male , but resident cat would be terrified, and then it seemed that the new male started to be less play , and more aggression, stalking, and even attacking, things were definitely getting worse, and I thought maybe all the hormones were not out of new male yet, I was scared to rehome him, unless I personally knew the person, and that they would care for him well, and keep him confined until he got used to them, or he may try to return again, I even pleaded with cat loving relatives that live hundreds of miles away offering to drive him to them, and none wanted him, so I took him back to my worksite, until I could figure out what to do, and still be able to feed, and check on him, I quit job a couple months later , and could not leave him, so brought him home again, I set up giant kennel to introduce to mine again, and new cat seemed less dominate acting, and very playful still, and seemed to do well with my 2 of my 3, but the younger male was terrified of him ( not sure if he remembered him, there was about 2 months in between first meeting, and 2nd time he came home ) new cat came home 2nd time in early February, so over 2 months ago, he is doing really well with 2 of my 3 cats, but younger male I have been talking about still is acting terrified, and is actually getting worse, disappearing, refusing to eat near new male, panicking if new male gets close, new place I have seen trying to start play, but that makes my younger male even more petrified, and some of the "play" is seeming very targeted, and borderline aggressive, new cat has charged him a few times, that seems very aggressive, versus play.
I am at a loss, I put new cat in the giant kennel at night so my other 3, especially the younger male that seems to be the target can at least get some peace to rest, eat, etc without fear , I let new male out from early morning, to evening, including when i am at work, I want to give it more time, but again , things seem to be getting worse, I thought about totally seperating them again, but that only upset new male, and younger male would not even try to meet him, or interact with him, there is no way I could, or would take him back to my former work, and leave him, but finding someone I could trust to take him is going to be really hard, sorry this is a novel, but lots of background, and a kinda different situation, I had someone suggest bringing them into my place, and blocking the cat door so my younger male has to face my new one without running away, which if he continues to take off, I am afraid nothing will improve, but if i do this forced interaction I know it will freak him out so bad, ( of course if i did this I would be right there to moniter them, and break them up if fight breaks out, has anyone done the forced being together meeting ? Please , no rude/nasty/snarky comments, I will not respond to them, wanting thoughts/advice....thank you if you readcthis far ...
I have a very small trailer, but on a 300 acre ranch, and about 3/4 of a mile away from closest road, my 3 spend a lot of time inside, moreso in extreme weather, but are free to go out, the younger former feral I referred to above, often spends most of his time out, but due to lack of indoor space I had limited myself to no more than 3 cats.
I continued feeding the feral colony at work, most were totally wild, but there was a male that over almost a years time of feeding, socializing, became very tame, my former boss hated cats, and would shoot them if he had chance, had told me not to feed them, threatened to lock barn up where they were living so I could not care for them, and I was planning on quitting so did not want to leave this male out there, so a while before I quit , I started trying to find home, and a woman said she would take him as barn cat ( I am in a very rural area, and it is VERY hard to find a good inside home, or even barn cat home ) I took him to be neutered, and then to new home, new home was 30 miles from my job, after 3 weeks when I went into barn in morning to feed ferals he was there, he had come 30 miles back over unknown territory, so I took him home to see how he would do, I kind of thought maybe he came back to my job site since it was "home" to him, and that he may try to go back from my place, but he did not try, this was around last November, he became very playful, and did not do bad with 2 of my 3, but my younger male was terrified, and new male started fixating on him, and I saw some play attempts from new male towards resident male , but resident cat would be terrified, and then it seemed that the new male started to be less play , and more aggression, stalking, and even attacking, things were definitely getting worse, and I thought maybe all the hormones were not out of new male yet, I was scared to rehome him, unless I personally knew the person, and that they would care for him well, and keep him confined until he got used to them, or he may try to return again, I even pleaded with cat loving relatives that live hundreds of miles away offering to drive him to them, and none wanted him, so I took him back to my worksite, until I could figure out what to do, and still be able to feed, and check on him, I quit job a couple months later , and could not leave him, so brought him home again, I set up giant kennel to introduce to mine again, and new cat seemed less dominate acting, and very playful still, and seemed to do well with my 2 of my 3, but the younger male was terrified of him ( not sure if he remembered him, there was about 2 months in between first meeting, and 2nd time he came home ) new cat came home 2nd time in early February, so over 2 months ago, he is doing really well with 2 of my 3 cats, but younger male I have been talking about still is acting terrified, and is actually getting worse, disappearing, refusing to eat near new male, panicking if new male gets close, new place I have seen trying to start play, but that makes my younger male even more petrified, and some of the "play" is seeming very targeted, and borderline aggressive, new cat has charged him a few times, that seems very aggressive, versus play.
I am at a loss, I put new cat in the giant kennel at night so my other 3, especially the younger male that seems to be the target can at least get some peace to rest, eat, etc without fear , I let new male out from early morning, to evening, including when i am at work, I want to give it more time, but again , things seem to be getting worse, I thought about totally seperating them again, but that only upset new male, and younger male would not even try to meet him, or interact with him, there is no way I could, or would take him back to my former work, and leave him, but finding someone I could trust to take him is going to be really hard, sorry this is a novel, but lots of background, and a kinda different situation, I had someone suggest bringing them into my place, and blocking the cat door so my younger male has to face my new one without running away, which if he continues to take off, I am afraid nothing will improve, but if i do this forced interaction I know it will freak him out so bad, ( of course if i did this I would be right there to moniter them, and break them up if fight breaks out, has anyone done the forced being together meeting ? Please , no rude/nasty/snarky comments, I will not respond to them, wanting thoughts/advice....thank you if you readcthis far ...