I've had my male cat Hachi for a little over two years now. He was previously owned by my neighbors who kicked him out to the streets after getting a new dog. He lived outside for a month, but you could tell he was truly a house cat. He would always come to our doors and windows and meow. We tried returning him to my neighbors, but he would run away as soon as he saw them. Keep in mind that he was very friendly to us and would always rub on our legs whenever we saw him. I'm not sure, but it's possible he was abused at that house. Eventually, we took him in full-time. The neighbors vacated the house shortly after (turns out they were living there illegally). Besides in the beginning, he has always been an aloof cat. He never really liked people touching him and would keep to himself most of the time. Never having owned a cat before, I thought this was fairly typical cat behavior and never thought about it. The only time he was truly aggressive was when my sister returned from a three week vacation (I was away at school at the time). During her absence, my cousin would come and feed Hachi. As soon as my sister got back, Hachi started being aggressive with her. He would bite and scratch her, but remain friendly to my cousin. I think he blamed my sister for abandoning him. This only lasted a few weeks though and everything returned to normal.
A couple months ago we adopted another cat, a kitten named Mishka. We separated the two cats and kept Mishka in one room in the beginning. Once we introduced the two, they were mostly fine with each other. They would play fight occasionally, but never really spent any time together. About a month or two after we got Mishka neutered, Hachi really started to act out and not just with the kitten. He would make this weird puffing noise and would then growl and hiss. Before getting Mishka, I've never heard Hachi growl or hiss before. He now directs this aggression towards us and has become violent as well. As soon as you walk close to him, he would puff, hiss and growl at you. Sometimes he would start attacking us as well. I could be 5 feet away from him and he would hiss and growl at me. This aggression is way worse than what my sister faced when she came back from vacation and it has become an everyday occurrence. The only time he's friendly is when he's being fed or when he's sleepy. Unlike Hachi who is very independent, Mishka is a very needy cat. Mishka is almost always with me or my sister. He follows me around the house and would cry if he can't find me. Hachi sees this sometimes and would stare or growl. I don't know if it could be jealousy or feelings of abandonment. Maybe he feels the new cat is replacing him like his previous owner's dog did.
I think it's strange that this behavior started after we got Mishka neutered and not before. Plus Hachi is even more aggressive now compared to before he was fixed. I tried giving him more attention without the other cat in the room, but he is so aggressive that I can't even get close. Both cats are healthy and don't seem to be in any pain so I don't think it's illness-related. Hachi and Mishka have been on a wet-food-only diet ever since I've had them. I've recently started to leave out grain-free dry food for them to nibble on with wet food in the morning and nighttime. They are both eating and drinking normally. This is TMI, but they are peeing and pooping normally and nothing seems wrong with what's coming out at that end. It could be territory-related, but both cats have free roam of the house and neither one sprays or anything.
It's gotten to the point where we are scared to walk past Hachi when he's in one of his moods and have to walk around him. I really have no idea what he went through before we got him, but if it's personality-related, can you even change that? We really want to work this out and are unwilling to give either of the cats up. Have any of you faced something similar and found a way to get past it?
A couple months ago we adopted another cat, a kitten named Mishka. We separated the two cats and kept Mishka in one room in the beginning. Once we introduced the two, they were mostly fine with each other. They would play fight occasionally, but never really spent any time together. About a month or two after we got Mishka neutered, Hachi really started to act out and not just with the kitten. He would make this weird puffing noise and would then growl and hiss. Before getting Mishka, I've never heard Hachi growl or hiss before. He now directs this aggression towards us and has become violent as well. As soon as you walk close to him, he would puff, hiss and growl at you. Sometimes he would start attacking us as well. I could be 5 feet away from him and he would hiss and growl at me. This aggression is way worse than what my sister faced when she came back from vacation and it has become an everyday occurrence. The only time he's friendly is when he's being fed or when he's sleepy. Unlike Hachi who is very independent, Mishka is a very needy cat. Mishka is almost always with me or my sister. He follows me around the house and would cry if he can't find me. Hachi sees this sometimes and would stare or growl. I don't know if it could be jealousy or feelings of abandonment. Maybe he feels the new cat is replacing him like his previous owner's dog did.
I think it's strange that this behavior started after we got Mishka neutered and not before. Plus Hachi is even more aggressive now compared to before he was fixed. I tried giving him more attention without the other cat in the room, but he is so aggressive that I can't even get close. Both cats are healthy and don't seem to be in any pain so I don't think it's illness-related. Hachi and Mishka have been on a wet-food-only diet ever since I've had them. I've recently started to leave out grain-free dry food for them to nibble on with wet food in the morning and nighttime. They are both eating and drinking normally. This is TMI, but they are peeing and pooping normally and nothing seems wrong with what's coming out at that end. It could be territory-related, but both cats have free roam of the house and neither one sprays or anything.
It's gotten to the point where we are scared to walk past Hachi when he's in one of his moods and have to walk around him. I really have no idea what he went through before we got him, but if it's personality-related, can you even change that? We really want to work this out and are unwilling to give either of the cats up. Have any of you faced something similar and found a way to get past it?
