Advice needed. As background info, this past Thursday, the next door neighbor rang the doorbell, and asked my sister (an adult woman of 45+ years) if we could watch their cat. They rent the townhouse next to us, and said they are moving next month. Their landlord was on the way to show the place and they needed to "hide" the cat before he came. They also stated they were looking for a new home for it. Anyway, without thinking about it or asking any important questions, my sister took the cat in. They just put the cat in her arms. (it should be noted that we already have 4 animals, a 16+yr old min poodle, 15yr old mix breed dog, a 17 yr old male cat, and a 5 yr old female long haired calico) So of course, shortly after she brings the cat in, it got scared, clawed her back and neck, and also bit her hand, drawing blood. ( An ER visit was warrented the next day, because the hand became infected despite washing and antibiotic ointments) Subsequently, she let go of the cat, and we have since been unable to get close to it, let alone handle it. After explaining to my sister she needs to get more info about the cat, such vetting, name,food it eats, is it fixed? etc.. she goes over later to ask these questions. They state the cat is male about a year old, they had since a kitten, had it's kitten shots, and that it was neutered. She explains that the cat won't let us near him right now, but that it was most likely because he was scared, and asked if they had anything that they might let us have that had their scent on it, or toys, or anything that might be familiar to him and be a comfort to him. Answer, um Nope, but he likes to bat around a small wad of paper.
So now, we have had him in the house 3 days, and still can not get near enough to him to pet or hold him, let alone keep him separated from the resident animals. I understand that the cat will need more time to acclimate to our household. I can not be sure, but, I strongly believe that his owners lied about his being fixed. He is spraying and marking everywhere. I have tried guiding him towards the basement, so we can keep him separated, but he has obviously has other ideas. He has no interest in the dogs, but he will not leave the cats alone. He constantly follows them, rather, stalks them, tries to pounce from behind. I do not get the impression he is trying to play. He has gotten the female once and bit her neck. Fortunately, she has so much fur, he only got a mouthful of hair. He tries the same on the male, but backs off more quickly with him. But he charges at them almost immediately after backing off, all the time he is constantly "talking" to the other cats. Not a meow, but the sound has a trill to it. Our cats respond by hissing and growling, but if they move away, he takes off after them and won't let them out of his sight. I have been trying to let them work it out, but I have had to chase him away from them, so they can get a little peace from him.
We have not ever dealt with this young of a cat or this aggressive, all our animals have been adopted as adults, and were already fixed. So my questions are, 1-would a cat which was supposedly fixed under the age of 1, still spray and mark? I can not get close enough to him when his tail is not obstructing the view of his posterier, to know for sure. 2- Is there something we can do to minimize the spraying ? Tomorrow, we are going to ask the neighbors again about him being neutered, if they insist that he is, I think we are going have them take him back. Of course I am assuming that they will, and that they can catch the cat. If they admit he hasn't been fixed, then we will tell them we will have to have him neutered if he is to stay with us. We wouldn't mind giving him his forever home. I think the aggression with the other cats would lessen once he had more time to get use to our household.
Any advice or remedies on the situation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
So now, we have had him in the house 3 days, and still can not get near enough to him to pet or hold him, let alone keep him separated from the resident animals. I understand that the cat will need more time to acclimate to our household. I can not be sure, but, I strongly believe that his owners lied about his being fixed. He is spraying and marking everywhere. I have tried guiding him towards the basement, so we can keep him separated, but he has obviously has other ideas. He has no interest in the dogs, but he will not leave the cats alone. He constantly follows them, rather, stalks them, tries to pounce from behind. I do not get the impression he is trying to play. He has gotten the female once and bit her neck. Fortunately, she has so much fur, he only got a mouthful of hair. He tries the same on the male, but backs off more quickly with him. But he charges at them almost immediately after backing off, all the time he is constantly "talking" to the other cats. Not a meow, but the sound has a trill to it. Our cats respond by hissing and growling, but if they move away, he takes off after them and won't let them out of his sight. I have been trying to let them work it out, but I have had to chase him away from them, so they can get a little peace from him.
We have not ever dealt with this young of a cat or this aggressive, all our animals have been adopted as adults, and were already fixed. So my questions are, 1-would a cat which was supposedly fixed under the age of 1, still spray and mark? I can not get close enough to him when his tail is not obstructing the view of his posterier, to know for sure. 2- Is there something we can do to minimize the spraying ? Tomorrow, we are going to ask the neighbors again about him being neutered, if they insist that he is, I think we are going have them take him back. Of course I am assuming that they will, and that they can catch the cat. If they admit he hasn't been fixed, then we will tell them we will have to have him neutered if he is to stay with us. We wouldn't mind giving him his forever home. I think the aggression with the other cats would lessen once he had more time to get use to our household.
Any advice or remedies on the situation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks