new cat trying to bite back of my neck?

[JoJo2]

I have two older boys. Recently a young intact male came running into our house meowing and decided he was moving in, and taking over. He has been fixed etc. a couple of weeks ago, and had to be boarded at the vets while we were away. He seemed to be a favorite there. He originally was very affectionate, though quick to get wound up. Now he is less affectionate and really wound up! Also smart and curious like a ferret. He has bitten me hard several times, grabbing my hand or arm and biting, then chewing again to get a better grip. He has also tried to get to the back of my neck to bite twice. I don't know if it is a love bite or a kill bite!?? He's appeared quite aggressive with my older boys, so he's being kept separate for now. The vets harness trained him, and I've tried that a couple of times, but got bitten and scratched putting it on and off. On the leash he encountered one of my boys, I'm not sure what was exactly going on, I kept them about a foot apart, but in the end my boy was terrified and ran, thank goodness the new boy was on the leash.
Am trying to give him a chance before I decide to give him up to the spca. Will this ever work out? I've never had a cat this ALPHA and aggressive. Thanks

 

[ArtNJ]

What is his age, if the vet gave you an estimate? Also, did you do any sort of formal introduction process?

This sounds alot like playing to me that you'll need to train the cat out of. I've not actually heard of a cat play biting a human's neck though! They do that all the time to other cats for play, but with a human I've more seen the arm or leg. But I'm guessing others here will say its a normal thing! I use a loud enough to be somewhat startling "no!" for this kind of training. Can take a few weeks.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Also wondering what his guesstimated age is. Beyond that, he could still have hormones raging in his body - some cats take longer than others for the hormones to completely dissipate. Additionally, he has been through a lot of changes in a very short time, that certainly is going to have an impact on him/his behavior. He really should be slowly introduced to your house (starting off with a single room) and gradually introduced to your resident cats. I am offering loads of TCS articles for you to sift through so you can devise a successful plan in acclimating your new cat/older cats to hopefully live peacefully together.

Ideally, he will calm down a bit once he has been at least partially adjusted to his new home. If he continues to attack after that, you will need to develop a plan to get him to stop. There are also a few TCS articles for that as well - but, I have given you enough for now!!!!

Bringing Home A New Cat – The Complete Guide – Cat Articles
Stress in Cats – The Ultimate Guide – Cat Articles
How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction – Cat Articles
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – Cat Articles
How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat – Cat Articles
Introducing Cats To Cats – Cat Articles

 

[JoJo2]

Thank you!
He’s probably about 1.5 years old.
May have originally had a loving home but had clearly been on the streets for a while. Thank you for articles because it has been at least 20 years since I had to actually introduce cats and never this difficult a situation. Yes, I’m sure the hormones are not fully lowered, snd he may have felt angry and distrustful of me after I had to leave him and all those things happened to him.
Today has been a little better than yesterday. Maybe there’s hope.

 

[ArtNJ]

There are some articles on biting too, but the first step is figuring out why he is doing it. Is he stressed, angry or just playing? Sounds like playing to me, but given the situation, could easily be stress/hormones too I suppose. You would be the best evaluator of the cause.

 

[JoJo2]

SO, over this month in general he's been calming down, but.... When I'm sitting on the floor with him occasionally he will lay on my lap very sweet and affectionate and purr, and when I greet him I can pick him up briefly and he gives a little "kiss". but I've learned to not pet much because he suddenly attacks -usually my arm- grabbing on a biting REALLY hard, breaking the skin unless clothing stops it. When I get that stopped, sometimes he turns and attacks another part of me. Once he leapt onto my back and tried to bite the back of my neck. In addition, a couple of times now he has just attacked me with his eyes dilated and trying to get to my face. Very frightening. I say NO and try to pull him off by the scruff or however I can and get him into his room that I put a screen door on. He also always gets angry if he doesn't get his way. Things were so bad about 10 days ago that I started letting him go out when he wants, and that caused the general calming, I believe. But this -as far as I can tell- unprovoked crazed attacking is terrible. At this point I don't see how I can ever let him mix with my other two boys. They hate him and are terrified of him. He slipped me a couple of weeks ago and instantly attacked my alpha boy and shredded a lot of fur off in a few seconds before I got him separated and contained. He didn't seem angry, didn't turn on me then, just determined to possibly kill my cat. He's young and strong and could easily do that. I can easily visualize him pursuing my other cats into corners and not stopping until they were unconscious or dead.
It's not easy knowing an elderly family member that had a young cat she'd had from a kitten that around the age of two began attacking her with dilated eyes, to even stalking her through the house, that situation kept escalating and he put her in the hospital twice before she had to, with a broken heart, put him down. The vets agreed on that, btw.
So I'm very concerned about what's happening here. I'm really sorry I kept JoJo instead of taking him to the shelter. Our lives are very difficult, stressful and unhappy due to this cat. I've had many cats in my life in over 60 years, and never one like this. I'm worried for me, my cats, and our special needs family member. One slip up and really bad things could happen. Any thoughts?