I am having a really hard time trying to introduce a new cat into our household. We already had two fourteen year old calico cats. They are sisters and have lived with us for four years. The situation is complicated because one of our current cats, Miss Cooper, has just been diagnosed with late stage cancer and not expected to live very long (1-3 months since the cancer is in her liver, spleen and lymph nodes). Of course we are devastated to get this news and want to make her remaining time as pleasant as possible. She’s on steroids and B12 which have helped.
It’s already been a bit challenging to keep Cooper’s sister, Vanda, from bullying her (I suspect this was going on long before we got them). They get along in the morning but at night Vanda is very territorial. Feliway Optimum has helped and the cats have agreed on their territory.
The new cat is a feral we took in for TNR, who is about 1 or 2 years old. Before we could trap him he developed a limp so we had the vet check him out. Apparently he’d been hit by a car and had a shattered hip. They said they could amputate but he was a good candidate for an FHO surgery and then would regain total use of that leg. We got the surgery which did go well and he seems to be able to use that leg normally. He’s also tamed up nicely and definitely prefers to be an indoor cat - he loves his bed and toys and being brushed and loves to be around us.
It’s been four months since his operation. He recovered in our laundry room which is a decent size. We went on his schedule and very gradually he went from feral to what seems like a sweet inside cat. It took him until two weeks ago before he wanted to leave his room, and he slowly got used to the den/kitchen/living room area when our other two cats weren’t there. He’s been aware of our two cats since he was feral, and we let them smell each other between a door for weeks before meeting face to face. We used a screen door for the meet and greets, and after a while they would eat together on either side and no cat seemed bothered.
About 10 days ago he started coming out into the living areas while our other cats were there. (This is a new area for him, the den/LR/kitchen is mainly just Vanda’s territory. Her sister Cooper mainly hangs out in the bedrooms on the other side of the house.) During the day the new cat is usually shy and is happy to hang out in the den, which is great because neither Cooper or Vanda have ever spent much time there. But once it gets dark out, the new cat starts getting more aggressive and wants to run at the older cats, or especially he loves to ambush them. At first I thought he was wanting to play, but I don’t think that’s it anymore. He especially targets Cooper, cornering her whenever he can and swatting at her. Last night he pushed her down on her back. This behavior has just escalated a bit every day. I just can’t stand that Cooper has to deal with this when we only have a few more weeks with her. I feel bad for this new guy that he’s feeling so agitated and aggressive being around the girls.
He has been on Gabapentin since his surgery, for pain and to help him keep calm. It’s never knocked him out like it can most cats, but it did seem to relax him sometimes. Now we are wondering if he could be reacting to it differently or it’s just not working at all anymore. We did put him back in his room last night after he pushed Cooper down. We gave him the full 100mg of Gabapentin (instead of the 50mg we had weaned him down to). He did seem to relax and slept very well eventually.
Does anyone with experience taming ferals or introducing cats have any insights into what’s going wrong here? I want him to be happy long term, and also Vanda and Cooper really shouldn’t be living in such a high stress situation, especially Cooper. I have also read the suggestion about using vanilla but am hesitant to put that on Cooper - I don’t want to overpower her with a scent she may not like.
It’s already been a bit challenging to keep Cooper’s sister, Vanda, from bullying her (I suspect this was going on long before we got them). They get along in the morning but at night Vanda is very territorial. Feliway Optimum has helped and the cats have agreed on their territory.
The new cat is a feral we took in for TNR, who is about 1 or 2 years old. Before we could trap him he developed a limp so we had the vet check him out. Apparently he’d been hit by a car and had a shattered hip. They said they could amputate but he was a good candidate for an FHO surgery and then would regain total use of that leg. We got the surgery which did go well and he seems to be able to use that leg normally. He’s also tamed up nicely and definitely prefers to be an indoor cat - he loves his bed and toys and being brushed and loves to be around us.
It’s been four months since his operation. He recovered in our laundry room which is a decent size. We went on his schedule and very gradually he went from feral to what seems like a sweet inside cat. It took him until two weeks ago before he wanted to leave his room, and he slowly got used to the den/kitchen/living room area when our other two cats weren’t there. He’s been aware of our two cats since he was feral, and we let them smell each other between a door for weeks before meeting face to face. We used a screen door for the meet and greets, and after a while they would eat together on either side and no cat seemed bothered.
About 10 days ago he started coming out into the living areas while our other cats were there. (This is a new area for him, the den/LR/kitchen is mainly just Vanda’s territory. Her sister Cooper mainly hangs out in the bedrooms on the other side of the house.) During the day the new cat is usually shy and is happy to hang out in the den, which is great because neither Cooper or Vanda have ever spent much time there. But once it gets dark out, the new cat starts getting more aggressive and wants to run at the older cats, or especially he loves to ambush them. At first I thought he was wanting to play, but I don’t think that’s it anymore. He especially targets Cooper, cornering her whenever he can and swatting at her. Last night he pushed her down on her back. This behavior has just escalated a bit every day. I just can’t stand that Cooper has to deal with this when we only have a few more weeks with her. I feel bad for this new guy that he’s feeling so agitated and aggressive being around the girls.
He has been on Gabapentin since his surgery, for pain and to help him keep calm. It’s never knocked him out like it can most cats, but it did seem to relax him sometimes. Now we are wondering if he could be reacting to it differently or it’s just not working at all anymore. We did put him back in his room last night after he pushed Cooper down. We gave him the full 100mg of Gabapentin (instead of the 50mg we had weaned him down to). He did seem to relax and slept very well eventually.
Does anyone with experience taming ferals or introducing cats have any insights into what’s going wrong here? I want him to be happy long term, and also Vanda and Cooper really shouldn’t be living in such a high stress situation, especially Cooper. I have also read the suggestion about using vanilla but am hesitant to put that on Cooper - I don’t want to overpower her with a scent she may not like.