Expert: Jessica - 7/22/2010

Question
I presently have five cats: Neo, a tabb that is about 8 yrs old male neudered; Tenten, a long hair domestic who is about 4 yrs male neudered; Salem, a domestic short hair at 2 yrs female spayed; Shadow, a domestic long hair male with age unknown; and Snow, my newest kitten whom I've had for about five days. Snow is three weeks old female Siamese mix (I assume she is mixed) that was found abandoned beneath a bush and I have been keeping her inside away from the other cats, who are mainly outside cats (They spend three hours inside max per day... usually only an hour).

My main question is actually in regards to Shadow, who came with my new house. I moved into my new country home in Nov 2009 only to find the previous occupant purposely left his cat (who I renamed Shadow) behind. My three cats, Neo, Salem, and Tenten, get around marvelously with one another, but all three still hate Shadow even after all these months. They all hiss and growl at Shadow, and Shadow hisses and growls and chases them. I feed the cats separately inside the garage away from Shadow because of this. Neo, who was the dominant male at our old residence, gets along the worst with Shadow. Neo will run if Shadow is even in sight and Shadow always chases him. Salem and Tenten will only get defensive if Shadow approaches her/him.

How can I get my cats to socialize better? I did not have this problem socializing my other cats with one another, but Tenten was one year when introduced to Neo and Salem three months when brought to Neo/Tenten. I am at a loss on how to socialize a dominant adule male to the other cats. I have no idea if Shadow is fixed but I will find out Aug 20th at his scheduled neudering appointment. If Shadow isn't fixed, will he be less territorial after he is fixed? Will having him fixed help the cats socialize better? I am also beginning to wonder how Shadow will react to Snow when she is older because Shadow is so aggressive (He is.. Shadow is aggressive to everyone but me, people included). How can I help alleviate a potential problem with snow?

And how can I help Shadow better socialize with humans? I warn visitors not to pet him cause he scratches, but they do so anyways and end up getting scratched because they pick Shadow up. He even scratches my husband when he picks Shadow up, but Shadow never scratches me. Shadow only does this when picked up. Declawing Shadow is not an option. I have never and will never declaw my cats. I know its a harmless procedure, but I have yet to see a happy declawed cat. They always strike me as miserable on some level. I would really appreciate any guidance.

Answer
Hi Danielle,

I'm glad you find declawing an unacceptable option.  Despite what anyone may have told you, it's not a harmless procedure!  It's quite painful, and many feline practitioners will tell you of the physical and emotional scars it leaves - ones you have seen for yourself.  And cats who don’t have their claws often end up using their teeth, anyway.

As for Shadow, I have a strong suspicion he's not neutered.  If he's not neutered and you have this done, I'm sure you'll be amazed at the difference it will make.  Unneutered cats are boiling over with testosterone, which causes territorial aggression.  Neutering removes the largest source of testosterone from the body, and after about 2-3 weeks, testosterone levels have dropped off greatly.  Cats can certainly still have squabbles over territory, and because the cats have developed trust issues, you may need to work on reintroducing the cats, but things should be easier.

If you find that he already is neutered, try not to be discouraged.  Chances are that Shadow grew used to being a loner, and that it will take some getting used to before he'll accept new cats.  But it can be done.  The unfortunate part is that it really requires introducing the cats to each other in small doses, and because your cats are mostly outdoors, it will be very difficult to control how much they see each other.  If there's any way to limit Tenten and Salem to the house for a while, this would really help out the introduction process a lot.  

It would be best to keep the cats completely separated for now, except for meal time.  Ideally, keep Shadow outdoors except when he eats, and keep the other cats in at all times.  In about a week, start letting the other cats out under supervision for about 15 minutes a few times a day.  If any spats break out, then you should bring the cats involved back inside.  Try again later on.  If their behavior is good, the cats can have longer visits, but if the behavior is not so good, keep visits short.  The key is to try to desensitize the cats to one another’s presence, and to use meal times as a positive experience that they can associate with one another.  To really solidify their unity, feed some extra special treats such as pieces of chicken or Fancy Feast.

Most adult cats start to accept one another with this type of introduction in about 2-3 weeks, but some cats can take longer.  Just be sure to take things at their pace, using their behavior as a gauge of how fast you should move.  Rushing things will set you back at square one, or worse.

You should introduce Snow the same way, exposing her to the other cats with short visits, but not until she’s vaccinated against distemper, which your cats can bring in from the outdoors and is deadly in well over 90% of kittens this age.  She should also be 6-8 weeks old, when her reflexes will be better developed to defend herself.  Be careful to keep a very close eye on her, and I would hold her close when you first begin introducing her.  She should not be left alone with the others until it’s very clear that they’re all getting along well, and certainly not with Shadow until it’s known that he’s neutered.  Although not terribly common, some tomcats kill young kittens.  Fortunately, introducing kittens is much easier than introducing adults, and they all will probably accept Snow within a matter of a few days.

Good luck!

Jessica