Apologies for the long post. Looking for advice or similar situations. Around 7 months ago I took in a stray cat. I have had him neutered, microchipped, treated for mites and fleas. He is a big old lad (approx 8 years old) who was clearly ready for the indoor life. He is fit and healthy, despite being a little grey and slow.
I have 2 younger, indoor neutered male cats, who were naturally curious about this big buff newcomer. Fast forward 7 months, with slow intros, feliway in every room, gabapentin, separation for 3 months - Bobby, the newcomer, has made is very clear he HATES cats, in particular my 2 resident boys. He once attacked them both in quick succession causing injuries that drew blood, chased them through the house and I could not stop his attack because he attacked me at the same time when I intervened. Only when I threw a blanket over him did he stop. This was after he had been neutered. I might add Bobby is also FIV+…
Bobby now stays in my bedroom full time, with a full height baby gate so that he can see out but can’t get to the other cats to attack them. I do not have a spare room, so have moved furniture around in my bedroom so that it is more cat friendly for Bobby. He has 2 litter boxes, a water fountain and food, toys and a cat tree along with other enrichment. However, he is not happy. He is intent on getting out and attacking my 2 other cats. He yowls for them, scratches at the gate, if I close the door and gate he scratches at the door, overgooms, hisses whenever they walk past. Sometimes he will lay on his belly near the gate, chirping. One of the other cats come up to the gate thinking he’s being friendly and he throws himself at the gate and scratches/screams. Like he’s enticing them over just to hurt them.
He is a lot better with humans. He will chirp at me and want strokes and pets, he will not tolerate being picked up or scratched below his head. He does scratch/bite me if I position myself in a way that he doesn’t like, that could be sitting on my bed or laying my arm out at an angle, he will make it clear he’s not happy about it and has drawn lots of blood from my arms before (I actually had to get a tetanus when I first brought him in as he latched his teeth into me when I tried to give him ear drops!). Generally though he will tolerate me and purrs and walks over to see me when I go in the room. I am very nervous around him though as he’s quite unpredictable and randomly swipes hard with claws for no reason.
He is a gorgeous big old lad, and I do love him so much. But I feel this isn’t the right situation for him and I may need to look for a different home for him. He and my other cats are clearly very stressed. His screams and yowls break my heart, he clearly wants out the room, but I can’t let him out for fear he’ll really do damage. I don’t know if he might suit being an only cat, but somewhere where he can roam the full house but be left alone and not fussed over! Does anyone have advice on rehoming, keeping him, a different setup? He’s had 3 full health checks since I got him, full bloods, he’s not in any pain, he eats, drinks uses the litter great. I have spent hundreds on him to always be told he’s just a grumpy old man who hates other felines.
Thanks in advance.