Advice on introducing new cat to old

[lazybones77]

I have a 3 year old male who has not been neutered and a 6 month old male kitten who was neutered last week. My 3 year old is an outdoor cat and comes home sporadically. The kitten is indoor at the moment.

My 3 year old is aggressive with other cats in the neighbourhood. I've tried introducing them before and it didn't go well. The 3 year old tried to attack the kitten. I'm hoping now that the kitten is neutered he won't be so much of a threat but I'm unsure what to do next.

The 3 year old has been in and out but we keep them separate so that he can get used to the smell of the kitten. I put the kitten in a cat carrier tonight when the 3 year old came in so that he could see him. The 3 year old seemed calm, no hissing or growling. What do you think I should do next?

I'm hoping to let the kitten outside in the next few weeks but I fear that the 3 year old will chase him through the cat flap and all hell will break loose because neither of them will want to give up their territory.

Any advice would be great.

I thought about having the 3 year old neutered but I'm not sure if he's too old now and I don't know when to make an appointment because I can't say when he'll come home. I don't want to force him to stay in, especially with the situation just now.

You must neuter the 3 yo - there is no excuse not to.

I agree about getting the older one neutered, you'll probably see more of him as well, it'll settle him down, more chance of them getting on together then.

Thought people might say that. There absolutely is no excuse not to but, as I have explained, it might not be possible at the moment and I'm looking for advice on what to do just now.

Sorry, I think you're being very irresponsible. How many kittens do you think the unneutered cat is responsible for? You need to keep him in and make the appointment - you need to work out a way of keeping them seperate. Keep one in the spare room?

How often does the older one come home?

Vulcan A bit more now that the weather is turning colder but still he is only in for about an hour every 2 days.

Thanks for that Pink. I would appreciate not being patronised like that though. You know nothing about mine, or my cat's story other than what I have posted here. Don't have a spare room, can't keep him in for hours at a time.

I'm not being patronising, just pointing out that the cat needs to be neutered, as do all cats (and dogs).

Getting him neutered is the best way to ensure he's less aggressive. Not only is he likely causing litters of unwanted kittens but you could end up with a vets Bill from another cats owner.

One hour in every two days? Sounds like he's found himself a new home, tbh.

I suppose you could phone the vet and explain the situation, they might be able to get you a quicker appointment maybe.
I have a male cat, he's about 8, was thinking about getting another cat but wasn't sure what his reaction would be, so decided against it in the end.
That's a good point about him having another home, they're fickle. No wonder you wanted another cat if you hardly see him.

There is a woman who feeds her cats outside and I'm sure he helps himself to that food so I think that's why he's never home. He seems to just really enjoy being outside. We've seen him all over the place. We live in an isolated (with a few neighbours) rural location so there are plenty of mice around which he definitely takes advantage of. I'm not sure if he's going into anyone's house because we would hear about it.

I think I'll phone the vet and ask if I can just bring him in when he appears. I should think I'll be able to do that if they are aware of the situation.

Meant to say thank you Vulcan in that last post.

It would definitely be worth a chat with the vet as I'm sure they must have come across this before. Our vet has been very good about my Mum's cat, George. Different scenario but back in April I was supposed to take him for his jabs but couldn't catch him (think trying to catch a tiger, blood - mine - everywhere!) so I had to cancel at the last minute. They told me that when I caught him just to take him in. Suffice to say it never happened as he runs whenever he sees my but at least they were understanding!

I think so too Pink. It can't be the first time they've come across this kind of thing. Thanks.

I've had to cancel H's appointments on a few occasions as he has the knack of disappearing at just the right time!

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Will do. I'm hoping that he'll lose the aggression. There are a lot of male cats in this small area though and they all fight, neutered or not. It's definitely worth a shot though. I worry for my little kitten when he does eventually go out. I'd love for him to be happy indoors but he tries to escape at any opportunity at the moment and it wouldn't be fair to keep him in when we have such cat friendly environment. Well, cat friendly apart from all of the warring cats.

My cat came back smelling of perfume once, it wasn't mine, fickle!