Brought the outside cat in and had him "snipped."

[HeroHog]

We brought our outside cat, TC, inside, took him to the vet, got him up to date on all his shots and had a check up then had him neutered. The inside cat, Lil' Blue got his shots and a checkup as well. TC has been in a week now and we are blown away at how well TC made the transition! It has been painless...EXCEPT... Blue ain't pleased a bit about it. Actually that's not quite true, Blue acts just fine around and to us but hides from and avoids TC like the plague. If TC somes near, Blue growls, hisses, cowers and TC advances then Blue freaks, yowls, tries to run, gets backed in a corner and gets his ass kicked.

TC isn't aggressive toward Blue until Blue shows fear then TC will slowly walk up to him. The more Blue ramps it up, the more it draws TC in. Blue has been indoors and by himself 99.9% of his life. TC has been outside and on his own for at least 99% of his life WITH intact nads. Tell me who has the advantage here?

Any suggestions on how to get these two to find some uneasy peace where they can at least tolerate each other's presence? I don't expect them to be best buds but I can't deal with fighting. We are hoping that once the testosterone has died down in TC's system he will chill out some.  

[BobR]

It isn't going to happen. They will always be adversarial, it is the way of cats. Most multi cat families (including ours) I have seen the cats have to be together as kittens or female. You will get one Alpha female that will rule the roost for the most part.We have two cats that are nearly 2 that have been together from kittenhood and one 18 y/o female. The 18 y/o will have nothing to do with the others, no fighting just avoidance.

You could always use a spray bottle of water, everytime thay start to act out you spray them, they don't like that. All I have to do is pick up the bottle and ours run for the hills.

bob

[griz]

A week isn't long in cat territorial terms.  We've gone so far as to keep a new cat and the old cat isolated, but in the same house, for a few days.  They spend about two days just camped out at the door of separation "defending" their space.  My guess (and it's often a guess with cats) is they will work it out soon.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Unless Blue is getting actual injuries, let the cats sort themselves out.

This is something a lot of people try to fix when introducing new animals into a household and it's one of those things were interference is usually not helpful.
I don't interfere unless it gets to the point of just before bloodshed. Dogs usually settle in faster than cats.

It took about two weeks or so before Graham got settled into the pack hierarchy with Pearl and Southwest. Mostly mild scuffles with Pearl as she established that she was boss.
Captain Wow took several months and the arrival of winter to accept Raleigh. The desire for warm and cuddly outweighed the distaste for the interloper.   By December they were pretty happy with each other.

They may never be buddy buddy, but in time, they will figure out how they want to deal with each other.

[HeroHog]

Thanks guys. I'm fine with avoidance, I just don't want combat.

[dm1333]

Give them some time.  I brought home a stray cat from the rez and she kicked the ass of our dog a couple times in the first few weeks.  After that they started to tolerate each other and then they began to get along. 

[lee n. field]

Unless Blue is getting actual injuries, let the cats sort themselves out.

I wish I could convince the wife to do this.   She's like "They fight.  Let's seal them in separate parts of the house."

Max is a bully.  Bananas is a psycho.  Sylvester was a feral stray until the wife pulled him in.  And they all "don't get along".   You know, I bet they would, eventually.

[BlueStarLizzard]

I wish I could convince the wife to do this.   She's like "They fight.  Let's seal them in separate parts of the house."

Max is a bully.  Bananas is a psycho.  Sylvester was a feral stray until they wife pulled him in.  And they all "don't get along".   You know, I bet they would, eventually.

Yeah, some people just don't get that fighting is how they sort this stuff out and, usually, they aren't all that interested in killing each other (or getting hurt) so they generally let it go as soon as one of them submits and once they establish the hierarchy, it settles down. One of them might end up the red headed step child that the others always bully, but that's also normal and tends to keep the peace. Usually the bullied doesn't seem to mind too much.

The funny part, at least with my cats, is the period of time where the old one refuses to admit that he actually kind of *likes* the new cats. Captain Wow was really hysterical about it. If Raleigh came around, the Wow would act all offended and upset, but if Raleigh didn't appear when the Wow was expecting him, Captain Wow would start looking for him and get depressed. Pharaoh did it too, when we got Captain Wow, Shaft and C-Mel.

[zxcvbob]

Until they get sorted out, watch out for the original inside cat showing its displeasure by pissing on your pillow, etc.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Until they get sorted out, watch out for the original inside cat showing its displeasure by pissing on your pillow, etc.

ugggg... Raleigh started expressing his displeasure in such a way recently. He got my bed twice and my chair a few times and always right when I had washed all the blankets and pillows.

The kicker is the reason for the displeasure is the damn litter boxes. He gets mad when they get too funky. He also gets mad when I CLEAN THEM. Three god damn litter boxes, in two different locations. Now I have to clean the one in my bathroom first, put him in the cleaned box to show him it's ready and wait an hour. Then, and only then, may I clean the ones in the kitchen.
He also gets mad when I throw out the weekly accumulated boxes (the two young ones play in them, which means instead of empty boxes stacked neatly in the one corner, the living room is covered with them) use the vacuum cleaner, sweep and do any other cleaning around the house. So now, in addition to my normal Sunday chores, I spend a lot of time locating the cat and checking my bed and my chair for piss.

[HeroHog]

They each have their own litter pans in their own rooms that are scooped every day. Separate food and water as well and are given treats separately as well. Both get attention and love. The old cat, Blue, hasn't shown any behavioral issues. I do believe it will work out over time. It just kills me that Blue has to be whooped on in his own house...

[BlueStarLizzard]

You might try feeding them together instead. It's one thing that has always sort of forced the issue of getting along around here, although that might be because all my cats have always had communal eating habits. Captain Wow always actually preferred to eat with the other cats and would wait around for someone to eat with back in the day. These days he's pretty oblivious to most things and has to eat at least one meal a day because the other two push him out, but that's the strokes and senility causing the issues.

Watch them over it, and enforce manners (no growling or pushing the other cat out of his bowl) but maybe see if eating together in a new neutral area might speed things up.

[Andiron]

Cats are aholes,  I'm surprised he doesn't resent the snip more. 

[Angel Eyes]

Cats are aholes,  I'm surprised he doesn't resent the snip more. 

He's just biding his time.  Vengeance will be his.