We have a five year old, neutered male cat we adopted two years ago from the humane society. He is very lovable with people, and tolerant of the dogs, but he has extreme aggression to other cats of any gender. He had been declawed on the front prior to adoption, but he is a large cat around 15 pounds with abnormally large canine teeth that could leave a nasty wound if he were to bite. I was wanting to adopt another cat or kitten, but at the time I don't feel it would be safe to do so. He could probably quickly kill a kitten and a cat would just make a fight that ended badly for both of them. Is there any way to curb this aggression, or am I just going to have to remain a one cat home?

Silver, have you considered Cesar's methods on your cat? Just a thought. I just saw an episode recently where Cesar had to basically train the cat along with the dog, and used the same methods. It's worth a try. I'm sure your cat would like to have a buddy!

Good luck! :)

Could I ask you to describe the sort of aggression you're seeing. I ask because different kinds of aggression can mean different things and so have different remedies.

Thanks.

When we first adopted Hefty we were cat-sitting another cat at the time, a young female which had already been around the house for a few weeks. We brought him in and gave him a few hours to settle down before letting them meet. She noticed him first, and kind of flicked her ear and kept grooming herself, but when he saw her (I was still holding him), he went nuts, growling and hissing, struggling to get free. Had he not been declawed on the front he would have done damage and likely gotten free. Kiki, who at first ignored him, didn't turn down the challenge and tried to rip up my body to get to him, I manged to get me and Hefty into a separate room, with some nice scratched on my leg and stomach. Over the rest of the time we had the other cat , we tried every trick I knew of to let them get use to each other. Having one in a carrier for a while, and them switching them out so they got use to seeing each other and smelling each other, but no matter what Hefty wanted to rip her apart, no matter who was in or out, or how the other cat was behaving. He didn't act scared or intimated. He had an air of confidence, that it was his place now and no other cat was welcome, more like a territorial issue. Anytime he's seen any strays through the window, which are few and far between where I live due to the free-roaming cat chasing dogs about, he threw fits. It's been two or so years since then, and even though I would like to adopt another, with his aggression and his willingness to drive out a cat that was there BEFORE him, how would he react to a cat entering his turf now that he had years of claim to the house?

(Since he is an adopted cat, I do not know his history with other cats before we had him)

I get why you are concerned; it makes sense. Here are a couple of things to consider--I don't know that they settle things either way.

The aggression Hefty exhibits toward strays that he sees through the window isn't a big deal at all. This doesn't mean that he'll be nasty to a new member of the family.

You might consider getting a male kitten. Males more naturally form a kind of pack, and often older males (neutered) will be quite tolerant of a kitten. You'll want to get the kitten neutered as soon as it's safe to, though.

Introduce them by sequestering Hefty and allowing the kitten to explore a bit and hopefully find a couple of decent hiding places he likes. Then bring Hefty in and WATCH HIM LIKE A HAWK. Expect a fair amount of hissing, growling, spitting, etc. Your main job is to play traffic cop: Don't let anybody get too rough, don't let the kitten crowd Hefty too much, give them some breaks from each other. Vigilance is key, because some males will really go overboard. If Hefty gets out of line you'll have to train him, teach him that such behavior is not acceptable. If he is getting aggressive, clap your hands and put him in time out in another room for fifteen or twenty minutes. Reassure the kitten, let him know he's safe, and then let Hefty out again. You may need to do this several times. It's a pain, but it's worked really well for me.

The nice thing about a kitten is that Hefty will train him and this should go a long way toward eliminating any long-term strife. Once Hefty is okay with the newcomer, be sure to allow him latitude to discipline the kitten (just keep an eye on it until you're sure he won't go overboard). The discipline looks pretty rough: He'll pin the little guy down, bite the back of his neck, wrap his mouth around his throat. This is all the same stuff mothers do though, so the kitten will understand it. Some males can get carried away, as I say, so you really will have to be watchful for a while. In my experience, things settle in to a nice routine within a week or two. (If you get an adult cat, the struggle will likely go on for some months in various forms.)

These are the first things that pop into my head. If Hefty isn't neutered, then definitely get him fixed before bringing another cat into the home or you'll have lots of trouble. Two neutered males will often get along much better than two females or a male and female.

One more question for you: How old is Hefty now?

Hefty is 5 years old, and was already neutered when we adopted him.

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Originally Posted by Silverfoxkit

Hefty is 5 years old, and was already neutered when we adopted him.

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I asked because at five years old he may be a bit less inclined to look for a fight. I've found with male cats over the years that they mellow considerably between the ages of three and five.

For what it's worth, every cat I've ever had has gone nuts when they see another cat through the window. On several occasions I've taken in the very strays that used to be the source of so much commotion. Once they were inside and the process of integration begun, I've never had any trouble. In fact, the only times I've had trouble is when I've introduced a new female. The guys just always pick on them. But with other males, I've never seen the hissing and growling go on for more than a day or two, and I've never had any full-blown fights--just a few minor tiffs here and there, and I'm not sure that wasn't just play-fighting. I've got four males and two females now. They were all strays, taken in at different times, and they're all close and affectionate. And one of them was a real fighter when he was a stray.

My guess is that if you lay down the law with Hefty he'll get in line. And in a short space of time, I'm guessing he and the new guy will be good friends. There are no guarantees, of course, and I really hope my hunch isn't proven to be wrong, but it might be worth doing. It may just mean a lot of extra work for you for awhile.

I hope you do it. And if you do, I hope for updates.

Thank you for the advice, I feel much more confident about trying to bring home a new baby, I am definitely going to try to go the kitten route. It may make things a great deal easier in getting Hefty to accept it. Its going to be an adventure! Its been quite a while since I've had a kitten. We checked at the shelter today, but they don't have any kittens at the moment. We'll keep checking though. With Valentines day coming up, I'm sure there will be plenty after the fact. Our shelters get flooded with pets after that holiday.

Well after a few weeks of searching and waiting we finally managed to adopt a kitten today!! He's about 5 to 6 weeks old and a little orange and white tabby we named Oliver. He is an absolute doll with a huge forehead and the longest tail I've ever seen on a kitten his age. So far things have been going okay. Hefty isn't nearly a fraction as bad as he was with the other cat. He is avoiding Oliver like a little orange flea for the most part with a little hissing here and there but he's not down right confrontational. I'm confident with time he'll get over himself and begin speaking to us again. The dogs have been pretty good to. They are fascinated by this little thing because they've never seen a kitten before. As far as they knew Hefty has always been a big old cat. Oliver wasn't scared of them at all surprisingly.

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Originally Posted by Silverfoxkit

Well after a few weeks of searching and waiting we finally managed to adopt a kitten today!!! He's about 5 to 6 weeks old and a little orange and white tabby we named Oliver. He is an absolute doll with a huge forehead and the longest tail I've ever seen on a kitten his age. So far things have been going okay. Hefty isn't nearly a fraction as bad as he was with the other cat. He is avoiding Oliver like a little orange flea for the most part with a little hissing here and there but he's not down right confrontational. I'm confident with time he'll get over himself and begin speaking to us again. The dogs have been pretty good to. They are fascinated by this little thing becuase they've never seen a kitten before. As far as they knew Hefty has always been a big old cat. Oliver wasn't scared of them at all surprisingly.

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Thank you so much for posting the update. I hope all continues to go well. (It sounds like it's going really well so far.)

Things have actually been going amazingly well so far with Oliver. Yesterday Hefty was grumpy and hissed anytime the kitten got close, but for the most part he avoided everyone, including us. I'm not sure what changed honestly. This morning he was still grumpy at first but it was like he suddenly changed his mind. He just trotted up and sniffed the baby with no hissing, and then he started to watch him and follow him around. He hasn't hissed at all since this, but I can't say the same for Olly. He still sometime gets scared and hisses at Hefty, but I can't blame him. Hefty wasn't exactly polite on their first few encounter and he is about 10 times bigger then him. I wasn't expecting Hefty to start warming up nearly this fast and hopefully the trend continues. Thank you very much again Akoue! If it weren't for you I wouldn't have had the courage to risk bringing home a kitten!