Hi everyone. I can post here now, so I figured it is okay to go ahead and make a thread.
I just typed out this huge long post, but I figured it doesn't need to be that long. I'll try to sum it up better.
In my house currently I have: a 5 year old spayed female cat (Brook), 3 cat-friendly dogs, and two 1 year old male cats who are on a 2 week trial with us before we make any decision about adopting. They are being housed in separate large dog crates in a quiet room that no other animals can access. I will refer to them as Black Cat and Tabby Point. They have been here for about 24 hours. The crates are covered with sheets so they can't see each other and their crates are not right next to each other.
Black Cat is settling in nicely. He's very affectionate, hasn't had much to say about the presence of Brook when she comes to visit. We're just sort of slowly introducing him to Brook and to the dogs and his new living situation in general.
Tabby Point is not settling in so nicely so far. I'm not sure what to think of him because I'm not used to cats like him. At the adoption clinic, he was very affectionate and gentle. Just relaxed and enjoying being petted. I was able to pick him up and place him in a cat carrier and he slept all the way home. The rescue didn't know much about him because he just came in a few days ago. He was also neutered only 4 days ago, so he is still very much a tom cat. I have no experience really with tom cats.
Tabby Point is pretty different now that he's home. Of course he is adjusting and whatnot, but I'm not used to dealing with cats like him. He's pretty aggressive towards Black Cat (keep in mind, these cats have only seen each other through their crates. I wouldn't put them in direct contact yet), which I expected because he is a freshly altered tom. That doesn't bother me. What does bother me is that he is unpredictable (to my eyes. I know animals don't act without reason). Last night he was hissing and growling at me and even tried to bite me when I prevented his escape from the crate by gently nudging him back inside. This morning he was all purrs and rubs. Earlier today I let him out to explore the room and I just didn't know what to think of him. He was very playful when I played with him with a toy, but his behavior ended up being a little unusual to me. He hissed and growled at his toy a few times even though he was obviously playing with it and enjoying it. I wasn't harassing him with it or anything, he was actively chasing it around. Sometimes he was pretty happy to let me pet him, other times he would hiss and growl and glare at me when I tried to stroke his back. He also unnerved me by just trotting around the room growling. He wasn't growling at me. He was just trotting around growling.
Frankly, I'm nervous around this cat and I know that doesn't help the situation. I can't seem to tell when he's going to start hissing at me. Sometimes I'm just sitting there and scratching his head through the bars of his cage and he's purring, and then the next minute he's growling and hissing at me. It makes me feel like he's unpredictable. I think he might bite me if I need to physically move him. I'm wary of reaching to the back of his crate to clean his litter box
I've had a few cats, but I'm not experienced with this behavior. I'd really like to understand it better so that I can change my behavior to make him more comfortable. I want to give him the best chance possible in this 2 weeks to work out. I could use some insight from people more experienced than I to understand this cat better.
I'm also open to criticism. If you think I'm a fool for trying to get 2 adult male cats, 1 a freshly altered tom, to integrate into my household, please tell me. I'm quite skeptical that this situation is going to work out, even though I would really like it to. I'm willing to accept hard realities, though. It seems like maybe he is not exactly the cat I thought he was at the clinic, but I'm trying not to make any judgements this early on. I thought he was a really gentle, mild-mannered guy, which is what I was looking for.
All opinions welcome!
I just typed out this huge long post, but I figured it doesn't need to be that long. I'll try to sum it up better.
In my house currently I have: a 5 year old spayed female cat (Brook), 3 cat-friendly dogs, and two 1 year old male cats who are on a 2 week trial with us before we make any decision about adopting. They are being housed in separate large dog crates in a quiet room that no other animals can access. I will refer to them as Black Cat and Tabby Point. They have been here for about 24 hours. The crates are covered with sheets so they can't see each other and their crates are not right next to each other.
Black Cat is settling in nicely. He's very affectionate, hasn't had much to say about the presence of Brook when she comes to visit. We're just sort of slowly introducing him to Brook and to the dogs and his new living situation in general.
Tabby Point is not settling in so nicely so far. I'm not sure what to think of him because I'm not used to cats like him. At the adoption clinic, he was very affectionate and gentle. Just relaxed and enjoying being petted. I was able to pick him up and place him in a cat carrier and he slept all the way home. The rescue didn't know much about him because he just came in a few days ago. He was also neutered only 4 days ago, so he is still very much a tom cat. I have no experience really with tom cats.
Tabby Point is pretty different now that he's home. Of course he is adjusting and whatnot, but I'm not used to dealing with cats like him. He's pretty aggressive towards Black Cat (keep in mind, these cats have only seen each other through their crates. I wouldn't put them in direct contact yet), which I expected because he is a freshly altered tom. That doesn't bother me. What does bother me is that he is unpredictable (to my eyes. I know animals don't act without reason). Last night he was hissing and growling at me and even tried to bite me when I prevented his escape from the crate by gently nudging him back inside. This morning he was all purrs and rubs. Earlier today I let him out to explore the room and I just didn't know what to think of him. He was very playful when I played with him with a toy, but his behavior ended up being a little unusual to me. He hissed and growled at his toy a few times even though he was obviously playing with it and enjoying it. I wasn't harassing him with it or anything, he was actively chasing it around. Sometimes he was pretty happy to let me pet him, other times he would hiss and growl and glare at me when I tried to stroke his back. He also unnerved me by just trotting around the room growling. He wasn't growling at me. He was just trotting around growling.
Frankly, I'm nervous around this cat and I know that doesn't help the situation. I can't seem to tell when he's going to start hissing at me. Sometimes I'm just sitting there and scratching his head through the bars of his cage and he's purring, and then the next minute he's growling and hissing at me. It makes me feel like he's unpredictable. I think he might bite me if I need to physically move him. I'm wary of reaching to the back of his crate to clean his litter box
I've had a few cats, but I'm not experienced with this behavior. I'd really like to understand it better so that I can change my behavior to make him more comfortable. I want to give him the best chance possible in this 2 weeks to work out. I could use some insight from people more experienced than I to understand this cat better.
I'm also open to criticism. If you think I'm a fool for trying to get 2 adult male cats, 1 a freshly altered tom, to integrate into my household, please tell me. I'm quite skeptical that this situation is going to work out, even though I would really like it to. I'm willing to accept hard realities, though. It seems like maybe he is not exactly the cat I thought he was at the clinic, but I'm trying not to make any judgements this early on. I thought he was a really gentle, mild-mannered guy, which is what I was looking for.
All opinions welcome!