Sighs, that's all I can do these days. On the second day of integration, everything looks okay. At one time, they slept near each other. They seemed to tolerate each other though I still see Sherbet staying away from Slim most of the time. Salem just run away from Slim whenever he tried to pounce him. I thought maybe my cats need time to adjust with the new cat but I was naive.
On the third night, I left them by themselves for a few minutes while cleaning their litter box. I was shocked to hear them fighting and I know which of my three cats were fighting. When I opened the door I was truly shocked to see Sherbet and Slim neck to neck in an all out fight. This is no mere cat fight, this was totally battle of dominance. Slim was challenging Sherbet, who is the house's alpha male. Sherbet, knowing his rank in the house didn't stand down and put out a fight. I tried using spray bottle but it was useless, they chased each other and fought like mad. I was screaming like mad myself. It was frightening but I know approaching them might be hazardous for me. I soon realized Slim was doing most of the chasing while Sherbet defended himself and tried to get away. In desperation I threw a shoe at them, it didn't work. Eventually I got so angry, I took a huge amount of water and splash them. They eventually broke apart and I direct Slim into the nearest carrier and Sherbet into the other one.
I had never had such experience and it was frightening. Poor Salem stood watching anxiously from far. I surveyed my home, luckily I was never the type to collect breakable mementos. Half of my house was wet, some of my door mats were soggy. I found out Sherbet even defecates in one of the spot they fought earlier. He had some feces still stuck on his behind, I took him into the bathroom and clean him up. At some spot, he even urinated but I think it was due to stress. I called my bf over to help me settle back those two cats. As we were putting in Slim into his cage, Sherbet came into the room and immediately Slim went aggressive and tried to dash for Sherbet. I was lucky my bf had good reflex and stuck his foot on the cage door. Sherbet was so scared that for the next 12 hours, he slept by my feet and didn't even dare to go into the kitty room (where Slim is in his cage and the cat's litter box are).
After discussing with my bf, we decided to put him up for adoption. Although to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure anyone would adopt him. Granted his fur is soft, he has beautiful markings and has beautiful bushy tail but temperament-wise, he won't get along with other cats unless they submit to him. Him being a stray cat for quite some time (the vet told me he's between 1-2 years of age) made him quite a survivalist but that makes him wary of human and other cats too. The somewhat high adoption fee might also deter potential adopters, at RM200. It wasn't a price I put for fun or profit but rather the cost of his treatments, vaccinations, neuter and feLv/FIP test. Sad to see him go but I think I was too naive to think I could tame a stray cat like that. My mere 1 year plus cat experience was not good enough for me to mellow him down. To be honest, I am somewhat scared of Slim now. He is hard to read and change mood quite swiftly.
After much contemplation, I decided to give Slim a month to integrate and accept my other cats. While waiting for adoption, I will give him a chance to get along with my cats and help improve his socialization. I found a website that teaches procedures to integrate cats and I'm following as close as I can. I think I should have passed the 'scent familiarization' since they are mostly in the same room, only separated by a cage. Alas, I was wrong. The cloth with Sherbet's scent was totally rubbed off by Slim. When I took out the cloth to rub more of Sherbet's scent into it, he ran away frightened (body crouch low) and hid in his safe spot. While the cloth with Slim's scent was ignored by the food bowl (which means my two cat doesn't care about his scent) and my two cats ate as usual from their food bowl. Next, I tried swapping area. I took Slim and Sherbet into separate carriers and put Sherbet in Slim's cage while Slim was let free in the kitty room. Sherbet sat on one spot and didn't move much. From his body language, Sherbet looks alert but not too comfortable (his eyes were erect, but his whiskers were somewhat close to his face) and my observations says he was not in a relaxed pose. Slim on the other hand, just started rubbing his face and body all over the room and then just sat at one corner. I tried to crack open the cage door a bit (they can smell and look at each other but their head won't pass through), Sherbet tried to get out but Slim came to the door and immediately got irritated. His tail was swishing back and forth faster, I even heard a low hiss coming from Slim. I closed the cage door and touched Slim's back to tell him to back up, he immediately tried to pounce my hand. His tail was still swishing irritatedly and I showed him his carrier. He ignored me and lay down at a corner, watching me. After a while, his tail stopped swishing vigorously and I picked him up by his scruff and put him in the carrier. Conclusion : he still hates Sherbet and wants to pick a fight with him. I let Sherbet out of the room and put back Slim inside.
I called my bf and told him what happened and decided to give Slim until the end of the month. If he still can't get along and no one adopts him, I have to let him go out as a stray. It's sad and a cruel decision but I have no choice. But at least I've done my best and tried my hardest. I hope and pray Slim will change and live in harmony with my other cats but I have my worries. An alpha male stray which reigns over my apartment block for more or almost a year has lived as a tough street cat and a survivalist. When he fought, he will fought for his life and probably till his death. If I let him and Sherbet battle it out for one of them to stand down, I am sure one of them will be scarred for life. If I let him live his whole life in a cage, I think he will go mad or die eventually. Cats have to have their freedom, confining them in small space forever is such a cruel fate. For now I can only sighs. Tomorrow is another training day for him and me.
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