What I wished I'd said

So, a woman came to the adoption center last weekend looking for advice.  She had fourteen cats (!), and her latest rescued cat was the problem.

This cat, a stray, had been hit by a car.  She fixed him up and got him vaccinated.  He had evidently belonged to someone at some point, because he had already been neutered.  He was friendly with her, but he haaaaaaaated her other cats.  She was keeping him in a spare bedroom, and every time she tried to introduce him to the rest of her crew, within a few minutes, the fur was flying. He was extremely aggressive toward her cats.  She was at the end of her rope - it had been seven months with no progress.  She didn't want to surrender him to a shelter because she was afraid that he'd be euthanized because of his behavioral ... erm ... issues.  Did I have any advice?

Well, first of all, I explained that our rescue does not euthanize except when medically necessary.  However, it takes much, MUCH longer to find homes for cats who cannot tolerate other pets, and we probably did not have the space to take in another long-term cat right at this time.  (Out of the six spaces at the adoption center, two are currently occupied by cats who cannot tolerate other cats, dogs, or, frankly, people.) I asked her if she would be willing to "foster" the cat while we tried to find it a home.  I asked her if she had spoken with her veterinarian about the problem, and she said yes, but the vet didn't have any answers.  (This is typical, and it really pisses me off.  A lot of vets just shrug off behavioral problems, when that is a big reason that cats end up in shelters.)  I suggested that she call her vet and ask about, well, drugs.  Something to ... smooth out the edges.  The stray had sustained a head injury when it was hit by the car, which may have scrambled his marbles, so to speak. 

Next I suggested Feliway.  I've never seen much of a difference with it, but a lot of people swear by it.  When she explained that the Feliway system was out of her budget, I pointed toward another, lower-cost pheromone spray. 

Out of suggestions, I wished her luck and sent her on her way.  But I've been thinking about it.  About how the cat is friendly with her, and will actually howl until she comes and spends time with him, but will not tolerate her other cats.  And I'm thinking a little behavior modification may be in order.

I wish I'd told her to take one of her other cats, preferably an old, mellow girl, crate her, cover the crate with a blanket, and take her into the stray's room.  Then put the crated cat off in a corner, and slather the stray with love and attention.  Start off with just a few minutes at first, until you could see how the stray was going to react.  If the stray headed for the crate and started acting aggressive, blow in his face or spray him with compressed air to get him to associate an unpleasant sensation with aggressive behavior.  Reward him with treats or petting when he is able to get close to the crated cat without going berserk.  The first day, only have the crated cat in the room for a few minutes.  Over a period of days, have the crated cat in the room for longer periods of time, and start to remove the blanket from the crate so that more of the crated cat is visible.  If at any time the stray totally loses his marbles, go right back to square one.  Once he gets used to having one cat in his room, install a screen door, so that he can see the other cats in the house, but cannot attack them.  Start feeding a few of the cats in the area of the door, so he gets used to having them near.  If he reacts okay to this, put most of the rest of the crew in another bedroom, then let him explore areas of the house where just a few cats are.  Take it slow ...

I feel like she was maybe just plopping the stray down in the middle of her herd (unless you live in a mansion and have a full-time cat-attention-payer on your staff, fourteen cats is probably too many, btw), and the stray was completely overwhelmed.   I wish I'd told her what I just told you guys, and I wish she'd tried it and let me know if it worked.  I wish I wish I wish ....

I dunno guys, whadda ya think?  Ever had any luck with this method?  I've seen it work on that cat whisperer TV show, but I'd be interested to see how it would pan out in real life.