Black stray kitty

Oh Boo is one handsome guy! I'm so sorry things aren't going as well as expected with your current fur-family. At least he will be safe over the Halloween holidays and if everything you try fails, don't be discouraged. Some cats really can't learn to get along with others, while some cats will do so eventually.
I've had experience with both scenarios.
I tried to introduce a cat I rescued from a (to be polite about it) not so bright woman who was going to dump the cat because her boyfriend didn't like cats :mad: Stupid, huh? Anyway, I took the cat, which was a 7 yr old female siamese. She had never been around other animals and didn't want to be around other animals. At the time, my boyfriend (now husband) had Scooter and he was just a kitten. Scooter is about as harmless as one could be at that time, and he was curious about Samantha. Everything seemed to work out, because Sam was living with me in an apartment at college and Aaron had brought Scooter for a "visit" to see how they would interact. Sam didn't much like Scooter, but they seemed to co-habitate OK. We thought that was pretty good. Well, how wrong we were! All hell broke loose as soon as Aaron took Sam back to his place to live with him and Scooter. She literally scared the you know what out of Scooter when she moved there. He would be running from her and drop little turdletts while running. It sounds funny now, but it wasn't at the time. Poor Scooter. Sam would attack Scooter for no reason and just terrorized him. Aaron tried separating them and slowly reintroducing them with the scent and separate room technique...but alas...to no avail. Sam absolutely didn't want any of it. It's just strange that she was fairly tolerant of Scooter while at my summer apartment, but as soon as she moved in with Aaron it just didn't work. We had to give her to a friend who had no other pets and she's doing great now!:)

Now, after that horrible experience, Scooter just didn't trust or like to have other cats around. This proved to be a bit of an obsticle when Aaron and I were engaged and I had my cat Marius and he had Scooter. Neither of us would give up our cats, that was set in stone. We were going to make it work. Luckily, Marius is just about the most mellow cat you'll ever meet, so during the whole adjustment process between Marius and Scooter (which lasted just over 6 months!! :eek: You wouldn't know of the troubles if you saw them today! LOL), Marius just sat there while Scooter screamed at the top of his little kitty lungs, hissed, spit...fluffed up...you name it. We did everything in those six months. Started out by keeping them in separate rooms. We would pet one cat, then go into the other room and have the other cat sniff our fingers. Then it went to rubbing towels on each cat and putting the towels in the other cat's area...this was just to adjust each one to the other's smell. We did this for a long time. (Marius could have cared less...:rolleyes: LOL). Then we would let the cats see each other to get used to the other's presence. We did this several ways:
1. There was a screened in porch where we put Marius, and we put Scooter in the laundry room where he could look out the window (the door to the screened in porch from the laundry room has a long window in the middle of it)at Marius on the porch.
2. We actually did do the cat in the carrier technique. I put Marius in a carrier in the laundry room (since he was so laid back and really didn't care what was going on) and let Scooter observe Marius in the carrier. We also did this for a long time. After several sessions, we would try to have both in the same room on a leash, but Scooter kept up his testy ways...so we just basically continued with this until Scooter calmed down a bit.
3. When we got really frustrated, we'd put both cats in a carrier and face them at each other! LOL
I'm lucky that my cat was so tolerant. Finally after 6 months of trying, Scooter finally adjusted and they're just great now! Like regular siblings, they do have their spats every now and then, but otherwise they get along fine and play together a lot. It was a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get those 2 together, but it was worth it. This is also an extreme scenario. Both my husband and I did not want to give up our cat...so we forced them to work out! LOL ;)

Go with your instincts. This cat may just be like Sam and would do great as an only pet. Don't be discouraged if this is so. You did a wonderful thing by taking him in and trying it out. If anything, you rescued a baby from the street and are a great Foster mum for him until you can find him a purrmanent home! Good luck! Do let us know what happens!

**hugs**
Karen

Moosmom, Boo Boo Kitty is gorgeous. And you're so sweet for taking him in, even if its just until you find him a good home.
I will tell you, though, that when I first put my two together, I though I'd made a huge mistake. It took a couple of weeks of them living in completely different rooms. Then just supervised visits. I rigged up a screen door after 2 weeks to separate them- one in a bedroom, and one in the rest of the house. Then I began feeding them on each side of the door. Then, one day, I gave them some catsip in two bowls. They ate together. I'm attaching the first peaceful moment between them.
It was short lived! Back to fighting. I just knew the little one was going to get squashed.
At any rate, my neighbor is a vet tech. She came over and recommend I supervise the fights and let them go at it for a little while. I did this for days. Then, during one supervised fist fight, they got so tired that they fell asleep together. Friends since.
Good luck to you whatever you do. Although it eventually worked out for me, I do know that there are some cats that genuinly prefer to be singles. And that's okay too. Especially since you've found him and are committed to finding him a good home.
Congrats to you.

2 kitties,

What a great picture!! Some cats just aren't meant to be with other cats. He's a great cat and is very affectionate. His picture will be posted on petfinder.com in the beginning of November. I'm sure he'll find a great home. Thanks for some great advice everybody.

Donna
How is Boo??
Have you tried to see if there is any progress in his behavior?

Jen,

Boo really wants to come out of the room bad! He scratches on the door. I go in every night when I get home and sit on the floor while he eats. I'm becoming very attached to him. But I really don't think he's going to take to my 6 cats (he may feel a bit overwhelmed). MooShoo has a huge scratch on his front leg from the 2nd episode. An organization I'm joining (HEADS-Helping Every Animal Down River Society) is going to post him on Petfinder.com in November. I will foster him until then, or until a spot becomes available at PetSmart. I hate the thought of that precious boy being holed up in a cage. He's truly an indoor/outdoor cat. We'll see what happens. I'm very disappointed that he's not going to become a part of my fur family. :(

This is breaking my heart. From 1987 to 1996 I had a beautiful black neutered male named BooBoo. He had lymphatic sarcoma and passed away on Valentine's Day, 1996. They look alike. I miss my Boo every day. I'd take him in a heartbeat, but I have 3 other cats now. :( :(

Just look aropund you Boscibo, MANY MANY MANY people here have more than 3 cats.;) What's one more????:D
You never know, it may ne a match made in heaven:o

Yeah, I know. I have had more than 3 at a time, but she says her Boo need a home without other cats. :(

The city I live in has these silly laws, too. We a full up for our dog limit, I think it is 3 dogs max, and 4 cats, max. Cats don't require a license, so I could probably sneak more in. But I wouldn't be able to provide him (Boo) with an only cat environment.

I know,:( :( :( I just felt some how obligated to say it :rolleyes: