We have two middle aged adult female cats who are bonded littermates. We share a house with an in-law who has a middle aged female cat. All 3 are spayed.
In-laws cat (call her A) has always lived here. She is a very small middle aged female. She is indoor/outdoor. She is highly territorial. I have watched her routine at night--she sits on the corner of the property, and waits for a strange cat to wander past the end of the sidewalk. She has an imaginary line at the end of every sidewalk adjoining this property. The minute another cat steps past the line--OFF goes A, chasing the cat back down the street. Like I said--never seen any scars, but she spends all night chasing away cats. She ALSO will stare down dogs who set food on her property. She won't run unless they are big actually try to bite her. She is a very active hunter (never birds) and is always catching mice and moles and leaving them as 'gifts'. All around, she is very aggressive and territorial, but also very small.
Our two cats (B and C) are indoor only. They are very large females (big boned, bigger breeds). A previous owner declawed them completely (front and back). We adopted them from a rescue. They are cuddly lovey lap cats, who have never been outdoors.
There is a doorway separating most of the house from the kitchen where A hangs out. A goes in and out through a cat door. Our cats live in the half of the house where A can't go because of a separate hallway door.
In two years they have only met once. The doorway was left ajar, our cats got out. A's cat door was accidentally locked (she was inside). They were probably together 5 minutes. We found A huddled against the cat door, cornered, with our two cats a foot away from her staring with their tails puffed up. Nobody had fought. Our cats were curious about her, but they have no concept of really fighting, as they have always been inside the house and never seen another cat. I think A was a little shocked because she was outnumbered, but at any rate, she didn't attack them.
I have debated introducing them. I know our cats would accept her--they are very laid back cats, very sociable.
A is not a cuddly laid back cat, and she has claws--very sharp claws, and she is definitely a territorial, hunter type cat. Even though she is smaller, she is a 'worldy' cat, and I am sure she could hurt our cats if she decided to do it.
Should we just keep things as they are, or try introducing them?
In-laws cat (call her A) has always lived here. She is a very small middle aged female. She is indoor/outdoor. She is highly territorial. I have watched her routine at night--she sits on the corner of the property, and waits for a strange cat to wander past the end of the sidewalk. She has an imaginary line at the end of every sidewalk adjoining this property. The minute another cat steps past the line--OFF goes A, chasing the cat back down the street. Like I said--never seen any scars, but she spends all night chasing away cats. She ALSO will stare down dogs who set food on her property. She won't run unless they are big actually try to bite her. She is a very active hunter (never birds) and is always catching mice and moles and leaving them as 'gifts'. All around, she is very aggressive and territorial, but also very small.
Our two cats (B and C) are indoor only. They are very large females (big boned, bigger breeds). A previous owner declawed them completely (front and back). We adopted them from a rescue. They are cuddly lovey lap cats, who have never been outdoors.
There is a doorway separating most of the house from the kitchen where A hangs out. A goes in and out through a cat door. Our cats live in the half of the house where A can't go because of a separate hallway door.
In two years they have only met once. The doorway was left ajar, our cats got out. A's cat door was accidentally locked (she was inside). They were probably together 5 minutes. We found A huddled against the cat door, cornered, with our two cats a foot away from her staring with their tails puffed up. Nobody had fought. Our cats were curious about her, but they have no concept of really fighting, as they have always been inside the house and never seen another cat. I think A was a little shocked because she was outnumbered, but at any rate, she didn't attack them.
I have debated introducing them. I know our cats would accept her--they are very laid back cats, very sociable.
A is not a cuddly laid back cat, and she has claws--very sharp claws, and she is definitely a territorial, hunter type cat. Even though she is smaller, she is a 'worldy' cat, and I am sure she could hurt our cats if she decided to do it.
Should we just keep things as they are, or try introducing them?
