A Tough Decision

   We love pets. We love them so much, my wife and I decided it was time to fill the void left when one of our boy-cats had to be put to sleep due to illness. So, cat-carrier in hand., I went to our local animal shelter this weekend, looking to add to our furry family. And I found one. A (large) male cat about 5 or 6 years old. He's neutered, and had his shots before I picked him up.
   We got home Saturday afternoon. And that's when the trouble started. At first, our newest addition seemed okay. We are very well aware there's a period of time when the animal gets used to us and vice-versa. And we would have been fine with that. But things took a few turns for the worse.
   Our budding new cat started scrapping with our 15 or 16 year old boy-cat several times. The worst was Sunday night when they got locked into each other. We finally had to use pillows, and literally beat them apart. Our elder cat may have come off the worse, and I'll be keeping a very close eye on him. I just shudder to think what would've happened if the "new guy" had gotten hold of our little girl. She's literally half his size, and I fear the outcome would've been an awful lot worse. We've seen, and broken up, cat fights in the past, but the level and intensity of violence in that one was frightening.
   The other major problem was the cat also had a go at my wife. We don't believe it was intentional, but when she picked him up to move him, he rounded on her, and bit and clawed her left hand to the extent that she was bleeding. We think he was just reacting to a new environment, and it was a defensive thing. Nevertheless, I had to take my wife to hospital for treatment, and a tetanus shot.
   The upshot of all this is the cat will be going back to the animal shelter. It's something neither of us want to have happen, but it has to be. If for nothing else than the safety of our other 2 cats. But it's still a hard decision to take.
   Despite all this, we feel he's basically a good cat at heart, and would be a perfect fit in a home with no other animals. And we both hope he finds a loving, caring home soon. Sadly, it just can't be ours.

TTFN