How to make an unsocialized cat get along with a socialized cat

Question

Short summary of my tomcats:

Bodhi:

• 1 year old;
• has been living for 5 months with me;
• checked by vet last time a month ago and is healthy;
• he gets along great with me, but he uses his claws if I pet him too much;
• he is neutered;
• I got him from someone who didn't have time for him and he got him from an animal shelter when he was really young. So I assume he hasn't been socialized well with his brothers and sisters after birth.

Tenzin:

• 1.5 years old;
• has been living for 3 months with me;
• also gets along great with me and he never uses his claws when he tries to push me away, if I happen to pet him to much;
• checked by vet a month ago and he's healthy;
• I got him from someone who didn't have a lot of room in his house and the previous owner told me he has been socialized and gets along well with other cats.

When I got Tenzin, I first didn't let Bodhi see him for 2 weeks. After that, I slowly introduced them by feeding them close to each other on either side of the door. Later on, it was no problem to open the door while they are eating. When they finish eating, they go into their rooms. So far so good.

When I tried to get them together after that, Bodhi focused on Tenzin and chased him. I tried to get Bodhi interested in treats and toys, but he didn't care at all. Usually he then chases and jumps on Tenzin and pulls out some fur of him. Tenzin starts screaming and I first try to stop them by using a loud noise and if that doesn't work, I use a little bit of water from a spray bottle. After that they are seperated, but Bodhi starts chasing him right away. Keep in mind that they never hiss at each other during all of this or wag their tail or put up their hair.

I also have a glass door and whenever Bodhi sees Tenzin through it, he attacks the door. My main problem is Bodhi. At the beginning Tenzin wasn't confident at all, but just last week he got a lot more confident. They accidentally met when I opened the door and Tenzin started hissing at Bodhi. Bodhi, then retreated. Which was great, but later on Bodhi chased him again and pulled out some fur again, so I had to stop it.

Here you can see a video of him attacking the glass door

Do you guys have any recommendations on how I can teach Bodhi to treat Tenzin well and not be so extremely focused on chasing him? I think he's bullying him, but I'm not sure. I also think he might not know how to play with other cats. I know he knows how to also not use his claws when he wants to play. Sometimes he tries to get me to play with him and he touches me with his soft paws. What do you think?

Edit: Here's a new Video @Kai

Answer 1

It sounds like you've mostly followed the standard advice, so I think there's some possibility that these two cats will never get along, and you may need to accept that Bodhi really needs to be an only cat.

However, I think there's still some things you can try.

• Since Bodhi is reacting even seeing Tenzin through a glass door, I would attempt to work on that first. I would try feeding them with the glass door in between, or with some sort of screen door in between. You might need to cover the glass/screen with some sort of cloth, and raise it over time. The goal is to make sure Bodhi no longer reacts to seeing Tenzin. If you can accomplish this, then you might consider trying to introduce them again without the barrier.

• It's very important when you do introduce them that you keep them, Bodhi especially, distracted from the other cat. Toys and loud noises to get their attention are good, but if that doesn't work, then you might need to physically get between them. You could just get a large, flat piece of cardboard to put in between and block their view of each other if you notice Bodhi is paying attention to Tenzin.

• Bodhi probably has too much energy. You might want to play with him before attempting introductions, so that he's less energetic and hopefully less likely to want to chase Tenzin.