James,
This a tough situation, and I have to say that I never had a siamese.. so, what I may say is very general.
Yes, I believe the first thing you need to do is get him neutered. I understand you would like to 'tame' him slightly beforehand. He is obviously quite stressed out. Personally, I have had good results with Rescue Remedy (for cats)--a herbal, safe liquid.. 4 drops a day in his food. I ususally get it in our local co-oop for just over $11.
Also, would you have a room he could have to himself to get him relaxed, and where, if he does not use the litter box, it might be easy to clean? Being in a dog kennel, however big it might be, might only increase the stress.

I am sure others will have more ideas. It's good of you to take care of this cat!! Do not give up, please!
Anne-Marie

It was very kind of you to take this cat into your home and it sounds like you have worked hard to take care of him.

If you can have all of your cats spayed and neutered, including the siamese boy, that may improve the situation.

It's not that expensive any more if you can find a spay/neuter clinic, and helps with long-term health and behavior (not to mention population control).

Have someone help you take the problem cat to the vet -- wrapping the cat in a bath towel can sometimes help when you're putting it into a carrier.

If he's not used to dogs and you have three, that could be stressing him out a lot.

There is a product called Feliway that can help cats calm down. I haven't used it but my friend who does cat rescue has had good results with it.

He might adjust better to being an only cat in someone else's care, if you can find another kind-hearted person to adopt him.

don't know if this'll help, but I once brought in a full-grown, intact male, wild-a$$ tom cat (elderly lady had to move & couldn't take him with her & cried...).

As long as I kept him in a very large kennel, he hissed, spit, growled, swatted, etc.

When I realized that he was getting worse rather than better, I let him out & he got better, although he never was a "pet".

Do have the vet check him, try the Feliway, & be very patient.

The poor guy has landed on another planet without his family & friends.

& bless you for taking him.

I agree with sylvia that the kennel is probably making him worse. You've taken a feral cat that has always lived 'free' and now he's stuck in an enclosure. This alone can cause many physical and mental problems.
He needs a small room, one with a window would be nice, where he can roam and adjust to the noises and smells of your home. Sitting in a crate that is floor level and exposed to other animals and human foot traffic is not a good situation.

Once he's in a room don't force any attention on him. Just feed/water, change the littler box and ignore him and let him approach you on his own terms.
Hopefully he'll adjust and calm down, but as sylvia mentioned he may never be a pet.

Others won't agree with what I'm about to say, but depending on the conditions of the farm you got him from and whether the barn cats were provided food/protection, he may be better off as a feral cat. If the original owner looked after his basic needs, then I'd return him and never consider euthanasia. If you return him, do so only after he's been neutered and checked by the vet.

Read your post to my husband and as one we said "Ginnie!!". To explain, our first ever cat was half pure bred Siamese and half local tomcat. Ginnie inherited her mum's Siamese vocal range - almost talking at some points. She would say Ham, while looking in a hinting fashion at the fridge. Even when we spelled out H-A-M or C-H-E-E-S-E when making a sandwich, she seemed to understand. And oh boy! did she have the Siamese temper too.

One day she trapped our friend, Alex, in the kitchen. Wouldn't let him pass. Hissing and growling like a lion. May I add that Alex had on his motorcycling leathers including the big boots but was still scared of walking past our cat. As soon as we heard his plaintive cry, and came through at which Ginnie instantly reverted to gentle puss. Giving us a look of Who? Me?

Took an instant dislike to the district nurse who freely admitted she didn't like cats. Trapping the cat in another room when she visited was not an option unless we were outside the door keeping it shut, as this cat could undo a door handle by jumping high, grabbing with both paws and somehow turning the handle and leaning back at the same time to open the door.

In the know after a while, we knew when to pat and caress and when to stop. Unthinking friends who didn't stop when we suggested found themselves with the scars to prove it.

At the end of her life, she had diabetes and required either a daily tablet or weekly injections. We immediately said Injection please. Vet said Tablets are really no problem and that she would give Ginnie the first tablet herself. Of course our cat struggled and kept her mouth clamped shut and eventually, the vet said maybe Ginnie would be happier in a separate room away from us watching. Grabbing the cat, the vet went into an adjoining room - at which there were the sort of sound effects one hears on a Tom & Jerry cartoon when a fight takes place. Eventually they both came back - Vet had blood pouring from her arms as if there had been a massacre. Cat was purring as if nothing had happened. Ok, said the vet, weekly injections it will be. PS from then on, every time Ginnie had an appt, the vet had on gauntlets that went up to the elbows. ha ha.

My very best wishes on your boy. I'm with the chap who suggested taking the lad out of the dog kennel and perhaps leaving him a room of his own with food, water and litter tray. Feliway may or may not work - I'd try Rescue remedy and wish I'd thought of that when we had our adorable foster cat, Kola, around Christmas. Might still have him instead of having to hand him back for the sake of our older cat, Gizmo, who just didn't take to a youngster - Kola was a healthy 4 year old - bouncing around her. Gizmo is 13 and has arthritis.

Wishing you all the best with your Siamese lad. The vet should be able to make a home visit if necessary. Been there, done that - our Ginnie would hide under beds too and be impossible to grab.

"Others won't agree with what I'm about to say, but depending on the conditions of the farm you got him from and whether the barn cats were provided food/protection, he may be better off as a feral cat. If the original owner looked after his basic needs, then I'd return him and never consider euthanasia. If you return him, do so only after he's been neutered and checked by the vet.

Agree completely. And, by the way, this has nothing to do with the fact that the cat appears to have siamese in him. He's a feral cat.

Thanks for trying to help him.

A friend of mine is in the process of trying to gain the trust of a feral cat. There is a surprising amount of information online about how to go about this. Try searching for "taming feral cats" or something to that effect. He'll probably never be a cuddler, but perhaps you can develop a special relationship nonetheless.

Ferals are hard to keep, really only trust one or two people. Check to see if cat has FIV/FIP or declawed( i guess not as he was a barn cat) if he does then I think PTS may be the best as you cant keep him with your other cats and you cant release him to infect more/hunting,survival is impaired with de clawing, and if he is I'm amazed he's be able to live/has lasted this long.

You really need to think about your dog( which he sees as a predator, you as a predator, two cats as predators/rivals) It may be best to release him, if you were going to have him as an only cat i could see taming him, but cats even non ferals often fight and its probably best to return him IMHO.

James,

It was kind of you to adopt this cat and try to give him a safe, loving home. Unfortunately, some of the strategies you've implemented with him have made things much more difficult for both of you, but you can fix it if you have the patience to do so.

First, I doubt if the cat is feral. I assume someone must have been able to catch and handle the cat at the barn in order for you to adopt him, and that wouldn't have been possible with a feral. He's probably just an unsocialized semi-feral or timid domestic, which will make things easier for you in the long run.

Second, this cat is EXTREMELY stressed right now. He went from the relative safety of an open barn environment where he was comfortable and knew the other animals with whom he shared his territory, to confinement in a completely unfamiliar indoor environment where he unwillingly invaded the territory of other unknown animals with an unknown human being. To make matters worse, he was put into an even tighter confinement where he has absolutely NO opportunity to escape or hide from everything and everyone who scares him in your household. He is completely vulnerable, and he knows it. Add to that the fact that he is undoubtedly extremely sexually frustrated ALL THE TIME, and you've got a cat who is probably very mentally unstable and in a chronic state of panic. It's little wonder that he's behaving the way he is right now.

You need to get him out of that crate and into his own LARGE room immediately. In order to mentally recuperate, he will need to feel some sense of safety in your home. He needs a bedroom or other large room where there is furniture for him to hide under and perhaps a closet for him to hide in. He needs to feel as though he can protect himself from danger. He must have his own LARGE space that your other animals can not access in order for that to happen.

When I integrate a new feline into my family (currently 15 cats and 3 dogs), whether the newbie is tame, semi-feral, or feral, I put the cat into my master bathroom with a litterbox, food, and water. I now leave the cat in that small room for only one night, if possible - just long enough to make sure the cat knows where the litterbox is and is using it. Then I open the door between the bathroom and master bedroom and give the cat both spaces.

I fill the doorway between the bedroom and the rest of the house with baby gates from bottom to top (a sturdy screen door would serve the same purpose) so that the newbie can look out of the room and become acquainted with the sights and sounds of the household and resident animals from the safety of his side of the gates. Depending on the newbie's state of socialization, he may spend a few days in the bedroom, or he may be in there for months. It took both of my ferals about 4 1/2 months to reach the point of being ready to leave the bedroom and integrate into the rest of the family. I suspect that in your cat's current unstable state of mind, it may take him months, as well.

If you give your boy a larger room in which to feel safe, he will certainly hide and refuse to come out for a while. This may necessitate your temporarily putting food and water bowls, as well as a litterbox, as close to his hiding place as possible. Bear in mind, though, that the bowls and litterbox should be out of sight of the doorway and other animals, or the new boy may refuse to go near them.

You can read about the process I used to integrate three young toms into my household in 2005 on my website (check my member page for the link). One of the toms was completely feral, and another was semi-feral. Their integration story can give you a lot of insight, tips, and tricks that you may find very useful in dealing with your new boy.

Before you do ANYTHING else, though, you need to get that boy neutered. Right now he is responding hormonally. The hormones are feeding his aggression and frustration. You won't get anywhere with him until you take the testosterone out of the equation. If you can't get him into a regular cat carrier, find someone with a minivan who can transport him to the vet in the dog crate. Make sure you inform the vet that the cat is very aggressive right now so that the vet can be prepared to handle him appropriately without anyone getting hurt.

I know this seems like an insurmountable problem right now, but your cat CAN recuperate and integrate into your household if you have the time, patience, and are willing to make the inconvenient sacrifices to help him through the next few months. If you can't give him his own room for the next few months, or you don't feel you can wait out his recovery, then return him to the barn where you got him. He simply can NOT remain in that dog crate, terrified and frustrated.

Laurie

Just to chime in, I agree with Annz and Cynthia. I've rescued 7 cats who were either abandoned or born in the woods. Fortunately, all of them were young and/or were housebroken already, so they were able to be friendly (or at least, peaceful).

The one you have is used to having the whole world to roam, is he's now caged.

Don't force him to be friendly, and don't force attention on him. Maybe sit in the same room with him for a while each day until he sees you mean no harm, and he might get used to your smell and approach you.

Definitely get him fixed. Whether you keep him or not, this is a must!

If he's had his own room for a while, and is still vicious after a few weeks, I agree, he's probably better off being put back where he's happy.

Good luck!

good luck with him, whatever you choose, but i'd test for diseases and slowly...slowly ingrate him into the household.