What do I do now?

We have had this male cat since last night. (we took it from a neighbor who was taking it to the pound to be euthanized because they are moving) He came from a house with two small indoor dogs, so he SHOULD be used to being around dogs.

Since we took him in last night he has not used the litter box and to the best of my knowledge he has not used the carpet as his litter box. The owner said he is 100% litter box trained. He knows where it is because he stepped into it but just never relieved himself. It's been nearly 12 hours since he's gone to the bathroom. Granted... he's only had a few sips of water and a lick or two of cat food because he's been so stressed with all the changes.

He does NOT want to be left in a room alone, yet he really doesn't want to be held or be patted at this point, but he is curious of us. He will rub on our legs and mark his scent on our legs as he does it. He will also jump up on my lap for about 30 seconds and then jump back to the floor. The owner said he is a very friendly and playful cat and very sociable. I am assumming his behavior is due to the stress of the new environment and being around new people and a new dog who is still a puppy.

I have kept him in my computer room all night with his litterbox and some food and water. He hasn't eaten or drank much of anything. He cried and cried at the door and it broke my heart, but for his safety and to avoid any blood shed... it was best to keep him seperated. He does not seem stressed as I glance over at him right now. In fact, he's just chilling out lying on a blanket I put on the floor.

I have to get him to be friendly with my adult male neutered cat and my puppy. He seems to tolerate the puppy a tiny bit, but only for a few seconds and then he's had enough of her. I have been gradually introducing him to my male cat and neither of them want anything to do with each other. They are extremely vocal about their dissatisfaction of one another and really act as though they want to tear one another apart if they had the opportunity.

I need advice on what else I can do to get them to tolerate one another and be able to be in the same room and not fight. Should I just let them have a go at each other and let them decide who's the boss and be done with it? Or should I keep seperating them and hope that eventually they will become friends? I've never had feuding cats.... will they fight one another until one of them is hurt or just long enough to determine who the top cat is???

How long am I to try to get them to be friends before I can say I know for sure they will never accept one another and I need to find him a new home? I love my cat and do not want to cause him too much stress over this new cat. But at the same time.... I want this cat to have a fighting chance at a good life that I know we can provide for him. Any advice will be welcomed

I rescued a 6-year old male cat about 4 months ago and brought it into a house with 4 dogs & 2 other male cats (5 years old and 2 years old). I gave the rescue a room of it's own to use. I kept him separated for about 2 weeks from the other pets so he would get used to his new environment. They are under a lot of stress coming into a new home. After the 2 weeks, we slowly let each of our cats take a supervised visit. We were constantly giving attention to the new cat to try to reduce the stress. We had a large gate (like a baby gate) to separate the room. Slowly but surely, everyone met and got used to each other. If any of the cats started to look like trouble would begin, we told them to stop and make nice. There was no way we wanted a fight to break out. I can happily say that now Sylvester, our rescue, is becoming a member of our family.

It's really hard to say whether your original cat will accept the newcomer, they will have to work out the hierarchy and sometimes they never do. If you're lucky, the 'cussing' will be as far as it goes and eventually they'll run out of insults to hurl at each other. It's only been a day, right? We usually figure on at least a week (if not more, but then most of the cats we take in are feral, so they have to get used to people, the other cats and the dogs.)

Our usual 'modus operandi' is to confine the new cat to the 1st floor bathroom (Mom uses a spare bedroom). We have a screen that fits in the doorway and goes almost to the top. It lets the cats see each other (and cuss at each other) 'til they get it out of their systems - works for the dogs and new cat getting acquainted safely, too. (I've read where some people will crate the new cat, put it out in the middle of the living room and let their other cats get acquainted that way.)

Our method seems to work okay... we have nine housecats and while there are spats (Mr. Bill is a grumpy morning person and also 'alpha' cat, so everyone runs when he's in a bad mood), they get along pretty well.
The major downside of male cats not getting along or who haven't figured out who is 'boss' is the spraying for territory. Mom had a couple of males who were nearly equal in age and status and started 'marking' their territory, in addition to fighting almost constantly. We took one of them to break the cycle.

Sometimes, you just have to keep them separated (which is a lot easier if you have the space for it.) My mother also has a cat who will not tolerate most of her other cats. Spook has taken over the finished basement, he's a feral rescue and not overly fond of strangers or noise, so he's happy down there. He's likes Max (another rescue), but refuses to allow any other cat downstairs and chases them back up. The other cats have accepted this and just don't go downstairs (except on a dare, I think - most of them are young cats.) Mom says occasionally she'll hear thundering feet and one of the boys will come flying up the stairs, all fluffed out with Spooky in hot pursuit. Spook usually stops at the top of the stairs, huffs a little then stalks back down to his lair.