new cat terrorizing old one

this is a question on behalf of my friend, who recently took in an older cat and is having problems. the older female cat is terrorizing her hattie, who is about a year old. It has only been a few days, but the older cat stalks and attacks the younger one.

How should my friend react? Should she punish the older one, or show her extra affection?

Will this situation likely correct itself in a week or so?

She's also worried about leaving them alone - are they more likely to fight if she's not there?

Any help would be appreciated.

Welcome to the Cat Site!

Sadly, your friend's decision to put the cats together right away was a big mistake. Your friend needs to IMMEDIATELY separate the two, and the follow the steps I outlined in the link below.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...cat+aggression

This is a common problem people write in for, so you can do a search using the key word aggression for other postings about this topic.

Please tell your friend to carefully follow the steps in the post I gave you the link to. Your frind will need to be VERY patient and to take this slowly. Aggression is very hard to break once it has developed, so your friend needs to intervene IMMEDIATELY!