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Old cat not getting along with kitten

post #1 of 6
2/21/11 at 4:54am
Thread Starter 
Hi there

I've been doing a lot of reading online to get help with this problem, I'm looking for some advice on what to do next.

We recently got a new male kitten, Mogwai, he's 3/4months old. We've had our female cat, Saffy, who's 8 years old for a few years now.

When we brought the kitten home, we kept both cats in separate rooms for around 2 weeks. I followed a lot of advice I'd read online - separate space/litter, using familiar scents of the kitten to prepare for their first meeting etc.

Their first meeting was met with constant hissing and groaning from the older cat. We separated them again, and the next couple of meetings followed suit. The kitten is now more confident, is attempting to play with the cat, which is met with even more hissing, and aggression, he wants to play, she wants to be as far away as possible.

What should I do now? Keep them in separete rooms all the time? Any adivce on what to do now would be great.

PS, I have a felliway diffuser plugged in the cat's room, it's been on for around 3 weeks.
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post #2 of 6
2/21/11 at 8:44am
You could try getting another kitten. That way the 2 kittens would play with each other and not bother your older cat. Just make sure the kittens are close in age!
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post #3 of 6
2/21/11 at 9:19am
The same thing happened when I brought my kitten home. My other cat was only 1.5 years old though, so I'm not sure how a mature cat is going to handle having one rambunctious kitten around. If you have the space and money, a second kitten will be very good. Both kittens can play and tire themselves out without wearing down the older gal. I know sometimes when there's one kitten and one older adult, the kitten tends to stress out the adult due to conflicting energy levels.
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post #4 of 6
2/21/11 at 9:31am
Thread Starter 
Sadly, space/money are issues in our case, as appealing as that solution sounds!

If I could get your thoughts on continuing to keep them separate (especially when we are at work/sleeping) I'd be very grateful!

We're going to be letting the kitten out when's he older. Our older cat hates being outdoors, so hopefully this will help to ease the situation.
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post #5 of 6
2/21/11 at 9:42am
Hissing is perfectly normal in new introductions. You shouldn't separate them if there's only hissing and noises. It's only in the case of a really bad fight that you should separate them. Even if they start fighting, it could be play or figuring out who the dominant cat will be. Really, unless you hear shrieks of pain or see blood, the cats are working this out amongst themselves and will figure it out. Kittens are very aggressive in the way they approach new things, and an older cat who isn't used to dealing with kittens is going to misinterprete that aggressive curiousity for actual aggression.

If it makes you feel safer, by all means separate them at night and while you are away until you can be sure they are getting along better. I just don't think that will be necessary.

My cat growled and hissed for about a week after keeping both cats in the same space (which was also after a long intro like you did), but they had a few dominance fights and everything settled down afterward. In fact, one day after growling and hissing, my adult cat was already grooming my kitten.
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post #6 of 6
2/22/11 at 1:51am
Thread Starter 
Cheers for your advice

The kitten isn't aggressive at all, he's only interested in playing. The cat however, is clearly not happy, hissing, very loud shrieking, and lashing out when he gets close enough. Fortunately the kitten is usually quick enough to evade the swipes. I think it could be a case of mistaken playfulness for aggression, but it appears the cat wants nothing to do with either!

We will let them have access to each other and see how it goes. Fingers crossed!
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