New 7-mos old & 12-year-old not getting along

I've searched this forum for advice and am asking for additional. I have a 12-year-old female who wasn't the best of friends with my older male cat that died in March but they did sleep together and tolerated each other. I adopted a 7-month-old neutered male for company for her because I'm gone 12 hours a day. I tried to introduce them slowly but it didn't work well. He wants to play with her and will run after he and play tag and she'll be surprised and hiss at him. He also will take over her "spots" and she hisses and runs away. He's being a kitten and I'm realizing my 12-year-old doesn't want a kitten around. They are both together during the day but the month and half it's been since bringing the male home, he goes into a large, large cage at night (from about 10 pm to 6 am). When he's in the cage my female seems happier - she has the house and her spots to herself.

Please give me suggestions - I feel I've done an awful thing to her bringing a rambuctious male teenage cat into her home. I'm not the type to give him back to the shelter but I just don't know what to do. Help!

Also I'm feeling I'm going to have to keep him out at night soon but have awful guilt feelings that my female is going to hate it. At least she can sleep the night with me in peace.

It really doesn't sound like it is going badly. Typically your female is running the joint and the minute he realizes this, the better off all would be.

I would invest in a http://www.farnampet.com/product/pro...DUCT_id=100586
And then just give it time. Separating the two for even a few hours doesn't allow for them to find the balance they need to coexist. The male was probably recently neutered and it takes time for him to simmer down as well.

With such a wide difference in age...it may not be a bad idea to get your new kitten a friend..that way your older cat has a choice of whether she wants to participate or not and your kitten has a "buddy".

Katie