Cat Keeps Hissing At New Kitten?

[Kittyloverr]

Hey everyone! You were all so helpful in my last post, so I thought this would be a great place for help!


My 8 month old kitten, Bella, is so sweet and affectionate. Has been since we got her 5 months ago. Recently though, we've adopted a new kitten, his name is scout and he's 3 months old. We put them and separate rooms and did the things we have to do, like feed them on other ends of the door, and introduce their scents to each other. My old cat hissed for a day or two, then on day 4 we put the gate between the two doors so they can meet each other, and there was only one hiss from her. Scout could care less. We though we could introduce them with the gate soon. On day 6 we tried a no gate meeting, and as soon as we put scout on the ground, she was hissing and yowling like no tomorrow, so we had to take him back to his room in case she might try to hurt him. Now, even through the door she hisses at him. If any of us are near the door or came from the door where he's in, Bella would hiss at us too. I don't know what to do now, it's been a week and I've read online that it usually takes a week for them to get used to each other. I don't want to take my new kitten back, I already love him so much, as do my other family members. It would break my heart to take him back. Is there anything else I can do? Please help!

 

[duncanmac]

Relax - you are sooooo far from having to take Scout back.

Hissing is a normal defensive reaction by cats and nothing you stated sounded like aggressive behaviour. Reread the cat introduction articles on this site, figure out where you are in the process and start over.

The introduction process eases the shock of having another cat invade the resident cat's territory but, in the end you are going to have to let them work it out. They will growl, hiss, swat, chase and wrestle. That is just them setting the pecking order. As long as it is not a real cat fight and the "loser" cat doesn't get totally overwhelmed, let things run their course for progressively longer periods of time.

 

[StefanZ]

Are you still cuddling her makes fuss showing she is nr 1?

 

[Kittyloverr]

Are you still cuddling her makes fuss showing she is nr 1?

Yes definitely! I read online that cats can get jealous of the attention you're giving the new cat, so I'm trying to show her she's still number 1 and cuddle with her as I did before.

 

[Kittyloverr]

Relax - you are sooooo far from having to take Scout back.

Hissing is a normal defensive reaction by cats and nothing you stated sounded like aggressive behaviour. Reread the cat introduction articles on this site, figure out where you are in the process and start over.

The introduction process eases the shock of having another cat invade the resident cat's territory but, in the end you are going to have to let them work it out. They will growl, hiss, swat, chase and wrestle. That is just them setting the pecking order. As long as it is not a real cat fight and the "loser" cat doesn't get totally overwhelmed, let things run their course for progressively longer periods of time.

Thanks for the advice! I'm probably just being impatient. I'll reread introduction articles and see where I'm at

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. Congrats on the new kitten. I'm sure in time both your kittens will be fine.

Is Bella spayed yet? Even though she's still a kitten, at 8 months, she's not a baby anymore, so may be feeling threatened by this newbie in her home.

Here's some TCS articles on cat introductions, that may have some tips for you. Usually it is easier to introduce kittens, but no 2 cat introductions are the same. Good luck with them.

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide
Introducing Cats To Cats
How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat

Are My Cats Fighting Or Playing?

 

[Kittyloverr]

Hello and welcome to TCS. Congrats on the new kitten. I'm sure in time both your kittens will be fine.

Is Bella spayed yet? Even though she's still a kitten, at 8 months, she's not a baby anymore, so may be feeling threatened by this newbie in her home.

Here's some TCS articles on cat introductions, that may have some tips for you. Usually it is easier to introduce kittens, but no 2 cat introductions are the same. Good luck with them.

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide
Introducing Cats To Cats
How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat

Are My Cats Fighting Or Playing?

Thank you for the welcome and for the articles! Yes, she is spayed and Scout is also neutered. Hopefully you're right and they'll get used to each other.

 

[rubysmama]

That should help that she's spayed and he's neutered. Hopefully things will get better soon. Keep us updated on their progress.

 

[jen]

There is no issue here. Bella is not going to hurt Scout. Cats communicate by hissing and growling and it is good for this to happen so that Bella can teach Scout boundaries and good behavior. There will be a lot more hissing and growling and scary sounds in the future. But unless either cat is cowering in fear under the bed for days, refusing to eat or use the litterbox, or there is bloodshed, they are fine. Let them be and let them work it out. Throw wherever you read that it only takes a week for cats to get along out the window because that is totally up to the cats individually.

 

[Maria Bayote]

My Bourbon does that to my kitten Bailey, but when she thinks nobody is looking they play and wrestle. She still hisses and growls, and in defensive action Bailey flops down which is sometimes too funny to watch. I just let them be.

Soon your cats will really be comfortable with each other. I have a friend who has 3 cats and they have been with her for 5 years. She says until at present, every now and then there are still hissing and growling going on. So just relax. Do the reintroduction. and hope everything will be fine.

 

[jen]

She says until at present, every now and then there are still hissing and growling going on.

Yep that just how they talk to each other. Perfectly normal.

 

[catlover73]

If there is nothing happening besides hissing then your cat is communicating with the kitten to teach boundaries and manners. This is perfectly normal behavior.

 

[Kittyloverr]

Thanks for all the advice. just an update. Bella seemed to be scared before, but now she seems to want to attack him or something, I don't know. They see each other under the door and through the gate, but now she's making a weird low sound and then hissing loudly at him and it gets lounder and louder then she tries to swat at him. She didn't do that before. Does this mean she wants to attack him or...?

 

[rubysmama]

It's hard to know for sure since we're not there. Hissing is a form of cat communication, and swatting could be just playing. If you could post a video of them, that might help. How To Upload And Add Videos To Your Posts

With kittens, it really will likely be more play fighting, than actual fighting. The TCS article Are My Cats Fighting Or Playing? explains the difference, and includes videos and pictures showing the body language to determine if it's playing or fighting.

 

[jen]

I still really wouldn't worry. Sounds like she is playing but then still on a bit of a defense showing him that she is boss.

 

[Kittyloverr]

It's hard to know for sure since we're not there. Hissing is a form of cat communication, and swatting could be just playing. If you could post a video of them, that might help. How To Upload And Add Videos To Your Posts

With kittens, it really will likely be more play fighting, than actual fighting. The TCS article Are My Cats Fighting Or Playing? explains the difference, and includes videos and pictures showing the body language to determine if it's playing or fighting.

Hi again! So we decided to put the cats together under supervision today. Bella only hissed once at first, but other than that there were no sounds from either of them. Then I'm not sure if they were fighting or playing. They weren't making any sounds at all but the new kitten had his ears pinned back. I took a short video. My mother was freaking out in the background, worried scout might get hurt, so I muted the audio. But they were both silent when doing this anyway.
View media item 422217

 

[duncanmac]

Mom has to not freak out - cats can sense emotions and tension and that may amp them up. You want to remain relatively calm and subdued when they wrestle like that or interact in general.

What I saw was wrestling or play-fighting. Totally normal and nothing to worry about in and of itself. BUT if it goes on too long or the "winner" cat doesn't let the "loser" cat run away and catch its breath, you should separate them and let them calm down.

What happened after that wrestling match? Did the little one come back for more? If he did, or if they separated and stopped, then they are doing OK.

Cats play A LOT rougher than you would expect, even kittens.

 

[susanm9006]

They were definitely playing and pretty politely I would say. It can get many times rougher and louder and it is still playing.

 

[rubysmama]

Looked like playing to me, as well. Remember the things to watch for is fur flying, blood, or the kitten being scared.

In this case, the kitten instigated the "fight", and didn't run off in fear when your older cat "fought" back. As long as the kitten keeps coming back for more "fun", all is well. But still don't leave them together without supervision until you are positive there will be no real fights between them.

 

[Kittyloverr]

Looked like playing to me, as well. Remember the things to watch for is fur flying, blood, or the kitten being scared.

In this case, the kitten instigated the "fight", and didn't run off in fear when your older cat "fought" back. As long as the kitten keeps coming back for more "fun", all is well. But still don't leave them together without supervision until you are positive there will be no real fights between them.

Hi, thank you for the reassurance! I tried putting them together today and took another video to make sure again. Please have a look. At the end it looks like Bella isn’t too fond of the rough playing View media item 422218