Kitten Hates Older Cat - Your Own Vet

Dear Your Own Vet

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Kitten hates older cat

I have a 9 month old female kitten and my daughter recently moved back home with her 3 year old male cat. The kitten was given to me by friends who found her outside. She has always been ‘high-strung’, and rather aloof. My daughter’s cat is just the opposite; very affectionate, almost blase. The tow have been together four days now and she is always growling at him and us, taken to hiding and not coming out to eat. we bring her food to her so that she will eat, and so he won’t eat his and her food. The situation is temporary until my daughter finds her own place. Is this growling ever going to get better? Should we be doing something to help? There have been no fights, just a lot of noise, and neither her tail nor her fur is raised as she makes herself known. Is she just posturing or is there a real problem here? I appreciate your help and advice.

Sincerely,

Lisa

Kitten afraid of older cat

Dear Lisa,

Thank you for contacting us about your problem with the two cats.
The kitten is very insecure with the other cat being around and if possible
you must try not to interfere between the two. You have said that there has
not been any fur flying, so that is good, but the kitten just needs time to
realise that the other cat is not going to harm it.
I would suggest that you get some Feliway spray from your vet and spray this
around the room. This is a “happy” pheromone which should help the kitten
feel more relaxed. There is also a calming collar available that does the
same thing.
If you can take a damp chamois leather cloth and rub it over the other cat,
and then rub it over the kitten. This way you will be putting the scent of
the other cat onto the kitten who will then lick it off. This sometimes
helps.

Regards,

Kathy Clayton

Chairman of the Animal Behaviour Consultants of SA
Accredited Companion Animal Behaviourist &Professional Dog Trainer
www.yourownvet.com

011 783 3042 082 454 1750
kcdogs@global.co.za
www.kcdogschool.co.za
http://www.kcdogs.stemtechbiz.com

Your own vet says:

September 19, 2012 at 11:06 am

Dear Lucy,

This sort of thing usually settles down without a problem as the cats get used to each other, but it can take up to three months if your cat is very nervous or angry about the kitten. Kittens usually get used to older cats far faster than the other round so your kitten should son stop hissing – it’s probably scared of your older cat and worried your older cat will attack it. usually if your older cat isn’t aggressive they won’t resort to hissing or scratching and they will tend to retreat rather than provoke anything.
I would advise using a natural pheromone based product called feliway – it comes as a spray, plug in diffuser and as a calming collar for cats. It will help them transition more easily.

Dr Claire Demmer

lucy bennett says:

September 16, 2012 at 10:35 pm

i have a 11 wk old kitten who i have had for a day and every time my 8yr old cat comes into the room there is a staring contest and the kitten starts to put his back up into the air and starts grumbling and hissing, my older cat is so passive and friendly and has always been a indoor cat so has never learnt any sounds like hissing and has now taken to hiding under the chairs or leaves the room. when he does stare back at the kitten the kitten does seem to retreat and lay down but it still has worried the older cat. i am worried this problem may continue and give the older cat a habit of hissing which would be very scary to my child as he is quite a big cat. can this happen? i appreciate that this may be a territory issue but how can i help my older cat to stand his ground without either of them being scared?