Kitten and older cat question?

[greatblueheron]

[quote=rubytue;1298299]I'd suggest getting two kittens rather than one. The two kittens will entertain each other, whereas if you got one kitten, it will likely try to entertain itself with the older cat. The older cat might be ok with that (but would probably be slow to warm up), or she might not want anything to do with the kitten. If its the later, a second kitten would deflect kitten energy away from the older cat, who can then go about her life and house leader from afar.



I agree, 2 kittens to keep their high energy between them and not annoy the older one.

[r03ix9A]

Originally Posted by Polly65

My older cat is Male 5yr old,my kitten is Male 5mnths old,my older cat is not warming to him at all, because the kitten is full of play and pouncing on older cat, my older cat has started growling and hissing at him, it's not good...what can I do as I love them both now ?

As it turns out, hissing and growling is exactly what a mother cat would do to an obstreperous kitten to put them in line. So your older cat is behaving as one would expect trying to teach manners to the youngster. As long as the older cat doesn't outright injure the younger one, I think watchful waiting would be reasonable.

If you do start to see aggressive and injurious behaviors, intervention would be justified.

We have one older cat (nearly fourteen) and two rowdy young littermates (less than two years old). One of the younger ones started teasing and harassing the old fellow to the point where the old guy would flee in terror of the feisty youngster. We have done the following to ameliorate the situation:

We have Feliway Multi-cat pheromone diffusers in every room of the house. The original Feliway formula is good, but they recently added a new formulation specifically for multiple cats who don't get along. It doesn't completely solve the problem, but the teasing behavior is much less with the diffusers in place.

We feed the cats separately so that the youngsters can't steal the old guy's food.

We have litterboxes in multiple places around the house so that the old cat can relieve himself in peace without the younger ones picking on him.

When we are at work, the old guy is shut in a bedroom by himself with food, water, a litterbox, open windows, cozy hidey-holes and toys. This prevents the younger cat from bothering him when we are not around to deflect.

We spend time daily playing with the younger cats to wear off some of their energy and rambunctiousness. We also spend time loving, petting and holding all three cats so they feel safe and reassured.

Sometimes, when the younger guy is just being a huge nuisance and won't stop harassing the old fellow, I scoop up the younger cat and curl up with him on the bed or the sofa, cuddling him firmly enough that he can't squirm away, and I basically behave toward him like a mother cat would, firmly limiting his actions in a loving way. I know it sounds crazy, but after ten minutes or so of intensive mama-cat-snuggles, the younger guy is often much more calm and will stop bothering the old fellow.

Good luck to you, and I hope your squabbling felines learn to coexist in greater harmony.

[catdad7x]

Originally Posted by Polly65

My older cat is Male 5yr old,my kitten is Male 5mnths old,my older cat is not warming to him at all, because the kitten is full of play and pouncing on older cat, my older cat has started growling and hissing at him, it's not good...what can I do as I love them both now ?

You didn't say how much time has passed. It can take days to weeks to months for a resident cat to accept another, and they may never become BFF's. Sometimes peaceful coexistence is the best you can get. The other posters are correct, what you're seeing is perfectly normal behavior after bringing a new cat into the house. They are communicating and establishing boundaries. Watch them and be prepared to distract either of them if things get too rough. Chaperone them, but let them work it out.

[Naturen]

I am thinking of getting an older cat for my newly bereaved 18-year old Girl. I am also considering getting a male cat because I've read that male-female is a better pairing than female-female for newly introduced cats.
I had considered 2 kittens but that is way too much energy for me.

I am just waiting for the right kitty now. I'll probably adopt from a local rescue that I trust.