10-year Old Resident Cat Hates The New Kitten!

[DeepSpaceCats]

I brought home a 9-week old kitten 3 weeks ago. I was expecting to have serious issues introducing her to my dog, (who is very sweet but is still part hound,) and was expecting my adult cat to be only mildly confused/annoyed before accepting her. WOW it is not going the way I thought it would!

To preface this, I lived with 4 cats when I was a kid - each one of them we adopted as a kitten - and each adult cat accepted them without question! Not all of them became best friends, but regardless, I was just a child and my mother didn't know what she was doing so when we brought home a new kitten , my mom would just put the kitten down in a room with the adults and viola! Peaceful cohabitation. Even our vet told us "Adult cats almost always accept kittens, because their maternal instincts kick in!" (This was 15+ years ago, mind you. Obviously this is not true.)

As an adult, I think it's safe to say I know quite a bit more about cats and dogs than my well-meaning mother did. As a dog trainer, I help lots of my clients transition new puppies AND kittens into their homes. That being said, the new kitten (Jadzia) spent the first two weeks in a room separate from the rest of the house. We moved blankets she slept on to the spots in the house where the adult cat (Genavieve) sleeps and spends a lot of time, traded their toys, and made sure Gena saw her exploring the house several times from a safe place the kitten couldn't reach.

It's been three weeks, and the only improvement I've noticed is that Gena no longer growls menacingly when Jadzia comes near like she did the first few days. However, she won't let the kitten anywhere near her without marathon hissing and swiping. My dog, on the other hand, is completely in love with Jadzia and the two of them are inseparable when the kitten is out and about. (Although it did take quite a bit of time and A LOT of treats to convince her not to chase the kitten down every time she zoomed around the room!)

Does anyone have any stories like this that have a happy ending? The thought that they might never have healthy interactions and that Gena might be miserable with this new addition forever is devastating, I could use a little bit of hope!!

 

[sabian]

It's probably just gonna take time and a lot of work but I'm sure you can at the very least get them to co exist in relative harmony in time. They may not be the best of buds but at least not try and kill each other. It sounds like you've already made progress. I take it they are both female from the names? Females can be a little more temperamental. What breed of cats are they? Give us a little more info to go on. I would at this point keep them separate when they are not supervised. There's all kind of success stories of taming ferals and integrating cats on here. You may want to take a look at the thread " meet Buggy ". It's a long read but may be worth the time and inspirational. @bigbadbass may have a few tips for you as he was the thread starter and Proprietor of Kitty Club Med...lol...He should show up since I've paged him. Welcome to TCS! Be patient I'm sure you'll get plenty of good advice here!

 

[sabian]

meet Buggy
I just realized I don't know how to post a link on this site but here is the addy for post "meet Buggy ". Don't know if you can click on it but you can copy and past it!

Edit: OK, I just figured out how to post a link on this site!

 

[ArtNJ]

This is a very well known problem. Its the difference in activity level. That, and the fact that kittens are kind of jerks about it. They wanna jump on the older cat when they wanna do it, and they don't care what the older cat thinks. I adopted a kitten from a home with a 3 legged cat...did the kitten care that the older cat had 3 legs? Heck no, would fly on that poor cat from across the room. Its true older cats will not be physically aggressive to a kitten...kitten will never be in danger...but older cats often have very considerable anxiety and stress about getting jumped on and will show it by growling, hissing, swatting, running away and if you are unlucky other manifestations of anxiety such as not using the litter box.

I don't know of any solution except time. That said, some things might help. One, try to exhaust the kitten via play. You may need the older cat in a separate room with a closed door between em before the kitten will pay attention to you. Two, try to create an alone/defensible space for the older cat - an elevated cat tree type thing for example. Allowing him to sleep somewhere away from the kitten would also be helpful. Third, a "not for everyone solution" is to allow the kitten to be indoor/outdoor at a suitable age -- this burns the kittens energy before he comes back inside, preventing a lot of the jumping on the older cat -- way more effective than trying to do it via play.

It can unfortunately take quite a lot of time for the kitten to mellow, and the older cat will probably not get any more accepting of the kitten until it happens. But with time, a degree of tolerance is likely and if you are lucky friendship is eventually possible.

 

[DeepSpaceCats]

It's probably just gonna take time and a lot of work but I'm sure you can at the very least get them to co exist in relative harmony in time. They may not be the best of buds but at least not try and kill each other. It sounds like you've already made progress. I take it they are both female from the names? Females can be a little more temperamental. What breed of cats are they? Give us a little more info to go on. I would at this point keep them separate when they are not supervised. There's all kind of success stories of taming ferals and integrating cats on here. You may want to take a look at the thread " meet Buggy ". It's a long read but may be worth the time and inspirational. @bigbadbass may have a few tips for you as he was the thread starter and Proprietor of Kitty Club Med...lol...He should show up since I've paged him. Welcome to TCS! Be patient I'm sure you'll get plenty of good advice here!

Thank you so much! They are indeed both females, and don't worry, they are always, ALWAYS supervised. Jadzia only gets to come out of her room and roam the house when we can supervise all the animals. (Jadzia gets about 2-4 hours of house time per day, and most of it is working with our dog to make sure she doesn't accidentally hurt the kitten when they're playing) Genavieve is a long-haired black cat (not sure what breed that makes her? I admit I'm not very knowledgeable in cat breeds) and Jadzia is a short-haired tabby. Here are some pictures just in case I don't know what I'm talking about lol:

 

[DeepSpaceCats]

meet Buggy
I just realized I don't know how to post a link on this site but here is the addy for post "meet Buggy ". Don't know if you can click on it but you can copy and past it!

Edit: OK, I just figured out how to post a link on this site!

Thanks, I'll give it a read! Jadzia definitely isn't super-hyperactive or feral in any way, but I'm sure it will still have some great pointers for me!

This is a very well known problem. Its the difference in activity level. That, and the fact that kittens are kind of jerks about it. They wanna jump on the older cat when they wanna do it, and they don't care what the older cat thinks. I adopted a kitten from a home with a 3 legged cat...did the kitten care that the older cat had 3 legs? Heck no, would fly on that poor cat from across the room. Its true older cats will not be physically aggressive to a kitten...kitten will never be in danger...but older cats often have very considerable anxiety and stress about getting jumped on and will show it by growling, hissing, swatting, running away and if you are unlucky other manifestations of anxiety such as not using the litter box.

I don't know of any solution except time. That said, some things might help. One, try to exhaust the kitten via play. You may need the older cat in a separate room with a closed door between em before the kitten will pay attention to you. Two, try to create an alone/defensible space for the older cat - an elevated cat tree type thing for example. Allowing him to sleep somewhere away from the kitten would also be helpful. Third, a "not for everyone solution" is to allow the kitten to be indoor/outdoor at a suitable age -- this burns the kittens energy before he comes back inside, preventing a lot of the jumping on the older cat -- way more effective than trying to do it via play.

It can unfortunately take quite a lot of time for the kitten to mellow, and the older cat will probably not get any more accepting of the kitten until it happens. But with time, a degree of tolerance is likely and if you are lucky friendship is eventually possible.

Jadzia hasn't even had the chance to jump on Gena yet! The closest she's gotten to her before Gena batted her away was probably 5-6 inches. Jadzia knows Gena doesn't like her so she usually keeps her distance, but sometimes she'll get a little bold and try and get closer. Which is when the hissing and swiping starts lol

Jadzia currently lives and sleeps in her own room, away from Gena and my dog. She only gets out-of-the-room time when I can be supervising all of them, so Gena doesn't have to worry about her for most of the day. And when Jadzia is out and about, Gena has a few places where the kitten can't reach, and she usually spends her time there. (But if the kitten comes too close to those spots, she'll start the hissing lol)