6 month old kitten aggression

[Erin80]

We just brought home my mother in laws 6 month old half Siamese female kitten. I’m noticing behaviours in her that none of my previous cats have had, and I’m not sure I like it.
We currently have two cats, both 4 years old. We just lost our third cat, who was also 4, unexpectedly overnight one night. We also have a Vizsla dog.
Our three cats and dog have always lived harmoniously together.
The kitten is in a bathroom in the basement right now, has everything she needs.We frequently go and visit her. We let her come to us, we don’t pick her up, all of that. This is not my first rodeo with integrating!
That said, she seems to have an aggressive streak to her. When she was at my mother in laws, before any change happened, if she didn’t want to be pet she would hiss and lash out. If she feels any kind of threatened or nervous, she hisses and aggressively lashes out at anyone. We are talking full on fight mode.
She met our most social cat today, our grey tabby. She’s very curious about him and wants to play but they’re both unsure so there’s a hiss or a smack thrown in once in a while but mostly just following each other curiously around. When I went to pick her up to put her back in her room she went into full on fight mode. Hissed and tried to scratch and bite me. I ended up having to just sort of corral her back into her room. She also won’t come near us to be pet when she’s out of her room, but in her room is very affectionate.
My biggest worry is the aggressiveness I saw when she was still with my mother in law (who is 73 and wouldn’t hurt a fly so I know she was well cared for and gently cared for). She’d whack us if we went to pet her, or hiss and scratch if she wanted down or for us to leave her alone. My three kids have grown up with cats and we all know how to respect them, so nobody was forcing themselves on her at any time.
Can I have some thoughts on this? Do you think she needs time or could this be a negative personality trait? I don’t want fighting among our animals and I just worry she will be a human aggressive cat. Any suggestions on what I can do?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
Since she had normal catly behaviors with your other kitty, I don't think you're going to see fighting amongst your other animals. I think this is fear of humans, not aggressiveness. I'm going to make a guess that something happened to her before she got to your mother in laws, or during that timeperiod from someone.

In any case, that was then and we'll never know for certain. With all that said, maybe there's something here;
How To Help An Abused Cat Recover – TheCatSite Articles

 

[Mamanyt1953]

She may, also, just be very badly under socialized, especially if your mother-in-law lived a very quiet, retired life. Since she doesn't react that way in her safe room, I'd suggest spending as much time as possible with her there, as well. I've found that sitting on the floor and speaking softly, or even reading aloud, without making eye contact is very non-threatening to cats. THINK how huge you look to a kitten that age, who is in a strange place and doesn't quite know what to expect from you yet.

 

[Erin80]

She may, also, just be very badly under socialized, especially if your mother-in-law lived a very quiet, retired life. Since she doesn't react that way in her safe room, I'd suggest spending as much time as possible with her there, as well. I've found that sitting on the floor and speaking softly, or even reading aloud, without making eye contact is very non-threatening to cats. THINK how huge you look to a kitten that age, who is in a strange place and doesn't quite know what to expect from you yet.

Thanks! We definitely do spend lots of time in there with her! She’s actually currently sleeping on the bed in the basement with my daughter (who is laying there quietly on her tablet) and our 4 year old tabby (super laid back cat who has been amazing with her). She is still lashing out if she gets nervous at all and we try to touch her, but if we just walk and call her in those situations she comes with us with her tail up. And yes you’re exactly right, she lived a VERY quiet, retired life with my MIL and is definitely under-socialized. My MIL had also never owned a cat before so didn’t really know what she was doing! Anyway, I’m hoping she will come around, I think she will….once she’s completely comfortable with our other two cats and our dog.

 

[Furballsmom]

she comes with us with her tail up.

Mamanyt1953 is very very good !

 

[Erin80]

MOD NOTE: Merged thread.

A week ago we brought home my mother in laws 6 month old kitten. She has adjusted well with all our animals and is very affectionate. That said, if we touch her or pick her up at the wrong time (and we don’t know when the wrong time is. She can be acting happy and playful), she will growl, swat and hiss at us. I just picked her up to bring her downstairs for her food, and she growled and hit my face three times using nails and continued to growl down the stairs. She’s very unpredictable with how she’s going to react to things.
Im not really sure how to work through this as the more time I spend with her, the more this seems like a streak in her more than anything I’m doing wrong. I’ve had cats all my life (I’m 41), and never had one act like this. Suggestions? Help? Lol.

 

[iPappy]

What other animals do you have, and are they mixing in the same areas?

 

[Erin80]

What other animals do you have, and are they mixing in the same areas?

We have a dog and two cats and the kitten is great with them and vice versa.
She acted like this at my mother in laws house too, so it isn’t from moving here. She would swat, hiss or growl at people if they tried to touch her or pick her up when she felt it was the wrong time. I actually almost didn’t take her because I saw this happening and it made me nervous. My husband thought it was just due to undersocialization but I wasn’t so sure.
she can be lovely and so affectionate and sweet at times, but other times she’s just plain nasty….and it’s not in a playful way.

 

[arr]

Was she a feral kitten or otherwise not around people very much during the critical first weeks of her life?

 

[mymadith]

I dont know what happen to them, but they are still cute anyway

 

[Erin80]

Was she a feral kitten or otherwise not around people very much during the critical first weeks of her life?

I don’t know her history, my brother in law got her for my mother in law. I wish I knew!

 

[iPappy]

That's very strange. Do you think there's a way you could get one of her outbursts on video camera? You could show your vet (and post it here, if you want). It's so hard to picture a kitten her age being so angry about being handled. I don't usually jump on the "rescue animals = automatic abuse cases" but if she wasn't feral, I wonder if some idiot had her as a baby and handled her very roughly because it sounds like either that or a former feral could be the cause (JMO)!
With that said, we have had a few singleton kittens come into rescues over the years that were bottle fed. No mother and no siblings to teach them how to be a cat lead to some really bitey behaviors as kittens, that with work and time, disappeared into adulthood. I think there's hope for her, it's just frustrating to deal with. Do you know where (random guy on CL, pet store, shelter, etc.) your BIL got her from?

 

[Erin80]

That's very strange. Do you think there's a way you could get one of her outbursts on video camera? You could show your vet (and post it here, if you want). It's so hard to picture a kitten her age being so angry about being handled. I don't usually jump on the "rescue animals = automatic abuse cases" but if she wasn't feral, I wonder if some idiot had her as a baby and handled her very roughly because it sounds like either that or a former feral could be the cause (JMO)!
With that said, we have had a few singleton kittens come into rescues over the years that were bottle fed. No mother and no siblings to teach them how to be a cat lead to some really bitey behaviors as kittens, that with work and time, disappeared into adulthood. I think there's hope for her, it's just frustrating to deal with. Do you know where (random guy on CL, pet store, shelter, etc.) your BIL got her from?

We have had her a while longer now and I think this may be redirected aggression. She only acts like this if she’s distracted by something that makes her uneasy, or if she’s playing with another one of our cats and we go to touch her or pick her up. Otherwise she’s extremely sweet. She has started jumping into my arms and also sitting on my shoulders as I wash dishes. She seems to have a very two sided personality!