Resident Cats Aggressive After New Kitten

[catmomma627]

so today I brought home a new kitten. She is living in her own room, and so my two resident cats haven’t actually seen her, though they have heard her crying out when she misses me.


For most of the day they both hid under my bed, but they did come downstairs into the living room this evening. The weird thing is that now one of the resident cats won’t stop growling and hissing at the other. They have been together for over 4 years and get along great.


Is this normal? I understand hissing at a new cat, but why one that she knows and loves?


Is there anything I should do or should I just wait it out.

 

[Espalia]

It's possible your cat is so distressed by the arrival of the kitten that they are mistaking the identity of the other resident cat, or they just feel so uncomfortable that they don't want to be around any cat. My cat and I are very close and cuddle all the time, but when she is agitated she will not tolerate my touching her for very long, or picking her up - a similar thing could be happening with your cat.

Smell is also very important to cats - it's possible that the introduction of the new smell of the kitten has confused your resident cat, making them believe their friend is a stranger.

It has been a few days - how are they faring now? I would definitely do this introduction slowly, and not until your resident cats have a good relationship again. You may have to come to terms with the fact that your current cats will not accept a new feline family member, which seems to be the case with some cats.

 

[catmomma627]

It's been better. It was really just that initial night that Zoey hissed at Luna, and since then they have been good with me and each other. It's going like a typical acclimating situation, I would say. The new baby is living in her own room, so they've just had interactions through the door. Zoey has taken to laying by that door. Luna on the other hand stays far away

 

[Espalia]

It sounds like things are progressing normally then! Luna may never take to the kitten, but should learn to accept her presence with time. Sounds like you have a real shot with Zoey though. Just take the introductions slowly.

It would be awesome if you could update the thread in a few weeks to let us know how everyone is doing. Often people post about having trouble at first, but then we never get to hear how it resolved. Good luck!

 

[catmomma627]

I will make sure to do so! Honestly I have hope for Luna, she's a super skittish cat and hides from all people except me and hisses at some, so I think she just needs to see that the kitten isn't a threat!

 

[catmomma627]

Update: 3 weeks in and all is good. Occasionally Luna will hiss at Penny, if she is annoyed, but they are getting on well other wise. Zoey and Penny are getting a long great. I'm still keeping Penny in her own room when I'm not home to monitor though, just to be safe.

 

[di and bob]

Wonderful! Thank you so much for the update!