Senior and Kitten

[MoxZig]

Hello everyone, it's been awhile since I had to make a post. I'm hoping someone has a solution cause I'm at my wits end.
I recently lost my cat Moxie who had mammary cancer & after almost a year I decided to get a kitten (Nomi). I have my other senior boy, Ziggy, who is Hyperthyroid & recently diagnosed CKD. Well the added stress to this is the kitten wants to jump all over Ziggy and when he goes to use the litterbox Nomi will either jump in with him or try to paw & play with him when he's trying to go. Which of course he'll stop what he's doing which is not good. I think he also recently got a UTI because of this, which he's had a couple of times when he was younger. I took him to the Vet & they gave him antibiotics but said we probably caught the UTI early but thats when he got the CKD diagnosis.

What do I do to stop her from bothering him like this? So far I just take her to a separate room, which is the bathroom since I live in a small apartment, there's a bed & food & toys in there but I hate having to put her in there so often. When nobody is home that is where she stays since nobody is here to stop her from messing with him. Then I bought the Feliway plug in but nothing has really changed though we've only had it for a week. There's 2 litterboxes in the apartment but one is in the bathroom.

I love the kitten though mischievous & crazy I understand that's how kittens are but didnt think she would give my senior boy such grief. I read elsewhere that kittens can be good for senior cats, they give them the stimulation & I did feel like he was a little lonely.
What do I do that I haven't done already or what am I doing wrong?
Thanks everyone.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. How long have you had this kitten? Time plays a big role in getting Ziggy acclimated to such a young cat. Did you do introductions with them? Not knowing any of this, I can only offer the following TCS articles (links below) to see if that might help you create a plan to help Ziggy. Tbh, this could take months.
How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat – TheCatSite Articles
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles
How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction – TheCatSite Articles

 

[rubysmama]

I guess I'll be somewhat repeating FeebysOwner 's questions, but how old is Nomi, and how long have you had her. And did you do a slow introductions between them?

Unfortunately, kittens are all about play, and can be a "pain" to an older cat. One idea would be to get a 2nd kitten for her to play with. But that can also backfire, and have 2 kittens harrassing the older cat.

Try to play with Nomi as much as you can to tire her out, and keep her from getting bored, though if she's spending long periods of time in the bathroom, when you let her out, she probably has tons of energy. Is there a separate bedroom, or is it a bachelor type apartment with only the bathroom with a door.

Condolences, btw, on the loss of Moxie. RIP sweet kitty.

 

[MoxZig]

Hi. How long have you had this kitten? Time plays a big role in getting Ziggy acclimated to such a young cat. Did you do introductions with them? Not knowing any of this, I can only offer the following TCS articles (links below) to see if that might help you create a plan to help Ziggy. Tbh, this could take months.
How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat – TheCatSite Articles
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles
How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction – TheCatSite Articles

I've had the kitten since she was 5-6 weeks old. She's 4 months old now. The mom abandoned her & my friend drove her to me from another city to care for her.
I did slowly introduce & they do sometimes do the gentle swats at each other but then she gets too rough & he hisses. I never heard him piss before so he must be pretty well frustrated.
I'll read up on the links. Thanks

 

[MoxZig]

I guess I'll be somewhat repeating FeebysOwner 's questions, but how old is Nomi, and how long have you had her. And did you do a slow introductions between them?

Unfortunately, kittens are all about play, and can be a "pain" to an older cat. One idea would be to get a 2nd kitten for her to play with. But that can also backfire, and have 2 kittens harassing the older cat.

Try to play with Nomi as much as you can to tire her out, and keep her from getting bored, though if she's spending long periods of time in the bathroom, when you let her out, she probably has tons of energy. Is there a separate bedroom, or is it a bachelor type apartment with only the bathroom with a door.

Condolences, btw, on the loss of Moxie. RIP sweet kitty.

Yeah that's what I knew getting into this & I fear that putting her in the bathroom might be doing more harm than good but my senior has so many health problems I worry the stress & esp the litterbox interruptions are going to end up shortening his life. I know that sounds dramatic but I'm still a bit sensitive after losing my Moxie (thank you for your condolences also)

Both my partner & I give her at least an hour of playtime a day. Then we also have solo play toys like the flapping butterflies. I have 2 jobs so it's hard & I'm only working one of the jobs to pay for my Seniors' care. I do worry having another kitten for a playmate might be iffy, would be devastating if they both harassed him. Also it would be more expensive

I figured this is one of those situations where people may say to get rid of the kitten but I love her already & just want to give them both a happy life.

 

[rubysmama]

The fact that her mom abandoned her could be playing a small part in her behaviour, as kittens ideally should stay with their mom and siblings till around 12 weeks of age, so that they learn cat etiquette. Because she was so young when you took her in, she didn't learn those lessons, and now your older cat, as well as you and your partner have to take on that role. But I think most of her bahaviour is just a kitten wanting to play, play, play.

Hissing is a not a totally bad thing, as it's just Ziggy's way of telling Nomi to back off. However, bothering him when he's trying to use the litter box could certainly cause him stress, which can affect his health.

Wonder if an enclosed litter box would help. Or if she'd still try to crawl in with him, and just make him feel trapped.

Here's a couple older threads similar to yours. In the first one, member catpack says kittens "start to ease out of the crazy kitten stage at around 6-8 months of age" so things may start to calm down bit in a few months.

Senior cat and 10 week old kitten
Stressed Senior Cat, Hates Me And The New Kitten.

 

[ArtNJ]

Well, in theory there are three angles of attack. Getting the older cat calmer via more of an introduction process is one that was mentioned. Of course, theres hardly a senior cat in the world that wouln't be stressed bylitter box shenanigans, so the strategy isn't the best fit. We've had some debate about whether you can train a kitten to be less of a PITA to an older cat. Its not something there is general agreement on, but you could try picking the kitten up and hissing (so as to not scare the older cat and direct the message to the right cat) right when it tries the litter box nonsense. If the kitten is well bonded to you, it should be at worst harmless. Since there is no agreement that works, the other advice tends to be get more litter box and position them so the cat can see the kitten approaching, i.e. put it up against the wall and take the cover off.

I agree that a little hissing is nothing. Its just a message, something like "back off you nastly little beast" and doesn't necessariy inicate great stress. If the older cat is always on heightened alert pretty much all the time nowadays and can't even enjoy being pet if the kitten is in the room, then thats real but still intermediate and sadly common stress. High stress you'll tend to see more extreme behaviors or symptoms like hot spots, litter box problems, diahrea, not eating. That tends to be less common, but it can happen.