Please HELP! Older cat constantly attacking kitten...

[Laila619]

Hi all,

My DH and I adopted a 12 week old female kitten in October, named Cassie. We have a 5.5 year old female cat named Kiki as well. Kiki lived at a shelter with other cats until she was 8 months old and I adopted her, so she has been around other cats although only briefly. Kiki has been the only cat for nearly the past 5 years since I got her. However, I got the bright idea to adopt a playmate for her because I thought she maybe was lonely.

Well, that turned out to be a bad idea. I think in retrospect Kiki was QUITE happy being the only cat. Since Cassie came on the scene, she has been miserable. She tries to attack the kitten all the time. No one has gotten injured, but they are both in headlocks all the time, rolling around on top of one another, swatting each other, pouncing on each other, etc.

We did what all the books recommended, which is to introduce them s-l-o-w-l-y, keep them separate for a week or so, and make sure they get accustomed to each other's scent, etc. It still doesn't seem to have helped.

The problem is too that Cassie is not a shy kitten. She does not respect and recognize that Kiki is the 'veteran' cat. So that doesn't help matters. Kiki probably doesn't understand why this little pipsqueak has taken over her territory, lol. Cassie has tried to be friendly to Kiki though; she'll rub her head against Kiki in an affectionate way but Kiki wants nothing to do with it and just gets more annoyed and swats her away.

What do I do? I am so fearful that they will never be friends. It's been a little over a month since we adopted the kitten and we still can't trust the two cats to be alone without us supervising. We have to lock the kitten in a spare bedroom when we go to sleep since we can't trust them not to attack one another. Any suggestions would be most appreciated!

 

[movie zombie]

a week or so isn''t long enough. it should be several weeks. then together only when you are in the room to supervise.

the little one is trying to play. she is engaging in behavior in which her siblings would rough house with her. her mother would also and then would stop it when she had enough. if no one has gotten hurt yet, it is possible they are testing one another and playing, albeit perhaps with a serious side to it.

you should not leave them alone together in a room until you are sure. keep them separated for periods of time so that the older cat has some rest.

mz

 

[Laila619]

Date: 11/13/2009 6:43:11 PM
Author: movie zombie
a week or so isn't long enough. it should be several weeks. then together only when you are in the room to supervise.

the little one is trying to play. she is engaging in behavior in which her siblings would rough house with her. her mother would also and then would stop it when she had enough. if no one has gotten hurt yet, it is possible they are testing one another and playing, albeit perhaps with a serious side to it.

you should not leave them alone together in a room until you are sure. keep them separated for periods of time so that the older cat has some rest.

mz

Hi movie zombie,

Thanks for the advice. Yes, we do put the kitten in her room for a a while when the rough housing gets out of hand, and to give the older cat a break.

But I also feel it's not fair to constantly keep confining the kitten in there while Kiki gets the run of the whole house. I don't want the kitten to feel like we're mad at her or neglecting her. Plus now that she knows how fun the rest of the house is, she's reluctant to be put away and cries to come back out.

Maybe we did not keep them separate for long enough in the beginning. Any way we can undo that?

 

[LGK]

I''ve never had an established female cat happily accept a newbie. Sometimes it takes *years* for them to get along much. I''ve had much better luck with male cats accepting each other and liking company.

You definitely can redo the "introduction" process; a number of cat websites I''ve read have suggested doing exactly that if the new cat is getting attacked.

A month or so is probably not really long enough to know if they''ll get along.

However they might not genuinely be trying to hurt each other? My female cat still growls at O.P., our "newer" male kitty, too at times. It took her at least a year to chill out and let O.P. near her much without a big growly flip out. She now tolerates him but definitely doesn''t, like, get thrilled at having him near her. (Well she growls at her brother a lot too- she just isn''t social with the boys... I swear the boy kitties have a gay love affair so they''re very wrapped up in each other anyway, sleeping in piles and grooming each other

).

If reintroducing Cassie doesn''t help, just be patient and try to break them up if the fighting looks serious. Kiki might really not ever adore having a buddy but eventually they ought to chill a bit and at least tolerate.

Also do you have upper levels for one of them to spend time away from the other on? Like large cat trees and maybe furniture they can be on? Sometimes one cat will be happier if they can claim the "higher reaches" and it expands the possible territory. We did that in our small apartment with three cats... Rat is the climber and loved having stuff to be up on away from his sister, who never ventured off ground level.

 

[Pandora II]

Butter might work.

My parents introduced a new kitten and there was a lot of hissing and growling going on, so they covered the kitten in butter. The older cat couldn''t resist and by the time the kitten was clean the animosity was pretty much gone.

Some cats do like to be only cats though.

 

[movie zombie]

i like the butter idea...some around the ears and on the tip of the nose.

however, starting over is also the thing to do.

i''ve had as many as 9 cats at a time. the secret has always been a long..at least 3 weeks...period of separation before introduction. then only mingling with others when i''m present...back to isolation when i''m gone. i also make sure to go into the isolation room and spend time with the newbie. when they are together in a room, i''m there to pet them...in your case it would be both of them. i make sure they are rewarded for good behavior.

mz

 

[lulu]

Never heard of the butter idea. We brought a new kitten into the mix two years ago. He bonded almost immediately with the 11 year old male. But the 12 year old girl gives him the cold shoulder. She likes people but not other cats. So now he''ll torment her by lying in wait and jumping her. When he''s very bad I do give him a timeout, but not for more than 5 minutes.

The funny thing is that when they''re in the garden with me he follows her around and tries to play with her. I think it will get better as he gets older. Other than that I just accept the situation. And try to tire the little one out so he won''t have the energy to bother her.

 

[Smo]

That is hilarious, even if it doesn''t work it would be so cute and funny to watch!!!!