Cat hates new kittens. Help please!

[kate2000]

We have a 3 year old female cat, and about 8 weeks ago, took on two 9 week old kittens who needed a new home. The kittens are brilliant and don't really go near the current cat- they just play with each other. Problem is, the 3 year old cat absolutely hates the kittens. Spends her time growling and hissing at them - we thought she would settle eventually, but it's been 8 weeks now. She has also started to become a bit aggressive towards us humans - just going for us and scratching us when she is being stroked. We don't leave the cat alone with the kittens unsupervised, they sleep in a different room, and are fed separately. Any tips on helping her calm down? She is neutered and kitties will be neutered at 6 months. Our house is a good size so the older cat can escape the kittens, and she has access to outdoors. Thank you

 

[Meowy Catkin]

If you look up Jackson Galaxy (My cat from Hell) he has some good videos on youtube about how to introduce cats safely.

 

[kate2000]

Brilliant. Thank you ever so much. I really researched before I introduced them and took it so slowly. But i seem to have failed miserably! Will check that out now. Thank you

 

[Meowy Catkin]

If you have seen his programme, he gets some cats that have hated each other for a long time to get on so his methods do work. It's all about getting them to eat calmly either side of a barrier and slowly edging them closer and then gradually removing the barrier plus other methods when they are together. It does take time and effort but it will be well worth it in the long run.

 

[HashRouge]

Hi Kate, our female cat also reacted really badly when we got a new kitten. It took her much longer than 8 weeks to learn to tolerate him! But we did get there in the end, lots of patience required though.

 

[Ownedby4horses]

Definitely look at Jackson Galaxy. He’s on TV too “my cat from hell”. He’s very good at finding solutions.

 

[kate2000]

Hi Kate, our female cat also reacted really badly when we got a new kitten. It took her much longer than 8 weeks to learn to tolerate him! But we did get there in the end, lots of patience required though.

Thats really reassuring that it might just take more time and then they'll be ok. Thank you for sharing

 

[Blanche]

I wouldn’t worry yet but do try Jackson Galaxy out. Your cat has had you to herself so may take sometime. I use a spray called Pet Remedy and spray it in trigger areas, much better than some of the other calming sprays. It’s about £12/£13 from online vet shops, PAH charge £19 ish so avoid there. Good luck and where are the photos? ?

 

[Shady]

8 weeks isn't long but I would say that every time you take the kittens away your cat is thinking phew, they've gone, only for them to reappear again. She is probably in a constant state of low level stress and you need to get them in the same space more .
Agree that JG offers some good tips

 

[ycbm]

We had a ginger tom who literally tried to kill the first kitten we introduced. For the next pair, we gave him all the house except one room. We separated off the room with a low plastic screen he could see through and jump over. He would watch them through the screen and eventually chose to join them in the room, under his own terms. Eventually, all was fine and we took the screen away.

 

[The Jokers Girl]

We have a 3 year old female cat, and about 8 weeks ago, took on two 9 week old kittens who needed a new home. The kittens are brilliant and don't really go near the current cat- they just play with each other. Problem is, the 3 year old cat absolutely hates the kittens. Spends her time growling and hissing at them - we thought she would settle eventually, but it's been 8 weeks now. She has also started to become a bit aggressive towards us humans - just going for us and scratching us when she is being stroked. We don't leave the cat alone with the kittens unsupervised, they sleep in a different room, and are fed separately. Any tips on helping her calm down? She is neutered and kitties will be neutered at 6 months. Our house is a good size so the older cat can escape the kittens, and she has access to outdoors. Thank you

I did this, had 2 older cats and took on 2 young kitten, it was carnage. I made the very hard decision to rehome one to someone I know and now harmony is restored. My female cat now thinks the remaining kitten is her baby and seeks him out for a cuddle and washes him, shares food, sits on the cat post swishing her tail to get him to play, and my male cat now enjoys playing with him. They rough and tumble and as he is a main coone cross is rather big and floofy and now allows the kitten to snuggle into his belly and keep warm. I know every situation and animal are differ but it could be that your cat is just too overwhelmed to cope with 2 boisterous kitten invading her space.

 

[Cloball]

Not really got any advice as our older cat moved out and it took us the best part of 2 years and the more boisterous kitten getting run over to convince her to come back. ? I do think it's a bit about cat personalities as well as our older cat didn't mind the cuddlier quieter kitten but she didnt get chance to get used to him as the female kitten was very 'in your face ' and bitey. Might be worth quietly observing the dynamics of possible.

8 weeks really isn't that long I think you're looking at at least 6 months if not a year for them to get used to each other. A friend had introduced a new grown rescue cat to his older cat a year ago and only now can they be in the same room albeit very far apart. My old ginger cat on the other hand adopted himself a stray to pick. He was a bit of a special case though.