Resident cat showing aggression to a new kitten..

[miccoops]

Hi All,

Hoping for some advice/reassurance. We have an adult male cat (Leo age 6) and 1.5 weeks ago we brought home a new kitten (Pepper 8 weeks). I've taken intros slow, kitten has her own room, did scent swapping etc. I'm doing short play/treat based meetings between them and they eat meals in the same room.

To begin with Leo was hissing A LOT and growling.. he would growl and hiss when entering Peppers room even if she wasn't in there and wouldn't rub up or come near me if I had petted her. He wouldn't come in the living room after she had been in there (even though she was put in her room) This as now stopped, he can be in the same room and I can distract him for a little while with playing and giving treats, or if he is eating.. BUT when he see's Pepper at some point he will march over and hiss right in her face, and is now swatting at her.. he doesn't hurt her and then just turns and runs off.. she's very well natured and just stays still until he stop, never fights back or anything.. and then once he has gone she gets back to playing!

Does it sound like things are going in the right direction? The hissing and growling is definitely better but the swatting/bopping at her isn't great

I've brought 2 feliway friends plugins and some calming drops for Leo.

Thanks!
Michelle

[Mollycat]

Any escalation means you're going too fast. Go back to the last step where things were improving. You need to be thinking weeks and months, not just 10 days, and at each step take days to let that become the norm.

[miccoops]

Thank you for your reply @Mollycat I am thinking I may need to slow things a little.. maybe I'm rushing. So I have gone back to keeping them separate apart from one meal a day which at the moment is going ok with no aggression. I'm literally showering Leo with love and keeping his routine the same. Thankfully so far he seems his usual self, eating well, sitting on my lap and generally acting very normal. Do you think its best to keep this up for a few days before trying again with the playtime/treat time together again? Or is the batting/hissing to be expected? So hard to know the right thing to do..

[Mollycat]

It's hard to gauge without being there, yes some hissing is to be expected because that's their way of saying keep your distance. But big hissing, batting claws out, that's too much. All I can say is at every step forward, keep that level for several days so that both cats are completely relaxed and comfortable at that level, then take the next step and keep it there until they are both relaxed and comfortable and so on. You-tube has some good guides with visuals on good introductions.