Help! My cat is hissing at the kitten!

Question

My 7yr old male cat is used to being the only cat in the household. We are getting another male 7yr cat from a local rescue centre in a week and we have also just got a feral male kitten. He was sitting in his cage and my present cat hissed at him. Does this mean he will not get along with another cat?

thanks

Answer 1

no. your cat is just used to be the only cat in your house and isn't used to living with other cats. plus, it might not be a great idea if you get another male cat because they will fight for territory, and end up hurting each other. for animals other than humans, males don't like each other. they think that they need to compete for territory or else they might lose it. i highly suggest not getting the new cat. the kitten is fine because by the time he can even keep territory, he will know that the older cat is the alpha male and won't bother with him.

Answer 2

I was exactly the same as you several months ago. We have 3 year old female and we got a male kitten. She was not happy.  When we first got him she spent two days sulking under the bed and when she finally came out she hissed and even slapped him. But she got used to it. Now they sleep in the same room at night. Sometimes she hisses still but rarely. Don't worry it'll all be fine.

Answer 3

i had two cats they always hissed at each other, the best thing to do is leave them alone and maybe in a couple weeks or maybe a month they will stop and get used to it

Answer 4

my female cat hisses at everyone, cat and my dog if your giving your new ferel kitten more attention and not giving much to your existing male cat as you useualy would then please take some time to give a tiny bit more attention to your existing male cat as my female only hisses and attacks  everyone when she feels left out it might help just a thought it works with mine. Eveen

Answer 5

It's very normal. You are supposed to introduce new pet to a home very slowly..... Still a certain amount of hissing and growling still go on.

Here are to guides to help.......

http://cats.about.com/cs/kittencare/a/ki...

http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanagement10...

good luck!

Answer 6

All cats will hiss to some degree when meeting a new cat. It's a territorial thing.  The best way to introduce a new cat into a household with an existing cat is to set up a nursery for the newbie for a few days. The cats will have a chance to get used to each other's scents making face to face introductions much smoother. Bring the new cat out for short, supervised visits several times a day and don't be alarmed by the hissing. It usually takes 2-3 weeks for things to calm down. I currently have a 7 week old kitten who has been introduced this way and we have had minimal hissing with this method.  Today is day 12 that he's been here and he's already playing with a couple of the cats.

Answer 7

i had about the same problem...i have a male cat that was 7 or 8 at the time i got a new kitten that was about 5 months old and my kitten liked to bat at the older cats nose so i left them in a room and had them about three feet apart for about half hour to a hour a day then i would separate them cause she would fight with the older cat and he was rough with playing with her i did that for about a month until they finaly got aquanted with each other. now they like to lay next to each  other at the window....but with the dog that is a different story...she likes to hit the dogs face when it comes to dinner....she loves meat!!

Answer 8

We got a new kitten when our cat was about 3 years old.  They never fought or anything.  They clean each other, sleep together, best of buddies.  Now, it's 4 years later and we introduced a new kitten.  Our oldest cat was leary, the middle cat hid for days, and the kitten hissed at them.  They are all males, and a few days later, the kitten and middle cat were playing, and now week later, all of them play together.  The new kitten isn't sleeping and cuddly with the others, but there is no tension in the house.

Just give it time.  We introduced one cat at a time to the kitten.