Why is my adult cat sudenly started hissing at the kittens?

Question

I have an 11 year old nuetered male persian. I got a 8 week old kitten and after a couple of days the two kitties were the best of friends they would play all the time and the kitten would follow my persian everywhere and he would l**k her and play. Then when she was about four months old he started to hiss and growl at her when they were playing and would run away. I got another kitten who was 7 months old as I thought maybe because of the persians age the young kitty was getting too boisterous for him. Now the two young cats play all the time. My persian doesn't seem really bothered by them but he will hiss at them if they sit too close to him or try and play with him. I took him to the vet incase the was something medical wrong and he got a clean bill of health, the vet said he was in great condition for his age, he just had a bit of discomfort in his back legs and suggested giving him glucosamine to loosen his joints.

I don't understand his behaviour. He hisses if the kittens get too close to him, yet when the older kitten got into a fight outside the persian rushed in and chased the other cat away, so he was defending her.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

There really isn't anything wrong with any of your cats or kittens. Your cat has a bit of a relationship problem with the kittens. But they will work it out by themselves. He might just like a bit of time by himself. Just let him know that you love him, and all the kittens.

Answer 2

I went through the exact same situation as you!!

I have a tabby that is about 13 years old and a kitten that is almost a year old.

Well a couple months ago my kitten got out of the house and was about to fight with another cat, and my older cat chased away the other cat!!

But when the kitten trys to play with my older 1, he starts hissing and threatends to scratch the kitten.

Well I think he acts that way because he is old and doesn't want to be bothered by the kitten.

I hope this helped!              : D

Answer 3

put them in different rooms

Answer 4

Never introduce new kitties to established kitties at once. It wrecks the pecking order, and cats are v-e-r-y territorial. They also get jealous of all the time spent with the new kitty, and they react like humans to the feelings of rejection (and they will act out, too -- leaving you unwanted presents and marking their territory like crazy [and that stinks to high h**l]).

When you introduce kitties for the first time, take your hand and rub the new kitties face (especially around the whiskers -- there's a scent gland there that cat's use to identify themselves). Then goto the established kitty and do the same thing. Come back and rub the new kitty's face. This helps each get used to each kitty's scent. Introduce them slowly, and shower the older kitty with extra attention in the process (he'll be scared of a new kitty in his domain and having to share attention).

Kittens will love anything so there's no worry about him/her liking your older kitty, but the older kitty will take months of adjustment. Just go slow, make sure the older kitty is loved, and let them get to know each other on their terms. Some older kitties will remain grouchy all their lives to new kitties, but they learn to tolerate them.

BTW, younger kitties are more hyper and like to climb and play with older ones and it irritates the older ones. Try to keep the kitten from bothering the 11 year-old too much. That will cause the older one to bite, hiss and even act like a bully. Just like grandma, they want their sleep (and cats can sleep upto 15hrs a day, normally).