I have 2 cats who are sisters. They have adored each other from day one. They would also sleep together with paws wrapped around each other. Well, one of them just had a litter 2 days ago. Now the 2 cats cannot stand each other. They hiss and can’t even walk by one another without swiping at each other. The aunt,
Forr lack of a better word, even hisses at the kittens. Can anyone tell me why? Thank you in advance!
IANA cat person, but some people who are say this:
The mother cat may be super defensive and/or the aunt cat may resent the kittens as intruders. Either way, it sounds as though the problem has a good chance of resolving itself as the kittens grow up, so I’d say for the time being just give both cats plenty of space and see that nobody gets hurt.
New Mommy cat is over-protective and very “precious” about her new darling kittens. Aunt cat is confused, jealous, and feeling very alone and unloved.
Give Aunt cat lots of special attention, especially if you can manage it in a room where the kittens are in the room. Once the kittens get bigger, try to make portions of the house accessible to Mommy and Aunt only.
Usually these things settle down, but if there’s a big nasty fight or Aunt decides that the kittens are the reason for all this unpleasantness, then be prepared for a long-term cold war, and to make sure that Aunt is never around the kittens unsupervised, or she could actually kill them.