As odd as it may seem I think female cats are less tolerant of kittens than neutered males. My oldest male cat would always take to new kittens, licking them and being Mr. Mom, until I got Pi who was a total hellion and kept pouncing on him when he tried to lick him. Mr. Mom cat was old and cranky by then and had no use for that silliness so he kept his distance. All the girl cats have pretty much ignored new kittens or have been outright hostile to them.
We have the same deal with kittens at work. We often end up raising and rehabbing kittens and then finding them homes so our male clinic cats get the opportunity to interact with the kittens. They either try to play with them (sometimes a little too rough though) or just sit off a little distance and watch them. The clinic boys don’t always get along with each other but they seem to love kittens.
Older cats may find kittens annoying, just like some people find children annoying. Kittens don’t usually follow standard cat social rules and just run up and pounce and when the older cats hisses and says “leave me alone” stupid kitten keeps trying to play. Older cat decides she doesn’t want that thing around her. She may eventually learn to tolerate the kitten from a distance and maybe even get closer once the kitten settles down. As long as older cat is not attacking the kitten, just give them some time.
Just tie a rope to their tails and hang them over the shower curtain rod in the bathroom. Step out and close the door for a few hours until the noise abates.
They’ll be bestest friends forever after that bonding exercise.
Disclaimer: Not responsible for them deciding that your are their common enemy. Nor for injuries sustained during or after exercise.
I watched my yellow cat invade my red cat in the yard
the feline war has rage for years so I assumed it’d be too hard
to drive my foot between them , i would never risk the scratch
just to prove to one or both of them a cat is just a cat
– Say Anything, Red Cat/Yellow Cat
as WE all know, all cats have different personalities. my “magick” barely tolerates her brother “chango”. and they’ve been together 10 years. sometimes she walks over to him, unprovoked, and smacks him across the chops. i think he annoys her by his mere existence.
Yes. This is what’s happening for two and a half days now. The little kitten keeps trying to approach and play with Callie. Over and over and over and over and over…and every time Callie hisses and–in some instances where the kitty comes too close–threateningly swiping her claws at it.
But it doesn’t seem to stop her (kitten). She just backs off for a few minutes and then tries to sneak up or pounce again. She thinks it’s a game of some sort, I guess. She’s been doing it most all day and night…so at this rate, I’m afraid Callie’s just going to get tired of it and ALWAYS dislike the kitten (always seeing it as a pest that won’t leave her alone).
Even just now, as I type this…kitten approaches her, hiss and swipe, kitten bounds away, repeat.
And these aren’t half-hearted swipes either. These are serious “leave me the the hell alone” swipes complete with furious hissing and spitting…as in, if any had landed, the kitten probably would have been a bit hurt, I think.
A while back I inherited two neutered queens (and boy are they spoiled divas) that grew up with each other and for the most part they’re friendly, except for the inexplicable moments when the black cat (Nougat) would pounce on the orange one (Caramel) and lick her nape in a very aggressive fashion. (Caramel would get her revenge by smacking Nougat in the face with her paw. Cue Epic Cat Fight.)
Nougat has a bit of a gum problem, so we’ve had to take her to the dentist on two occasions now. Both times she came back, Caramel treated her like a stranger, hissing at her like she didn’t know her. We figured that it was due to Nougat being handled by strangers and thus smelling different. Eventually they went back to the way things were, so we’re just waiting for them to sort things out while they ignore each other.
Nougat also hisses at us when she’s sitting on the windowsill and we look at her. I think it’s due to the fact that her eyesight is terrible and she somehow doesn’t recognize us through perfectly clear glass.
They’re definitely doing better. Callie doesn’t hiss at all anymore and sometimes usually doesn’t mind when the kitten comes within close proximity (as long as she (the kitten) isn’t wanting to play too much). Twice I’ve turned around to see them both lying next to one another (close enough to where their sides were touching) and just a few minutes ago, Callie surprised me by doing something to the kitten I had seen her do with the other cats that used to be around: Namely licking it and grooming it some. So I’m thinking these are all good signs. She (Callie) still yowls and screetches sometimes when she doesn’t want to be bothered by the kitty and she’ll run away from it sometimes–but overall it’s better. Callie doesn’t hiss at all anymore.
That’s bonding behaviour and she definitely wouldn’t be doing it if they were still on the outs. Sounds like she just isn’t interested in the constant demands to play that any kitten is going to insist on ( you might have to fill that gap a bit ). Pretty normal for an older cat, really - some largely outgrow the roughhousing stuff. Especially females, who seem, statistically, to engage in just a little less social play than males starting around 12-16 weeks of age.
But it sounds like everything is resolving nicely :).