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Why Is My Cat Scared Of A Kitten?

If your cat seems to be scared of your kitten you may be confused and wondering why…

Why Is My Cat Scared Of A Kitten?

Your kitten is new and is, for better or for worse, competing with your existing cat for territory and resources. Unfortunately, you can’t verbally explain to your cat that you will always make sure that they all have enough food and space and attention, so the kitten may be viewed as a threat until this ends up being clarified with time and circumstance.

Is It Normal For A Cat To Be Scared Of A Kitten?

Cats are not very social animals, so it is perfectly normal for a cat that is used to a household to be scared of a new kitten. This does not mean that your cat is abnormal if it accepts the new kitten easily, but you also shouldn’t view any unusual behavior from your older cat as discouraging or a sign that they’ll never get along.

How Can I Prevent My Cat From Being Scared Of My Kitten?

It may take some time for your cat to get comfortable around your kitten, but you can help this along by making the introduction between them gradual and making sure that your older cat still has all of its needs met as before. This includes ensuring they have their own space where they can be apart from the kitten if they want to.

Why Does My Kitten Attack My Cat?

There are multiple reasons why your kitten is attacking your cat, including territorial behavior, attempts at domination, or just play. Play is the easiest one to deal with because you don’t have to. Play is not a sign of aggression and is unlikely to hurt your cat.

If your kitten is already trying to dominate your older cat or defending its new territory aggressively, you should make sure that the two cats have plenty of opportunities to avoid each other until a smoother, more gradual introduction can take place.

How Long Will It Take For My Cat To Accept A New Kitten?

The common time it takes for two newly-introduced cats to become proper friends is about 8 to 12 months. Of course, this is not a rule that has to be applied every time. Some cats may become friends quickly while others may never stop fighting as long as they remain together.

Aggressive behavior among cats should end within the first days or weeks. Again, this depends on the temperaments of the cats and other minor factors, like the way that they are introduced to one another or how they perceive their territory to be affected.

Why Is My Cat Hitting My New Kitten?

Your cats could be fighting as expressions of outright aggression, but the more likely scenario is your older cat is hitting your kitten to get them out of the older cat’s perceived territory. This behavior should not be ignored but stopping your cat at the moment will not be enough to fix the problem.

The best way to prevent this type of territorial hitting and chasing is to make sure that your older cat feels like it has more than enough space. This means as much physical space as possible, but it also means spaces where it can choose to go to be separate from the new kitten.

Is It Normal For A Cat To Hiss At A New Kitten?

While you should not leave a new kitten alone with a cat that is hissing at it, this behavior is not abnormal for cats. Cats tend to be quite individualistic and having to share space may seem like a huge disruption to older cats. This behavior can be especially prevalent if you only had one existing cat in the home before introducing the new kitten.

The introduction of a new kitten could also be causing your existing cat stress, which will cause the older cat to hiss at the kitten. One powerful stressor is feeling cornered or trapped. Always make sure that your cat can move away from the new kitten in an easy way to avoid causing undue stress to your old friend.

How Can I Get My Cat To Like My Kitten?

The best way to get your existing cat to like your new kitten is to introduce them to one another gradually and make sure that the older cat can be away from the kitten whenever it wants to. This is important because it allows the older cat to control the pace of the introduction to a great extent.

As we’ve learned, threats to territorial integrity can make your cat see your new kitten as an invader of its space, so preventing this perception from arising is essential to endearing your two feline friends to one another.

How Do You Introduce A Kitten To A 2-Year-Old Cat?

Cats are known to be very territorial, so new kittens to the household should be introduced to current cats slowly and gradually. An essential part of this process is making sure that you have separate spaces for each of the cats so that they know they can be apart from each other.

You can start the introduction process by passing items with each cat’s scent to the other cat so that they can get used to it. From then on, you can introduce them in the flesh, but with some distance or barriers between them, like baby gates, for example. Once they are acting normally around each other, you can integrate them completely.

How Many Cats Is Too Many?

Five or six cats is considered a reasonable maximum for a single household. When there are more than six cats in a single home, the ability to provide proper care for each of them becomes insufficient. Topically, too many cats in a household can lead to behavioral problems among them.

Health concerns also appear when there are too many cats in a home. Diseases will spread quickly, and assuming the cats use a litter box indoors, they will get overwhelmed, introducing further health risks for the cats and the people in the household.