New kitten terrorizing older cat after 7 months

by Sue
(New York)

I have had cats all my life, along with lizards, snakes, fish, frogs, rats, and hamsters, and I love animals. I got a cat that was captured from the neighborhood and everything was fine for about 2 years.


Then, we took in a new kitten that came into our backyard, and the cats got along for the next 6 years. The new kitten died of liver/kidney failure. I was so sad, and my older cat, now 8, seemed to never move or play anymore and was as sad as I, so we adopted a new kitten. That’s when things went wrong.

This new kitten is quite crazy and difficult, but I can deal with that. At first, everything was fine, through the proper introduction and separation phases. After about 4-7 months, this new kitten has been viciously attacking, biting, chasing my older cat, several times a day.

The kitten will not let my older cat even walk around, and she has to hide and run from hiding place to hiding place every second of her life. The new cat also eats all her food and is constantly stalking her.

I can’t handle the violent attacking, screaming, writhing, fur balls and scratches all over both of their faces, but I can’t seem to get rid of the new kitten, as I feel bad.

What do you think the alternatives are or are not? Do I actually need to find this kitten a new home with no other cats or is there something else I can do?

I’m afraid the poor thing might just get euthanized, as he has a heart condition as well, but needs no meds so far. And he is a bit active.

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starstarstarstarstar 		Have you separated them?
by: Jim W.

Have you tried a separating them and a reintroduction? A fresh start might work.

If not, you may have to separate them and let them have their own areas of the house. It's difficult to do, but there are cat households that are set up that way when the cats can't get along.

I don't know what caused the new cat to go bonkers, but you can try adding some calming drops in the water to see if that helps, too.

At the very least, I'd have separate meal areas. If you feed free choice, it's more difficult, but there are electronic pet doors and cabinets that can be used with microchips to set up separate feeding areas. Good luck and I hope they can work it out with each other.

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