I have a 13 year old male cat who is my best buddy. He is very friendly and usually sleeps in my room and is super clingy and lays on the couch with me. My 20 year old female died about two years ago so he is used to being the king of the house now. A few days ago I adopted a 10 week old male kitten whom is very friendly and loving. I am pretty sure I did most everything right. I gave the kitten a bath and kept him in another room for a couple days and let my older cat smell around. I introduced them and there was hissing at first but now my older cat seems to be annoyed or afraid of the kitten. I am keeping the kitten in another room when I am gone. Since then my older cat is acting weird and doesn't want to sit on my lap or be picked up and seems stressed and sad. What should I do?

Im going to speak frankly. You made a huge mistake.

1) 2 weeks is too short of a time to just introduce another animal when the existing animal suffered a loss.

2) You brought in the competition. The male cats will compete for Alpha status.

Hes not acting weird he's acting normal. You just disrupted his routine. It may take some time for them to get used to one another. For now continue to keep them separate when you can not monitor them and when your around allow them access as much as possible. There is no magic potion for mixing animals in this situation. And if they fight just don't let it get bloody.

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Originally Posted by califdadof3

Im going to speak frankly. You made a huge mistake.

1) 2 weeks is too short of a time to just introduce another animal when the existing animal suffered a loss.

2) You brought in the competition. The male cats will compete for Alpha status.

Hes not acting weird hes acting normal. You just disrupted his routine. It may take some time for them to get used to one another. For now continue to keep them seperate when you can not monitor them and when your around allow them access as much as possible. There is no magic potion for mixing animals in this situation. And if they fight just dont let it get bloody.

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It has been two years not weeks and they were not very close. Thank you for your advice though

It takes more than a few days for animals to start getting along. Keep doing what you're doing. Keep an eye on them when you're home, and keep them apart when you're not.

Your older cat's behavior changed because he's mad at you. You brought a kitten into the house without consulting him. The kitten is going to take your attention away from him, and pester him wanting to play.

You have a middle aged cat that is very much settled in his ways. Now, you suddenly bring home this baby and expect him to be OK with it almost immediately. If he's never been around a kitten, then it's even more unsettling for him. He needs time to get used to the idea that there's another cat around. ONLY after that, can you hope for them to become friends. It's much more likely that he'll just do his best to ignore the kitten and avoid it.

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Originally Posted by hheath541

it takes more than a few days for animals to start getting along. keep doing what you're doing. keep an eye on them when you're home, and keep them apart when you're not.

your older cat's behavior changed because he's mad at you. you brought a kitten into the house without consulting him. the kitten is going to take your attention away from him, and pester him wanting to play.

you have a middle aged cat that is very much settled in his ways. now, you suddenly bring home this baby and expect him to be ok with it almost immediately. if he's never been around a kitten, then it's even more unsettling for him. he needs time to get used to the idea that there's another cat around. ONLY after that, can you hope for them to become friends. it's much more likely that he'll just do his best to ignore the kitten and avoid it.

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Thank you for the advice. I did not expect him and the kitten to get along however I did not expect him to get upset with me. I guess I am just wondering If and when he will go back to normal.

He'll go back to normal when he forgives you. Just shower him with love and attention, especially when the kitten's around.

I have the same problem, I have a female cat and I have got 2 kittens one male, one female, my female cat has also been acting strange, she won't come and sit on my lap no more like she used to, she's been sleeping in our room away from the kittens and only then is she okay and starts to purr and be herself again, but as soon as we wake up and she comes into the front room where the kittens are she sniffs about and once she sees them she's okay at first she watches them play but then she will hiss at them both and try to attack them once they move, I'm not sure on how to introduce them in the best way as I am new to the situation, is there any help and advice that I may be given thank you :)

I have a similar issue.

My girlfriend and I got a kitten (male) 2 months ago, he's about 4 months now. He's been a bit moody at times but overall very friendly. He always likes to cuddle and play around as well. Anyway, we got a 3 week old kitten (female) today from a friend of mine. She's very very friendly, and a little bit shy. We then took her home, and put her in our room where our older kitten stays majority of the time. They hissed a little bit, and made funny noises but nothing to serious. The big problem we are having is our older cat of 4 months is a bit upset, He gets really angry when we show him attention, and he violently attacks us upon petting. I've did a lot of research about it. Mostly to figure out how to take the proper steps towards making him feel loved again & so far it's helped a little bit over that past few hours, but he's still a bit "edgy". Any suggestions will be much appreciated, as we will gladly take any help we can get, (advice wise).