Cat stalking the kitten

[henryhsmum]

Hi,

I have 3 cats. One an adult female Siamese who is 11 months, a Balinese who is 9 years and a kitten 13 weeks. We got the kitten at the weekend. The Balinese is fine with her and I can trust him. The Siamese is another matter. She is growly and hissy although less so now. On Tuesday she managed to swipe the kitten on the nose and there were a couple of minor scratches that drew blood but nothing serious. Since then I have separated them unless I am there to supervise. So basically kitten is in kitchen but comes in lounge to play when I'm there. The adults often sleep upstairs in the day so its easy to play with her. I am making sure I also play with the adults and cuddle them. When they are in the same room the adult watches the kitten play but she will watch very closely and try to pounce. I'm not sure if this is aggression or rough play. in other ways they are ok with each other, they will eat next to each other and sometimes she will come up to the kitten and sniff her but I only allow this if I'm there and holding the kitten. She is a bit calmer when I'm not playing with the kitten. Kitten is submissive and a little nervous of her, just a bit of hissing but only in defence. This was what wound the Siamese up the other night though and I think it's why she swiped her.

To try and remedy it, I am keeping them separate unless I'm there, transferring blankets from one bed to the other so they share scent and I read that them sharing positive associatiuons like feeding together is a good idea. Have also ordered 2 Feliway plug ins, 2 pet remedy (herbal version of Feliway) plug ins and some fear aggression Bach flower remedy for the Siamese. Any other ideas what to do? I know some might say let them fight it out but I don't want the kitten hurt and also she is a show cat so I can't afford to let her get scratched in case it scars. I know that may sound shallow to some people but it is my hobby and one of the main reasons I got the kitten. The other thing is the kitten smells of cat wee as she came from a multi cat household but I'm unsure whether to bathe her as I don't want her to be frightened. She is very friendly and affectionate with us.

Any advice welcomed.,,

Anyway I am trying to work

[Fluffycloudland77]

Your doing all the right things but it won't happen overnight.

Personally I wouldn't bathe her because your still bonding with her and while some cats love it others don't. We would only bathe ours if head really mucky with a bad tummy.

Enjoy your kitten and wait for the Siamese to accept that another cats joined the household. She may never really like it but we've had a 4 cat house and it was ok. They formed their own little social groups.