Cat hates kitten. I don't know what to do

[Sab181]

We got a kitten about a month ago.He has a lovely nature and my 6 year old daughter loves him.

The only issue is our 7 year old female cat just isn’t accepting him. She was so sweet natured and was always after a fuss but now she barely comes near us. She hates the kitten and just hisses and growls and tries to hide if he’s around. She only really comes in at night and if he’s been around she hisses and growls at us as well. She’s even scratched my daughter once which just isn’t like her.

We give her free run of the house and the kitten stays in our bedroom and we let him out in the evening when it’s quiet for as long as she can tolerate. We’ve tried using a felloway plug in but it did nothing.

I just don’t know what to do. Things don’t seem any better, they actually seem worse and she seems so unhappy. We all love the kitten but I feel like we’ve made such a mistake getting him. I’ve never even considered rehoming a pet before, I just don’t know what to do.

[Finfintytint]

Cats and kittens don’t often mix. It’s not working for them. Rehome the kitten. The older Cat is too stressed.

[madeyemoodysmum]

Took a full six month for my old girl to accept my kittens. She came around eventually and they even slept together sometimes.

Slowly slowly to the key with cats and creating a safe space for them to feel at home and free of the other one.

[crimsonlake]

I introduced a kitten to my older cat several months ago. He was not happy but has gradually accepted her, infact he puts up with being terrorised by her basically. I think it depends on the cats personality...I know for certain that my other cat who died at a good old age would have eaten the kitten for breakfast if she had tried her antics on him.
I would not give up yet, make sure you give your cat extra attention to make her feel she is not being pushed out would be my advice.

[Finchy19]

Our cat was 5 when we got a kitten. He was not impressed, it took a year but they are now friendly. He's always done his own thing but recently he's started cleaning her and they sleep together on the shed roof.

[Pipsqueak11]

I introduced 2 male kittens to my older female and she hated it . Feliway helped a bit but when my boys were neutered it all changed and they became v friendly and affectionate to each other and now all cuddled up together - hang in there !

[Singlenotsingle]

It takes time. She'll come round eventually.

[HypatiaCade]

When we got our kittens, one of them decided that the cat 3 doors down was going to be his new best friend. Other cat was seriously unimpressed and would box him about the ears, but eventually gave in with rather bad grace to having him around, which then moved on to them really being best friends (and hunting the wild rabbits together). I even got friendly with said cat's owners as a result!

[Parahebe]

I agree, give it more time. I've done a lot of cat-kitten introductions and sometimes the cat accepts the kitten within a week or two, but sometimes it can take months. On a couple of occasions I had more or less given up on them ever getting on when suddenly they became friends.

Don't push it, just let the cat decide what she wants to do and hopefully she'll come round.