new kitten

[Shirley]

Hi, I took home a 5 week old kitten last week and she seems to be adjusting to the house fine but there's only one problem. I have a 2 year old female cat that doesn't seem to like the kitten. She growls and hisses whenever she sees the kitten and sometimes she growls and hisses at me. The kitten slowly backs away from the cat and then starts playing again as if she's forgotten about it. Just today she started swatting at the kitten and I'm getting a little worried because the kitten is so small. I don't want her to get hurt. I assume that the hissing and growling is normal, she just wants the kitten to know that this is her house. My question is how long does it normally take for a bigger cat to accept a younger one? Should I be worried about the swatting? Is there something that I can do to make it easier on them and myself?

[basshebeth]

My family got a second cat after having our first cat for about 7 years, she hated the new kitten, and back in those days, she could have and would have torn the poor little thing apart (she's mellowed in her old age, she's like 16 now), what we did was kept the kitten in a separate room with the door closed, put everything it needed in there, visited and such, and it let our cat get used to the kitten without being able to do anything to it, once our older cat calmed down, we let the kitten out and they grudgingly got along.

[Donna Marie]

My situation was the opposite! The kitten hissed at my older males! But, yes, good advise given about letting them get used to one another....slowly introduce your babies. They will get used to eachother in time. I know my female is very dominant, maybe this is what she is letting your kitten know?

[Lucky Rescue]

A 5 week old kitten should be with it's mother until it's at least 7 weeks, but what is done, is done.

Lots of adult cats really don't recognize such a young kitten as a cat. Keep the kitten away from your adult cat unless you are there to supervise. As the kitten gets older, your other cat should come to accept it. Such tiny kittens are very fragile and easily injured.

[Sneaky2006]

I have 4 cats, all gotten at different times. Each new cat would hate the older one(s) and vise versa. It does take a while but they should be sleepin together soon enough. 3 of my cats now sleep together, groom each other and play all the time. Only one cat does not act like the others, she is the bitch of the group. They are not fighting or anything but when another cat gets too close to her she will lick their head and then smack em! with a little yell every time.
With your kitten being so young, I would do the separate rooms, put the kitty in her own room and let the older one roam, after a couple days, switch them. After a week or two, try letting them meet and see what happens.