kitten and cat behavior. need some help. plz

[Johnny]

Need some help. I have a female cat that's been with me for about 4 years now. I decided to bring home a kitten one day. He is about 7 weeks old. The first few days The older cat would hiss and growl at the newcomer. I've had the kitten for about 2 1/2 weeks now. The cat and kitten can eat together, stay in the same room, walk past each other with out hissing or fighting. Recently it seems like the kitten is getting brave. He will run at the cat jump in the air and land on her back. She immediately growls and hisses and lifts her paw up but never hits the kitten. At this point the kitten will chase the cat and play with her tail but she does not like it,always hissing and growling. I don't know what to do. When the kitten is in its playing mood and goes after the cat, the cat will always hiss and growl and sometimes hit the kitten on top of his head. all other times the kitten and cat can be together. Is this normal behavior. should i seperate them when the kitten is in playing mode. Any suggestions welcomed. thanks in advance

[melissaranks]

It's the norm in my house! Booker is 5 years old and D'Artagnan just turned one. Now, I KNOW that Booker could totally beat the living snot out of D'Artagnan, but she chooses not too. She growls and hisses and smacks him and chases him away when he gets to playing rough. I believe it's normal behavior. Since this is my first pairing of adult and kitten behavior, I have no idea if it'll eventually stop. But, I know they love each other because when Booker can't find D'Artagnan she cries until he comes to her. AND, if I take D'Artagnan somewhere in the carrier, my husband says Booker waits by the door until we get home.

[jason]

When the kitten is in its playing mood and goes after the cat, the cat will always hiss and growl and sometimes hit the kitten on top of his head. all other times the kitten and cat can be together. Is this normal behavior. should i seperate them when the kitten is in playing mode. Any suggestions welcomed. thanks in advance

for a healthy kitten, yes...quite normal. i suggest trying to intervene somewhat and play the kitten yourself...some toys that hang (able to run and hit it) might be of some help.

[Guest]

Bobbie and Zooey and took about a month to get totally comfortable with each other... I found that they played best together when i was in the middle, usually dangling a bit of string or trailing a mouse behind me... This way the kittens attention is focused on the toy as pounce practice, rather than your other cat meanwhile your other cat has a chance to observe the kitten from close quarters without getting whacked... I wouldn't worry about it, sounds like your older cat is taking it quite well.

[Johnny]

Thanks all for replying to my post. I feel much better about this situation. I will use all advice and I will post an update on their progress. Thanks again