6 month old hisses and growls at mom and new babies

by Melody
(WI)

Yesterday our cat had a litter of 6 kittens, we also have one of her kittens from the last litter 6 months ago. Now my question is, why would the 6 month old be hissing at the mom cat and babies? and will this "jealousy", as Im assuming it is, go away at some point, or am I going to have to separate the the mom and son cat?

Answer by KAte
Hi
this is completely natural behavior and is not down to jealousy.

in the wild after the mum cat has weaned her kittens she would naturally chase them away before her next litter arrived. this is because too many cats on the same territory will fight for supremacy, food and mates etc. In this case your 6 month old kitten is old enough to be territorial and so the arrival of the kittens and the changed behavior of his mother will cause him to defend his territory. This will be especially true if he is not neutered.

As for what you can do about all of this. Separate them all for a few days to give the mother cat and her new kittens time to bond. then you will need to introduce the older kitten to them all in short supervised sessions. This will help to build up confidence etc. Also if your 6 month old is not neutered or spayed i would recommend that you can this done as soon as possible to prevent future aggression etc.

best wishes KAte

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