Mother cat & 8 months old kitten

Question
Hi, we have a a 2 year old mother Tabby cat with one of her female kittens who is now 8 months old. We have had them for seven months.The mother has had difficult history being abandoned and this was her third litter of kittens. The two have been wonderful companions sleeping together, playing together just inseperable. They live inside a big house with just myself and my wife. We have had 5 cats before and love cats very much. The cats can go out into external cages any time they like and we actually let them out for a walk whilst we watch them. We live on a acre of land in a semi rural area of Melbourne in Australia. That's the background. About a month ago the mother   who is very passive cat but very wary of strangers and noises etc started to show some agression to the young one who obviously is now getting quite big. The agression is usually wacks to the head with the paws and a bit of growling. The kitten does not fight back, just gets out of the way if she can.   What can you tell me about the relationships between a mother and kitten as they get older. Is the mother just establishing a "pecking order"  and should not get more serious than that, or should we take some action. It could just be jealousness, but we try hard to be very even in the way we treat them and feed them.   Have you any suggestions or thoughts on this sort of relationship

Answer
Lee,

I have a mom and son duo, mommy will continue throughout her lifetime to teach her kitten manners and assert her role as mom - in my experience that's perfectly normal behaviour. The only time I would worry about that would be if they were to get into an all out cat fight, but it just sounds like mom is putting her baby in her place. I doubt that this has to do with jealousy as much of the way cats communicate with one another relies on very subtle body language... Your 8 month old kitten is a teenager now and as with all teenagers mom will feel the urge to smack this kitten from time to time! If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me again at any time - I'm more than happy to help in any way that I can.

Kind regards,

Ali