my cat hates me now, help!

Question
I have a 10 month old male cat (neutered) and he always loves me. He sleeps with me; follows me everywhere I go in the house.

I work long hours so I thought it will be good to have another cat in the house so they can give each other company.

Today I brought home a 2 month old female kitten, but things are not going very well.

My older one seems to be very scared of the kitten, he has been hiding in the corner of the bathroom since. However the worst is he hates me now! He won't let me touch him; he hisses at me and scratches me when I try to pet him. It never happened before!!! I've washed my hands so many times but it doesn't help at all.

I know two cats don't normally get along straight away. I'm now just heartbroken because he seems to hate me very much!! He is okay with my husband touching him, probably because I was the one who was holding the kitten when we got home.

It has been the whole afternoon. Please let me know what's going on here and how I can get that sweet boy back. Thanks.  

Answer
Lee,

Your cat does not hate you, his nose is just a bit out of joint.  You have to give this kind of thing more than a couple of hours, more like a few days to a few weeks for everything to settle down.  Meanwhile, your strategy with the established cat is to ignore him until he is ready for your affection. Do not approach him or try to pick him up, let him come to you when he is ready. It is important for him to think your attentiveness is his idea!

So, if you are patient and let the two kittens come to terms with each other and just wait the whole thing out, he should come around.  

Best regards... Norm.