Male Kitty cat behaivor to older male cat

Question
We have a 9 year old male cat Sylvester who can be playful and very loving. We recently inherited a male kitty Buddie about 2-3 months now.  Buddie was found so not sure if he was feral but he is very playful and a terror.  He constantly goes after Sylvester and Sylvester will hiss and swat but that doesn't do anything for the kitty he simple keeps on torturing even chasing after him until he runs away or we catch Buddie and put him in another room for time out.  We just started squirting water at Buddie it will work for a short time then he is at him again.  I usually put Sylvester in our room where he will stay until we go to bed and we leave Buddie in the living room as he still needs a litter box.  What do we need to do I am afraid my Sylvester is going to have a nervous breakdown is their hope for these two; it does appear that they both can eat at the same time next to each other without any hassle.

Answer
Hi
this sounds so familiar to me. I had the same experience years ago, unfortunately in that case my older cat moved house to down the street and we were happy for them to have her as she obviously was not happy with us.

The behaviour you describe is completely normal for a young cat, unfortunately as your other cat is not so young and playful there is a bit of a mismatch there.

However what normally would happen is that the young cat would try to play, the older cat will either play, or keep moving away of hissing etc and if the younger cat still does not get the message then the older cat will go a little further to and become aggressive. Now if your younger cat is normal they should read these signals and take the hint.

It is important that your younger cat has plenty to keep them occupied other than chasing the other cat. Make sure their environment is full of interesting things to explore and do.

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Generally cats will sort themselves out and as long as your older cat has a place he can escape too then this is fine and all he will need. i know it can be difficult but I have come across this many times and it usually sorts it self out in the end. By the way both cats are neutered arn't they? this will make a difference.

best wishes kate