Cat and a Kitten

Question
We have had a female cat for over a year now and a about a week ago we
aquired a male kitten about 8 weeks old.  The cat does not get along with it and
growls and hisses all day, but the kitten follows the cat around trying to make
friends.  Can you help?

Answer
I have actually had the exact same experience, just last year when I introduced a new male kitten (6 weeks) to my older female cat (10 years old). She wanted nothing to do with him either. There are a couple of things to consider. For one, the kitten is very hyper and playing all the time and sometimes the mature cat just doesn't want to be bothered. As he gets a bit older, but before yu can have him neutered (at a bout 5 months old) she will probably dislike him even more as he sexually matures and perhaps approaches her in that way. So she has her good reasons for her reactions, not to mention that cats generally don't just fall in love with each other because they are territorial and often loners. For everyone's safety I recommend you slow things down a little. Rather than letting them both have free run of the house, if you can keep the kitten in one room with all his needs there, separated by a screen that the he and your female can see each other but not physically interact. This will give her a sense of security while still having him around and beginning to get more and more used to him. Give them supervised time together when you have time to watch. This is important because hissing and growling can lead to swatting and even scratching if things heat up, and you want to avoid that. So practice this way with them for a little while and give her some time. After all, this is an invasion to her. We always think our pets need and will love a playmate, but with cats it doesn't quite work that way. They may become great friends after enough time passes or they may simply just agree to coexist in the house. Only time will tell.