Cats becoming FRIENDS

Question
Hi, Norman
I'll get right to it! I'm living in a new house with My fiance' his daughter and 2 cats.
My cat Jazzy is 15 yrs old never been around any other cat or animal for that matter and Ke Ke is only 4 months. They are not geting along and it's upseting me in a major way. Jazzy is the aggressive one and Ke Ke tries to play with her but she is not going for it. jazzy is a Girl and Ke Ke a boy....Will Jazzy ever stop hissing and pawing at Ke Ke or do you think the age is a problem....Sadly signing off...katrina  

Answer
Katrina, Jimmy, & Amanda,

It will take Jizzy a number of weeks (probably) to accept Ke Ke, but, the good news is that at 4 months, Jizzy is likely to accept Ke ke, eventually.  

There are two rules I use for cat interactions.  (1) Humans should never interfere in the process.  (2) Humans tend not to understand how cats inter-relate with each other.

Also, it is usual, when cats who do not know each other meet, to have some hissing and spitting and posturing.  At some point this can turn into a game.  If one or the other begins to chase the other (even if it ends in a mock cat fight), this is a good sign.  Ke Ke wants to play and Jizzy wants to be left alone by this new addition.  So, there may be some tension at first.  Often the net result is that the kitten rejuvenates the older cat.

At any rate, make sure you pay lots more attention to Jizzy as she can become jealous of Ke Ke.  Makes sure there are two litter pans in different parts of the house in case Jizzy gets territorial about the litter.

These two should eventually get along, so you need to have patience and perseverance with the situation.  Of course cats are like people and it is posssible (unlikely) that Jizzy will never accept Ke Ke, but I would really give the whole thing a number of weeks.

Good luck & best regards... Norm.