Serious Cat Issues

Question
QUESTION: I have one cat named baby he is a 12 year old male ragdoll and adopted a 1 year old female mixed breed in January named smitten. Smitten attacks Baby all the time. She stalks him then attacks. Baby can't get a moments peace. As a result anytime Baby sees Smitten he hisses and growls. I can't get Smitten to stop attacking Baby and as a result I can't get Baby to like Smitten. Both are fixed, I have tried spraying with water bottles, and separating them when Smitten is bad. If I don't fix this I'll have to take Smitten back to the pound. Please help!

ANSWER: Krystal,

My personal opinion is that you should rehome Smitten. A young cat is not a good choice to get when you have an elderly cat. Baby is approximately 64 years old in human years and Smitten is approximately 15 years old (a teenager!). An elderly cat usually cannot deal with the energy and playfulness of a young cat, nor usually does it want to. It can stress the older cat out and cause emotional, behavior, and/or health problems. It can also change their personality permanently. And it is not fair to the young cat who wants a kitty friend to play with, wrestle with, and chase, etc. which an older cat won't do.

Tabbi

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: A cat breeder friend of mine said that getting another kitten/ young cat might help. What do you think? Would this help so Kitten Smitten has someone to play with or just stress out Baby further?

Answer
Krystal,

That is a 50/50 call.

Getting another kitten may help in that it gives the other kitten someone to play with and hopefully she will lose interest in Baby and leave her alone.

On the other hand, BOTH kittens may gang up on Baby and totally stress her out!

You may want to try another kitten with the understanding that you can return it if it doesn't work out and see how it goes. Make sure Baby has an area that she can go for peace. At the first sign that it is not working I would consider rehoming both kittens and restore Baby's harmony in her "twilight years".  

Tabbi