cat turned mean

Question
My daughter's cat is about 7 mos. old. It has always been gentle, but, the other day they got it another kitten, so it wouldn't be lonely. It has turned vicious and won't let them touch it now. He has bitten them several times. They removed the other cat, but, that hasn't helped. He has only gotten worst.The Kitten was a female. He has been nurtured &declawed. They have become very afraid of him.

Answer
Gloria,

You apparently went through the introduction process exactly....all wrong! It takes time, patience, and at least 2 weeks (and sometimes a LOT longer) for cats to become acquainted.

A LOT of male cats DO NOT like little kittens (you didn't say how old the new kitten was). Maybe because of their smell or how active they are. Some males won't accept a kitten until it's grown!

As for your cat now, just let him be for awhile. Talk to him, give him lots of kitty treats (food is a good bribe), be patient with him, but don't try to handle him until he comes to you. You also need to get the smell of the kitten off of you and off of things that your cat is around. He is upset at you right now for bring in an 'interloper' into HIS territory (and YOU are included in HIS territory). He should settle down soon and go back to being the same cat he was.

Next time may be more difficult to introduce a new cat because of his experience this time. It IS very good to have a companion cat for kitty play, comfort, and company but you need to take it VERY slow.  It also helps to get a kitten/cat about the same age, breed, and temperment. Each cat is different so no method of introduction is tried and true and no method will work every time.  

Here are some links to articles on how to make the introduction process easier to try to avoid this problem again. Copy and paste, or type, the whole links into your address bar:

http://www.messybeast.com/first-impressions.htm

http://www.sfspca.org/behavior/cat_library/cat2cat-intro.pdf

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=cattocatintro...

I hope this helped. If you have more question please feel free to write back anytime.

Tabbi