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Hi. We brought a female kitten home last week. We kept the kitten in its own room and our 3 yr old male cat to interacted with her under the door for the first 2 days. For the next few days, the kitten stayed downstairs behind a gate and they would interact that way. On day 4 the kitten started coming into the older cats areas. all seemed to be ok. Lots of sniffing. On day 5 we let kitten out of her room at night. The next day, the older cat started to tackle her. Should we back things up?

Hi. We brought a female kitten home last week. We kept the kitten in its own room and our 3 yr old male cat to interacted with her under the door for the first 2 days. For the next few days, the kitten stayed downstairs behind a gate and they would interact that way. On day 4 the kitten started coming into the older cats areas. all seemed to be ok. Lots of sniffing. On day 5 we let kitten out of her room at night. The next day, the older cat started to tackle her. Should we back things up?

Updated On February 17th, 2020

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered

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Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

Veterinarian

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Hello. Is the older cat injuring the kitten? I have seen some very aggressive interactions as an older cat "teaches" a kitten its place. There can be lots of growling & screaming by the kitten, but if it only lasts for seconds & then for the most part, everyone seems OK, then these attacks will get less & less. I am not saying everyone will love one another, but peace should happen. If you are concerned, you can put the kitten back behind the gate, but at some point you will need to let them figure things out. Thanks for using PetCoach.

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