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Originally Posted by HappySpring
I've written on this board before and everyone has been so helpful. So I am reaching out again.
Cali is a 5 month old female. Bella is a 7 year old female. Milo is an 9 year old male.
Cali and Milo get along great. They play together and nap together. When she is being a playful pain in the butt, he puts her in her place.
Bella didn't take to well to her yet. If we are in the kitchen and Bella comes into the room, Cali will go after her and chase her away. Cali has even smacked at her. Bella just runs away. I try to stop Cali as soon as I see her going for Bella and give a firm NO.
Why would a kitten be like this towards my older cat?
I did have her separated from them when I got her, she had her own room. Kept her there for about a week.
Bella and Milo would sniff under the door and hiss at Cali. When it got time to introduce them, I did it with wet food and fed them all together. I still feed them wet food together and during eating time it is fine. But while getting the food ready is another story.
Will Cali calm down eventually?
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Maybe, and maybe not. A lot depends on Bella's confidence and willingness to stand up for herself. If she doesn't, she will likely have to put up with Cali's bullying the rest of her life. Cali may lose some of that aggressiveness as she ages, but she still might pick on Bella occasionally, as she considers her weaker and submissive. There's not a lot you can do to make Bella stand her ground. It's something she has to learn to do herself.
I've always had multiple cats (7 at one time with 5 females), and none of the girls ever got along. They were always possessive over their territory/space and humans. One of them, Sheba, is like your Bella and easily bullied. She would run rather than fight for herself. It was a problem for us humans and we tried to stay out of it so she wouldn't rely on us for protection. We only intervened if things got serious.
Sheba is almost 12 now, and living with only 2 other females. Things have gotten much better in the past 2 years or so, as she sticks up for her space a lot better. But she still avoids the others most of the time.
I wish I could give some positive advice, but if Bella has a shy & submissive temperament there may not be much you can do.
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