My mother cat keeps hissing at her own kitten, why? How can I stop it?

Question

The kitten, Faith, is now 6 months old or so. She seems to have gotten bigger recently, she may be pregnant, we just don't know yet. Additionally, the second baby kitten went missing weeks ago, around the same time Momma started this hissing thing with Faith. Faith keeps trying to approach Momma, but Momma won't let her near and hisses her kitten away. It's bizarr. I don't know if this is normal behavior, I've never owned cats before these ones.

Let me clarify, it's the kitten, Faith, that we think MAY be pregnant, the mother has been spayed, and we were waiting to spay the kitten because we were told by our vet she couldn't be spayed until she was 6 months old.

Answer 1

If Faith is pregnant then momma would definitely not want her around. But it's also possible that she's just trying to push her out. At 6 months the mother is more than ready to have the baby kitten gone and out on her own. My guess would be that Momma is just trying to make it clear to Faith that she is done mothering. They should work their issues out on their own. Now, as far as Faith is concerned you need to get some references on that vet. If the kittens are outside, which I'm assuming yours are as you've lost a kitten, they should be spayed at 8 weeks or two pounds. Whichever comes first. They are sexually mature as early as five months and leaving them unsterilised will cause them to seek out mates and stray. It is absolutely best to have pets sterilised as soon as possible to prevent many unwanted behaviours including spraying and yowling. You should NEVER let kittens roam outside unattended, and by that I mean attended by a human, before they are fixed. Even if they are fixed I am reluctant to let them roam outdoors before they are at least 8 months as they were not raised by a feral mother and don't have the survival skills necessary. I am in no way scolding you, you have never had cats and there is no way you should know this. But I would seriously question your vet as to why he advised waiting until 6 months if he knew they were roaming out of doors. If there was a medical reason for this he should have informed you and told you to keep the kittens indoors.

Answer 2

Hi, sounds like your kitten has reached sexual maturity. So Momma cat sees her as a rival, not as her kitten. They will have to get used to each other as 2 adults and not as mum and kitten. Give the Mum lots of extra attention so she knows she's top cat. At the same time try hand feeding both cats little tit bits like chicken or special cat treats. When you do this have them quite close to each other so they can have the reward of the tit bit and be in each others company without the Mum cat hissing. It won't be solved overnight, but gradually you'll find things get easier. When the kitten is 12 to 15 months old it'll be big enough to settle any differences with it's Mother by having a few fights. They'll both learn then who is top cat and they should respect each others space more. Good luck.

Answer 3

Are you positive that the kitten is a female? I have 4 cats and two of them happen to be a mother her male kitten. I recently had her spayed to avoid her from becoming pregnant again. Prior to this she started hissing at her kitten because he was reaching the age where sexual maturity develops (6 months of age!) He was trying to mate with her and she would not put up with that., hence all the hissing. (BEWARE though, a lot more female cats could care less if their mate is related to them..you could end up with inbred kittens if you don't spay the momma cat soon!) If the kitten is a female then perhaps she is coming into her 1st heat and the momma cat is simply jealous because another female cat is trying to take away her action! I would STRONGLY recommend spaying your cats! You will find that they are much more of a joy to have around when they are spayed/neutered. They roam less and are less apt to be hit by a car or wander off. You also won't have to deal with one litter after another. My female cat had 3 litters in a row before I spayed her! It was not healthy for her and it was stressfull on me to try and find homes for all of the kittens. Good luck and try to spay/neuter them asap.

Answer 4

1. She may not be feeling well and just wants to be left alone. Watch for any signs of illness. 2. The kittens may still want to nurse and she's had quite enough of that. 3. Some cats just don't like being around a lot of other cats. My dad has a cat that is fine as long as there's one or two cats around. If all five of them are there, she gets anxious. Guess she's not that outgoing.

Answer 5

Okay once a mother cat weans her kittens when they come around she thinks that she wants to nurse and will hiss her away. It's happened to every cat that I've ever had the has kittens. It's just normal.

Answer 6

Am I reading this wrong? You're saying the KITTEN is pregnant, not the mother cat, right? Cats are really sensitive, she may just sense the pregnancy, or the hormones may be changing Faith's scent. Cat's are so odd sometimes, but I do agree with the other post, you should definately get all the cats fixed because they multiply rapidly.

Answer 7

It's time for baby to stop having milk. She's weening Faith. She's almost a mature cat. The other kitten my have been a little on the ferrel side (not wanting to associate with humans much even IF you did hadle them alot when they were young) and took off, she may come back (I've seen it happen). Momma is done being momma. She wants her kids outta the nest.

Answer 8

If the younger cat is pregnant, she will give off hormone smells that could make the older cat hiss at her.

Now that the kitten is older, momma could be starting to enforce the cat hierarchy, she wants the younger cat to know she is below her in the rankings.

Answer 9

PLEASE get your cats spayed. This stops all kinds of unwanted behavior,including hissing at familiar housemates.When cats are in heat ,pregnant, etc. A number of other thing happen,mostly due to hormones.You will have a calmer more peaceful household not to mention you will prevent the potential possibility of producing HUNDREDS of unwanted kittens.

Answer 10

it is normal she is pregnant that is why she is hissing just let them be. and after she is done having this batch of kittens sheiwll be to herselve again