Accepted Answer

Hi again, Debbie, and thanks for your reply.

You're right, Angel is barely an adult cat herself, however, she's still much bigger and more 'mature' in cat age, than little Bella, at only 8 weeks. Sometimes, individual cat personalities prevent them from accepting a companion, but in most cases, cats do enjoy the company. In my experience, Angel is a good age at which to introduce a new kitten, as older cats do not have the patience for young kitten 'antics' and find them annoying.

I'm assuming Angel is already spayed, and you will have Bella fixed around 5 months of age, before sexual maturity occurs at about 6 months.

There are some cases in which the two cats will 'tolerate' each other, but not become best friends, but I have a feeling that if you get them used to each other more slowly, following all the helpful suggestions at the two webpages I included, it will be a process, but they will eventually get along, and hopefully, both being female and young, they will form a close bond.

Only allow them to be together when you're home, through a barrier, at first, like a screened baby gate, or a cracked door, to the room where Bella is being kept. It's much too early for the face to face interaction. They need to get used to each others' scents and you can help by petting one cat with a slightly dampened cloth or paper towel, then, pet the other, then vice versa; do this frequently. If they have each others' scents embedded in their fur, they will walk around smelling the scent all the time, and then, when you attempt the next face to face meeting, they won't seem as 'strange' to each other, as before.

I realize this seems tedious, but some cats can take months to adapt to one another, and others can take a few days. Try the techniques described at those two links I included, and hopefully, your two kitties will begin to take to each other sooner, rather than later. I realize that Bella is fine with Angel; Angel has to be taught not to bully Bella and not to get on her and bite her neck. You can deter this behavior by standing out of sight of Angel and shaking a can of pennies or pebbles to startle her and allow her to associate that sound with the behavior you want to modify. Also, make sure you're giving Angel lots of attention so she doesn't feel she's been 'replaced' by the new kitten.
The biting neck behavior is how mom-cats discipline and control their kittens; as you observed, it basically 'disables' them from moving/getting away. This is also assertive/dominant behavior. In many multi-cat households, there is usually an 'alpha' cat or dominant one, of whom all the rest are afraid and/or respect. It's just the feline way. Hopefully, once Bella begins growing bigger/older, she and Angel will become great buddies, but Angel may always remind Bella SHE'S the dominant one, occasionally.

Cher

Expert:	Jessesmom
Pos. Feedback:	99.7 %
Accepts:
Answered:	10/20/2009

Feline Specialist Health/Behavior

Feline Healthcare and Behavior Specialist 40+ years Experience