As much as we'd like to see our beloved pets as loving nurturing creatures... The reality is that in nature, more often than not, a sick or injured animal is ostracized or even killed off by it's own kind... It's in part a power/dominance thing... But to a large extent it's for self preservation purposes... When they perceive another of their kind as weak.. They don't have the intellect to discern the cause, or odds for survival. What they get out of it is... Something's obviously wrong with him, and I don't want it to happen to me... So stay away from me. Your older cat is just doing what nature programmed him to do... He "smells" weakness, and is responding accordingly. Once it becomes clear that the kitten has your support and is isn't going anywhere, he should just start to ignore her... As she starts to heal... Gets stronger.. He'll start giving her more respect again.
