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- Jun 7, 2019
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Hi! Though I am an experienced cat owner, I am new to this site but have decided to join because I have already found so much useful information on this site. I know similar topics to this have been posted numerous times but I really wanted to ask about this issue when it comes to my cats because I want to be sure I handle the situation correctly. Thanks for your help and for understanding why I am posting yet another question about this topic.
I have owned cats my whole life but always had sibling kittens together or at least a multi-cat household until recently. In April, we adopted our male cat (about 3.5 months now, 8 weeks when we adopted him)- his name is Jalapeno. We already knew he was very young to come into our house but he was weaned and using the litter fine. His health was mostly okay except for some worms/parasites which we took care of immediately and now he's perfectly healthy. However, we were concerned about him not having a playmate/companion as he is a VERY energetic cat and playful to the extreme. The original plan was to adopt him with a sibling but we were unable to do so since someone else adopted him before we had a chance. Hence, he came to our house alone and has been the "only child" for 2 months as we searched for the right companion for him. He has problems with play aggression despite having a large area to run around and my fiancé and I trying every technique possible ("time out", ignoring him, playing with him hours every day, you name it!) and we have the scars to prove it (he doesn't rip us to shreds but we sometimes get thin scratches when his nails are too long or he gets too riled up...he also bites! not hard enough to puncture but it does hurt). We were hoping to find him another young cat around his age that had the right personality to "handle" him and enjoy his crazy play behavior.
Recently, we brought home a 2.5 month old female we have been calling "New Kitty" as we have not named her yet. She was recommended as a good fit for our insane Jalapeno kitty as she is very playful (they called her the bully of the litter) but tolerant and affectionate.
This is why I am posting- I am concerned about her wellbeing as Jalapeno has been playing very rough with her. Their initial introduction (about 3 days ago) went well and we are in the stage of having them spend some supervised time together about 2 times a day. However, now that Jalapeno has decided she is not a threat (which did not take long as he is a very confident cat), he has decided she is his plaything. I also think he is asserting his dominance as he sometimes nips the back of her neck. She is very tolerant overall but has been making distressed sounds like growling, hissing and yelping when he gets too rough. He doesn't seem to understand. As a kitten with "single kitten syndrome", obviously he doesn't know boundaries and she hisses/helps/growls and he is having trouble understanding that he needs to back off. She doesn't really avoid him, she initiates play sometimes, but I have been around cats my whole life and can tell she is overwhelmed at times with him and for good reason. He is VERY VERY rough with his playing and dominance moves. I know he's playing by his posture and chirps though. He makes no hissing noises or aggressive gestures at all.
My question is...will this improve? Can I do something different so that he is not acting out this way towards her? I do not want her to be anxious/fearful in her own home. He is literally getting fixed in like a week or so. Will this help?
THANK YOU if you read all this- sorry it's so long. I really appreciate advice/help as I have never had a cat with play aggression before.
I have owned cats my whole life but always had sibling kittens together or at least a multi-cat household until recently. In April, we adopted our male cat (about 3.5 months now, 8 weeks when we adopted him)- his name is Jalapeno. We already knew he was very young to come into our house but he was weaned and using the litter fine. His health was mostly okay except for some worms/parasites which we took care of immediately and now he's perfectly healthy. However, we were concerned about him not having a playmate/companion as he is a VERY energetic cat and playful to the extreme. The original plan was to adopt him with a sibling but we were unable to do so since someone else adopted him before we had a chance. Hence, he came to our house alone and has been the "only child" for 2 months as we searched for the right companion for him. He has problems with play aggression despite having a large area to run around and my fiancé and I trying every technique possible ("time out", ignoring him, playing with him hours every day, you name it!) and we have the scars to prove it (he doesn't rip us to shreds but we sometimes get thin scratches when his nails are too long or he gets too riled up...he also bites! not hard enough to puncture but it does hurt). We were hoping to find him another young cat around his age that had the right personality to "handle" him and enjoy his crazy play behavior.
Recently, we brought home a 2.5 month old female we have been calling "New Kitty" as we have not named her yet. She was recommended as a good fit for our insane Jalapeno kitty as she is very playful (they called her the bully of the litter) but tolerant and affectionate.
This is why I am posting- I am concerned about her wellbeing as Jalapeno has been playing very rough with her. Their initial introduction (about 3 days ago) went well and we are in the stage of having them spend some supervised time together about 2 times a day. However, now that Jalapeno has decided she is not a threat (which did not take long as he is a very confident cat), he has decided she is his plaything. I also think he is asserting his dominance as he sometimes nips the back of her neck. She is very tolerant overall but has been making distressed sounds like growling, hissing and yelping when he gets too rough. He doesn't seem to understand. As a kitten with "single kitten syndrome", obviously he doesn't know boundaries and she hisses/helps/growls and he is having trouble understanding that he needs to back off. She doesn't really avoid him, she initiates play sometimes, but I have been around cats my whole life and can tell she is overwhelmed at times with him and for good reason. He is VERY VERY rough with his playing and dominance moves. I know he's playing by his posture and chirps though. He makes no hissing noises or aggressive gestures at all.
My question is...will this improve? Can I do something different so that he is not acting out this way towards her? I do not want her to be anxious/fearful in her own home. He is literally getting fixed in like a week or so. Will this help?
THANK YOU if you read all this- sorry it's so long. I really appreciate advice/help as I have never had a cat with play aggression before.