Dominance Or Grooming?

[LolaKitty02]

So we just got a now 4-month old kitten about a month ago and introduced her to my 7 year-old male cat after a few weeks of very slow introduction. The two of them seem to be doing well, chasing each other around the house and playing. Sometimes the playing gets a little too rough and I'll hear the kitten cry out and I'll break them up but my older cat has never hurt the kitten. She's always ready to start playing again right after I intervene and sometimes I think she's over exaggerating a little when they are playing and cries out when my older cat isn't even biting her.

But the thing that is puzzling to me is when my kitten is (finally) sleepy and laying down, my older cat will begin grooming her. It all starts out fine around her head but when he gets down to her rear area, it seems like he's *very* interested (and frankly makes me uncomfortable) and the kitten will readjust and move. They are both neutered mind you, but I just don't understand why he's so focused on checking her out down there so much. And it's not just the regular getting to know you. I don't know but it makes me a little uncomfortable, should I stop him when he's doing this?

I'll also note that she's been getting over a tapeworm so I don't know if he's trying to be maternal and senses she's been sick but it just seems weird. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[susanm9006]

I suspect that the little one isnt doing the greatest job cleaning her behind, that is pretty common, and that is what your older cat is smelling. I don’t think it’s a sexual thing as much as his cleaning instinct kicking in. The other possibility is that there is a medicinal smell to her butt caused by the dewormer or the dead tapeworms that he is picking up. In any case, I wouldn’t worry about it. She will let him know if he is annoying her.

 

[Ardina]

I agree with susanm9006 . Saipha did the same to Mishka when she was a young kitten because Mishka was bad at cleaning her behind. Once Mishka got the hang of it, Saipha left her butt alone. They still clean each other's ears though, which is adorable.

 

[Yanaka]

My male kitten does the same to his sister, and she’s pretty clean. It makes me very uncomfortable as well since he also *really* goes for it, but I think that’s the way it is haha

 

[LolaKitty02]

haha well, thank you so much for your responses. As uncomfortable as it makes me, I'm glad that it's really just him trying to be helpful. I guess I just worried about him trying to be super dominant to her, but he will occasionally go for grooming her head, which is adorable.

As far as her grooming him, he's not really interested in that level of trust yet.