Increasing aggression between cat and kitten

Hm93

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Hi I've posted a few times before but to cut a long story short the relationship between my resident cat (male, approx 3-4 years old, neutered, no health issues) is getting increasingly aggressive towards my new cat (male, 6 months, unneutered). I adopted the kitten about 4 months ago, did the slow introductions and they were getting along okay, they even used to play together, sit pretty close to each other with no problems apart from the occasional swat and hiss. But it's been getting gradually worse over the past month or so. Now my adult cat won't tolerate the kitten being near him at all and chases, swats, growls, hisses and bites his back. I found a small 1-2 inch wound on the kittens back and can only assume that my adult cat caused it :( They don't play or sit near each other at all anymore because everytime the kitten even goes near my adult cat he growls, swats and bites him. He swatted him today and I'm pretty sure he used his claws as a little bit of fur came out :( The kitten is not bothered at all surprisingly, and he usually just tries to give the adult cat a wide space when he walks past but it's not always possible, He does sometimes runs away for a second but comes straight back. This happens at least 10 times per day/any time the kitten goes within about 4-5 feet of the adult cat. The kitten never hisses or shows any aggression towards my adult cat, but he did used to pounce on him quite a lot in a playful way but doesn't do it anymore.
The kitten has ongoing urinary crystals (since adoption) that are being treated before he can be neutered.
They have separate food bowls, separate water bowls plus 1, separate litter trays plus 1, 3 cat trees, 3 beds attached to the windows, numerous beds, scratching posts and toys. They both get played 3 times per day separately and fed 3 times per day on a set schedule.

We are going to be downsizing from a 3 bedroom house to a 1 bedroom apartment in 1 month and I'm so worried that the stress of moving and the reduction in house size is going to make it so much worse. It's creating so much stress in the house and it's not fair on any of the cats and I just don't know what to do :( I don't know if I should go back and start introductions from the start again but my kitten just cries and cries when he is separated in another room, or if I should just leave it and hope that it works out?
 

StefanZ

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The kitten apparently doesnt bother much, otherwise he would be happy to be separated... I suspect it is some dominance issues, oldie thinks youngling tries to step up the ladder.... Biting in the back hints this... Possibly its the rising content of hormones makes him potentially more threating... But you cant neuter at this moment... Possibly a Pill would help.?

You can als always try with a couple of Feliway diffuser; preferably the variant called Felifriend; which is extra good for interaction between cats...
 

ArtNJ

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Wound as in scratch or scrape? Or a hard inflamed area. If the later, thats hardened puss, and likely an area of infection from a bite wound -- look for puncture in the middle.

Adults have some sort of biological hardwiring to not attack kittens, so given that we may have a real wound, its possible that your adult is now perceiving the kitten as an adult and the time of protection is gone. Unfortunately, that makes this a serious situation, at least if thats a bite wound.

I'd probably back up and redo an introduction process. Even 4 months in. Bite wounds have to be taken seriously, or you end up at the vet with a bill for $400 or more, not to mention the suffering of the cat.
 
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Hm93

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The kitten apparently doesnt bother much, otherwise he would be happy to be separated... I suspect it is some dominance issues, oldie thinks youngling tries to step up the ladder.... Biting in the back hints this... Possibly its the rising content of hormones makes him potentially more threating... But you cant neuter at this moment... Possibly a Pill would help.?

You can als always try with a couple of Feliway diffuser; preferably the variant called Felifriend; which is extra good for interaction between cats...
Thank you so much for your reply! I will definitely try feliway diffusers and hopefully that will make a difference. Hopefully neutering will help too
 
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Hm93

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Wound as in scratch or scrape? Or a hard inflamed area. If the later, thats hardened puss, and likely an area of infection from a bite wound -- look for puncture in the middle.

Adults have some sort of biological hardwiring to not attack kittens, so given that we may have a real wound, its possible that your adult is now perceiving the kitten as an adult and the time of protection is gone. Unfortunately, that makes this a serious situation, at least if thats a bite wound.

I'd probably back up and redo an introduction process. Even 4 months in. Bite wounds have to be taken seriously, or you end up at the vet with a bill for $400 or more, not to mention the suffering of the cat.
Thank you so much for your reply! At first I thought it was from a vaccination he had recently but it's about 2 inches and hard with a lump under it - no puncture marks that I can see but it's like 80% healed up so it's difficult to tell.
What you're saying about him now seeing the kitten as an adult definitely makes sense. I'm so worried for the kitten and definitely don't want it to get any worse so I will start the introductions again along with the feliway and hope that it improves by the time we move into a smaller space in 2 months from now
 

ArtNJ

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Thank you so much for your reply! At first I thought it was from a vaccination he had recently but it's about 2 inches and hard with a lump under it - no puncture marks that I can see but it's like 80% healed up so it's difficult to tell.
What you're saying about him now seeing the kitten as an adult definitely makes sense. I'm so worried for the kitten and definitely don't want it to get any worse so I will start the introductions again along with the feliway and hope that it improves by the time we move into a smaller space in 2 months from now
Did the hair on that area fall out? Often one doesn't find the bite wound until the hair on an area like an inch circular falls out. Might want to get it checked out. If there is no active infection, I think it should reabsorb in time, but despite going to the vet for bite wounds 2x I'm no expert.
 
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Hm93

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Did the hair on that area fall out? Often one doesn't find the bite wound until the hair on an area like an inch circular falls out. Might want to get it checked out. If there is no active infection, I think it should reabsorb in time, but despite going to the vet for bite wounds 2x I'm no expert.
Yes the hair on the wound has fallen out :( I will get it checked out just to be on the safe side. Thank you
 

ArtNJ

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Yes the hair on the wound has fallen out :( I will get it checked out just to be on the safe side. Thank you
Good, but just as importantly, we are now pretty sure you have a bite wound there. The vet will likely be able to tell you for sure. Bite wounds bump up the seriousness of the situation, because if a cat is willing to bite another cat hard enough to cause a bite wound once, they will likely be willing to do it again, and bite wounds close to always get infected. I'd separate them and try a reintroduction, after the neutering if that is happening soon. I certainly wouldn't rely on Feliway alone if things are bad enough for bite wounds.
 
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Hm93

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20230119_094602.jpg

Thank you for all your advice I really appreciate it! The vet says it could be a light bite, scratch or scrape. I will definitely be doing the introductions again and hopefully we will get over this.
 

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I hate saying this but can you adopt out the kitten before the move? Moving is a major stress, but to a smaller place increases the stress so much! Plus stress = more bladder crystals!

Those crystals are evil! My boy just recovered from them and is on only wet with added water. I hope the kitten has a speedy recovery & no more crystals.

B8A00B7C-78FE-4467-AA75-E6E4DC9B8666.jpeg
 
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Hm93

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I hate saying this but can you adopt out the kitten before the move? Moving is a major stress, but to a smaller place increases the stress so much! Plus stress = more bladder crystals!

Those crystals are evil! My boy just recovered from them and is on only wet with added water. I hope the kitten has a speedy recovery & no more crystals.

View attachment 441492
Unfortunately I adopted him from the streets here in Turkey and I wouldn't adopt him out here in case he ends up back on the streets again. However, I have considered adopting him once we move to the UK but I really don't want it to have to come to that :( The vet has him on a special dry food but I'm skeptical about the treatment because it's been ongoing since we adopted him and so far there hasn't been much improvement. The vets here are not great, so I'm hoping that he will be fine until we move and then I can get him proper treatment in the UK. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!
 
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