Keeping kittens apart

Twinkster

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 4, 2022
Messages
91
Purraise
124
I have a few questions. My 2 kittens (1yr F and 10mF) adopted at the same time., the older one is very rough playing and a bit of a Bully. The younger , who has been sick with FIP since almost the beginning (we are done with treatment now and hopefully she is cured) , loves to play either by herself or with some one else. She is very gentle where Rosie is a bully. Rosie is always jumping on her and biting her back. It breaks my heart, no cat fights yet , just hissing and vocals. I generally just clap my hands loud to stop them and say NO. Should I be doing something else? Essentially they are still getting to know each other even though it has been 9 m.
The younger cat won't use the litter box to poo, maybe because possible stress, I am not sure. She has blood tests every few weeks. The only thing off is a slightly low white blood count. I was going to separate them while everyone was at work, would this do more harm than good? I was hoping to Lower her stress level. I did get a plug in feliway , we have had it a week, I notice no difference maybe it hasn't been long enough.

maybe we need more play/ different play? I am going to get a additional tower, we have 3 right now, I guess I would like to know how YOU play with your cats to tire them out , besides the little toys on a stick.
 

Furballsmom

Cat Devotee
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
39,271
Purraise
53,927
Location
Colorado US
Hi
My thoughts are due to the younger one being a bit fragile both physically and emotionally, separating them could be a good thing at least until she gets bigger :) this way you could see if she uses the litterbox, and how she does otherwise. Maybe some intermittent Cat Music 🎶.

The older kitty needs play, maybe one of those toys where a ball goes around a track, et al?
 

ArtNJ

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 1, 2017
Messages
5,485
Purraise
6,957
Its pretty normal. One year olds are basically kittens in adult bodies. They routinely ignore whether another cat actually wants to play, and play rougher than the other cat would like. I guess you can call it being a bully or jerk in human terms, but in cat terms, just a typical 1 y.o.

Let me ask this -- is the younger one afraid at all times, or only when rough play is happening? If she hides, does she come right back out in a few minutes and act like nothing happened? Does she ever initiate play with the other cat?

What I'm driving at is that this is probably not as bad as your thinking. If the younger kitten is only upset in the moments of rough play, then thats a very strong indicator that this isn't such a big deal. You can trust the younger kitten to assess whether its a big deal. If the younger kitten thinks it isn't, then it isn't, and you can let them be unless the younger one seems particularly miserable and unable to escape.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

Twinkster

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 4, 2022
Messages
91
Purraise
124
Its pretty normal. One year olds are basically kittens in adult bodies. They routinely ignore whether another cat actually wants to play, and play rougher than the other cat would like. I guess you can call it being a bully or jerk in human terms, but in cat terms, just a typical 1 y.o.

Let me ask this -- is the younger one afraid at all times, or only when rough play is happening? If she hides, does she come right back out in a few minutes and act like nothing happened? Does she ever initiate play with the other cat?

What I'm driving at is that this is probably not as bad as your thinking. If the younger kitten is only upset in the moments of rough play, then thats a very strong indicator that this isn't such a big deal. You can trust the younger kitten to assess whether its a big deal. If the younger kitten thinks it isn't, then it isn't, and you can let them be unless the younger one seems particularly miserable and unable to escape.
Younger cat is not afraid at all times , she is pretty social . And will even run and chase her sister .if she does run away and hide she always comes right back out. Thank you for the info
 

Furballsmom

Cat Devotee
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
39,271
Purraise
53,927
Location
Colorado US
Hi, I don't know if you saw my post above - I was thinking if you were to separate them for a little while you could double-check on litter box usage, etc :)
 

danteshuman

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2017
Messages
5,030
Purraise
6,077
Location
California
I would give the younger cat 4-12 hours a day to have the run of the house, every day. I would also play with each cat 1 on 1 every day. It will help tire out your bully & it will help build up the self esteem of the victim cats.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

Twinkster

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 4, 2022
Messages
91
Purraise
124
Hi
My thoughts are due to the younger one being a bit fragile both physically and emotionally, separating them could be a good thing at least until she gets bigger :) this way you could see if she uses the litterbox, and how she does otherwise. Maybe some intermittent Cat Music 🎶.

The older kitty needs play, maybe one of those toys where a ball goes around a track, et al?
Oh thank you , I agree with you, I think I will keep them separated when no one is home , at least for a week or 2 . What is intermittent cat music. I always put Disney on for them lol
 

Furballsmom

Cat Devotee
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
39,271
Purraise
53,927
Location
Colorado US
What is intermittent cat music. I always put Disney on for them lol
By intermittent, I meant to have the music playing now and then, not constantly, and there's RelaxMyCat .com, Musicforcats .com, and spotify and other sources have harp music for cats :)
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

Twinkster

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 4, 2022
Messages
91
Purraise
124
By intermittent, I meant to have the music playing now and then, not constantly, and there's RelaxMyCat .com, Musicforcats .com, and spotify and other sources have harp music for cats :)
Hahaha I love it, I am going to look those up thank you
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

Twinkster

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 4, 2022
Messages
91
Purraise
124
I would give the younger cat 4-12 hours a day to have the run of the house, every day. I would also play with each cat 1 on 1 every day. It will help tire out your bully & it will help build up the self esteem of the victim cats.
I was wondering if cats get jealous in a way. If maybe Rosie was acting out so much with Twinkie because she was sick and we had to do more with her, not that she understands its medicine ,shots,and the vet. Not that we ignored her by any means. I do like your idea of 1 on 1 time.
 

danteshuman

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2017
Messages
5,030
Purraise
6,077
Location
California
Cats do get jealous however Dante was a bullying a****** that when bored would pounce on my other cat, then nip him between the shoulder blades. What helped was giving my hyper punk outside time and building up my victim’s self esteem with 1 on 1 play.
 
Top