My male cat playing to rough with my kitten

flojo75

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Hi folks,

I need some advice. I’ve just got a 12wk old kitten & my male cat is grabbing him around his neck & pinning him to the ground, the kitten cry’s out every time he does it. I’m really worried as when I’m in I can stop him but come Monday I’m back at work 9-5pm & I worry he’ll hurt him.
What shall I do to stop him pinning him down & what should I do while I’m at work??
 

ArtNJ

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Your male cat is playing, he won't hurt the kitten. If the adult cat wanted to hurt the kitten, the kitten would already be dead, but they don't do that. Some type of biological hard wiring prevents an adult cat from forming the intent to injure a kitten, it doesn't happen. The kitten is crying out because its uncomfortable, like big human bro giving little human bro a head noogie. In an ideal world, your big cat would be playing more gently. Sometimes they do play gently enough that the kitten rarely cries out. Very often they don't, especially if the older cat is less than 2 years old. Its normal and not a problem.

You can tell its ok if the kitten only seems to want to run away from the big cat when this is going on. If the kitten seems fine with big cat otherwise, approaching and even trying to play, that is the kitten telling you all is well. If the kitten isn't doing that, thats probably still fine since you mentioned you "just got" the kitten and some kittens can take a bit, usually less than a week, to settle in and get used to you, the house, and the older cat.

You can link to a video you put on youtube or something like that for us to take a look at if you like. We know it looks wrong when an adult size cat is pinning a little kitten, but it really is fine. You can separate them if the kitten seems truly miserable, but it isn't necessary, they will work things out.

Did you isolate the kitten for a few days at all, or just put them together right away? I'm guessing your resident cat is under two? They tend to accept kittens really quick, and ultimately will be friends, which is great, but they are also the ones that scare first time owners badly by being a bit too enthusiastic like this and making kittens cry out.
 
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fionasmom

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If this seems as if it could go the wrong way, can you isolate the kitten or in any other way keep them separated when you are not home until you can assess further?
 
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