Normal cat/new kitten behavior?

[KatherineE]

I’m hoping for some feedback on how to interpret our cat/new kitten interactions. Our resident cat, Leo, is a neutered two and a half year old male and the kitten, Louis, is 15 weeks old, also neutered male. Leo is a big kitty. Playful but good natured. The initial introductions went very well. No hissing or growling. Little to no fear or outright aggression on either end. Louis is staying in a spare room and has supervised visits with Leo throughout the day. Things seem mostly good.

But unless I actively engage one or both of them with toys and/or treats, they chase and play, sometimes rather intensely, and taunt one another CONSTANTLY. Sometimes Leo is the instigator. Sometimes Louis. But the play sometimes seems like it’s getting out of hand and getting a little too aggressive on one or both ends. Sometimes the kitten seems to run away more than engage, other times he seems to willingly go back in for more.

Just as a for instance. They’ll start tussling a bit and Louis will run away and jump to the top level the kitty tree. Leo will then sit at the base of the tree eyeing him (or sometimes climb the tree himself). Louis will catch his breath for a bit and then jump back down at Leo and they will tussle some more or give chase. With each successive battle, it might get a little bit more intense. No hissing, rarely growling, but Leo likes to cry out even with minor provocation. Sometimes ears are back but not always. Sometimes Leo looks half asleep while Louis is biting his neck. Other times they look locked in battle.

I do break them up at times and they don’t seem worse for wear. And when they’re both in their own spaces, they’re perfectly fine. No injuries and their moods seem perfectly fine.

But is all this normal? Will I ever have quiet again? Will things get worse when Louis gets bigger? Will I ever be able to leave them unsupervised? I’m just worried that we’ll never move past this phase or that it will take months of having to keep them separate if I’m not home to supervise. I also worry that by allowing them to play like this, I’m encouraging bad habits or aggression/fear Should I break it up sooner or only when things seem to intense?

 

[She's a witch]

Male cats play rough. A video would be helpful, but from your description, nothing worries me. In fact, I think if you stop separating them it might be better, as when they are together all the time, the times they spent together could be less intense since there will be no limitations. They are excited to see each other right now since it’s limited pleasure and they take full advantage of that. When they are together all the time they will learn to relax in each other company.
I also would stop breaking them up, they need to learn themselves how to communicate between each other when they are done with play.

Will I ever have quiet again?

I don’t think so for several years at least they will most probably want to play with each other. Since play in cats is functional and mimic predatory behavior, it looks rough for us humans. But I guarantee that you will get used to that and Watching them play will be a source of entertainment for you rather than worry

 

[KatherineE]

Thanks for the feedback. I’ll try to get a video. I’ve been trying to leave him out more often and for longer periods, but I’m also working from home right now and do need a bit of quiet here and there. But that’s something that had already occurred to me. I’ll try to keep them together longer. My gut tells me that most of their interactions are just fine. It just worries me when I start to see either or both of them start to get a little too worked up. My prior cat pairings weren’t quite this energetic (male and female versus two males). It’s been an education!

Right now, they’re just chilling, a first for them. I think they finally wore each other out.

 

[ArtNJ]

She's a witch is correct, but I don't feel the need for a video (not that one could possibly hurt anything of course!) and would phrase it even more strongly than she did. You are (understandably!) misinterpreting this. Normal play is very rough and quite often alarms first time owners (you are in good company!). (I know you aren't a first time owner, but if you haven't had 2 kittens or a kitten + a young playful cat, you wouldn't have seen this in the past.) With a size difference like here, the smaller cat will often be the one to disengage, running away, making some protest squeals. That is all totally normal. They key thing is that **you can trust the smaller one** to tell you if its a problem. If the smaller one comes back 5 minutes after the tussle and acts like nothing happened, sometimes initiates, and does not act generally afraid of the bigger cat, that is reliably telling you there is no problem. Trust the kitten. Let them be.

 

[She's a witch]

Thanks for the feedback. I’ll try to get a video. I’ve been trying to leave him out more often and for longer periods, but I’m also working from home right now and do need a bit of quiet here and there. But that’s something that had already occurred to me. I’ll try to keep them together longer. My gut tells me that most of their interactions are just fine. It just worries me when I start to see either or both of them start to get a little too worked up. My prior cat pairings weren’t quite this energetic (male and female versus two males). It’s been an education!

Right now, they’re just chilling, a first for them. I think they finally wore each other out.

Personally I wouldn’t be afraid to just shut the door to the room where you work to have some quiet and let them be together in the whole space behind that door.

 

[KatherineE]

Thanks for the additional reassurance. My office has no door to close so I’m kind of in the thick of their antics. And I’m on conference calls some days. It is what it is.

I’ve owned cats for 24 years but this is my first time with two feisty youngsters. I’m glad to know I’m just “100 percent misinterpreting” things although I thought I had some sense of when things might be getting rough enough to warrant a bit of intervention. But I’m trying to back off now. Louis has been out of his room for the longest stretch so far (about three hours) and they’re doing pretty well. Now I just need to figure out how to feed them together.

 

[ArtNJ]

LOL I editted that so quick to not sound like a jerk but I guess its more complicated then that! But yes, the original version wasn't wrong, just too blunt, as is usual for me. I'm working on it

You don't *need* to intervene and can do your work or whatever, but you *can* intervene anytime the kitten seems truly miserable. Just try to divert rather than interrupt harshly since you don't want to discourage friends from playing. Some people say you can teach a cat to play nicer, but I think that is a minority view -- they play the way they play.

 

[KatherineE]

It’s all good! I appreciate getting reassurance that they aren’t going to kill one another or grow to just avoid one another.

 

[KatherineE]

Wow, you guys were so right. Last night, the kitten hung out for about four hours and we opened up the basement to him as well which apparently was the most exciting thing ever for him. He slept in his room and came crack downstairs this morning. And we’ve had relative calm. I still need to figure out feeding, as Leo is a glutton who currently eats set meals three times a day and Louis is not as energetic of an eater except when Leo is eating and he tries to steal his food. But given where we are, I’m thrilled.

 

[ArtNJ]

Kittens need more meals per day than adult cats so what I've done if one cat is on weight control is to arrange a couple of private feedings for the kitten at in between times and let them work it out at normal meal times.