Older cat has started pouncing/batting at kitten. Can't tell if play or not.

penofdl

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Occasionally, it's really obvious that she's just playing. Her tail will be straight up in the air, ears will be happily perked, and she'll back off immediately once the kitten makes it clear she's too overwhelmed to play. But there's other times that I've noticed where she'll full on wail on her with no real consideration of the fact she's clearly scared. Is there a way to discourage this behavior? I make sure to separate them whenever it happens, but my older cat has about 8 pounds on my kitten right now, and I don't think she fully realizes the size advantage she has.
 

jclark

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Cats can play rough. I watch and listen for certain things.

#1 Kicking with rear legs. Not to be confused with pushing with rear legs. If I see some serious kicking I'll break them up.

#2 Growling, hissing, and the "ouch" meow. If the other stops when after hearing the "ouch" meow I just let leave them alone.

I really don't think animals understand the concept of holding back due to size/strength differences, but they do understand age. Just my own observation. Dogs don't understand size differences for sure (Drives me nuts when an owner of a little dog gets upset because a big dog put his/her little dog in his place for getting out of line.).

#3 How force full are they playing. Do you see hard biting or more knawing.

I just watch for these signs as a whole and go by feel. My young adults still pound on eachother. I'm talking serious ambushes and take downs which result in a loud "thump". Just last night they were doing their "Kung Fu" stare down where they face off and slowly position themselves for their take down move. The big brother was getting tall and younger brother went head down with and turned sideways. In one quick movement younger brother did a twisting pounce and pinning big brother down. Fur starting flying with all the knawing and grabbing. Neither said a word and about 30 secs later they were tired and done.

I think I've had to break them up once where it was starting to get out of hand.

As the kitten grows he/she will stat to get the upper hand once in awhile.
 

uncommonsensesc

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I am having a similar problem - I may need to start a new post.  My littlest kitty (Callie Zoe) is 1 1/2 years old - not a kitten but the littlest kitty in the house - and is around 5 lbs. All the other cats are larger than her (even her litter sister is about twice her size). The problem is that she constantly gets picked on and jumped on. She gets held down or hit until she squalls. We clap loudly, yell and break up the one-sided fight when we're home! We both work during the day and I'm almost sick with worry that this goes on constantly when we're not here.  She is also the sweetest one of the bunch and it just ticks me off that the other kitties (5 others, 3 of them are inside-outside but 3 of them including her, are inside-only kitties). They've all been together (and are all related) for at least a year. It seems to be getting worse and I don't know how to put a stop to it. I thought about getting a battery-powered water gun but don't want Callie Zoe to think she's done something wrong because all she is is sweet and little. I thought about leaving her in the bedroom during the day with the tv on, food, water, litter and the cat tree but, again, that's punishing her when she's done nothing wrong. How can I make a cat door/opening that only she can get through since I've seen kitties squeeze through some incredibly small openings or what can I do to stop this? I did think about renting a baby bob cat and letting them chase him/her and see how they like that (just kidding, mostly)!
 
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penofdl

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Since I posted this, things have started to even out a little more. My kitten has gotten far more used to play than she was before, and she's even started initiating the boxing matches rather than being always on the receiving end of them. Just a few minutes ago, I watched her chase my older cat from one end of the apartment to the other, only to have it turn around with the older cat chasing her, and both of them ending it by pouncing each other into a pile of towels in the bathroom. Clearly, I just needed to give it a little more time.
 
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