Older Cats Behaviour Towards Kitten

[Conniew]

hi,

I have recently introduced a new kitten to our house, around 3 weeks ago.
When i first rescued her she was very underweight and ill and so I introduced her and my older male (he is 9 months old & neutered)very briefly as she was so tiny and weak. Over the past few days I’ve allowed them around ten minutes together a day. when he sees her he will lick her until she struggles away from him and from then on he will crouch and pounce at her. Usually he gives her a little bat when he pounces. Once or twice he’s had hold of her neck and I’ve separated them but she seems terrified of him, she tries to run away and hide. He’ll call her and run a little like he wants her to follow but then when she does he jumps straight at her.

I’m really confused as to whether this is working or not. To me it seems he is wants to play but he’s not sure what to do with her. They play under the door a lot and he’s very vocal “calling” her constantly but then when they’re together I just feel like it goes downhill. I’m keeping them separate as she really is tiny and I’m scared he’ll hurt her but I feel guilty because he’s always outside the door calling.

Does anybody have any ideas?

 

[Conniew]

As you can see.. she is absolutely tiny compared to him she’s 9 weeks but she’s only 0.3kg.

 

[rubysmama]

I've never introduced cats, but TCS has this newer article that might be helpful:
How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat

Adorable kitties, btw. Hope they become best buds.

 

[Willowy]

She's terribly undersized. . .kittens ought to be about 1kg at 8 weeks. I see she came from a bad background, so she has a lot of catching up to do.

I'd keep them separated until she weighs something like 750g (approx. a pound and a half). Even then I'd keep a pretty close eye on them until she weighs about 1.5kg and can defend herself. Older kittens can play too rough without realizing it.

 

[Conniew]

She's terribly undersized. . .kittens ought to be about 1kg at 8 weeks. I see she came from a bad background, so she has a lot of catching up to do.

I'd keep them separated until she weighs something like 750g (approx. a pound and a half). Even then I'd keep a pretty close eye on them until she weighs about 1.5kg and can defend herself. Older kittens can play too rough without realizing it.

I know, the day I got her I rushed her to a vet within an hour and they said I was very lucky I’d not waited. She has doubled her weight since then, the few hourly feeds paid off thank god! But I understand she’s still very fragile.

Thank you- hopefully she catches up on her weight sooner rather than later so they can (hopefully) be friends