Overly playful kitten making other one reclusive?

[randomcatperson]

So, this issue is the whole reason I joined this site. I got Mycroft and Fate early July. The only reason I adopted Fate was because she and Mycroft were buddies, and she was so sad that he was taken out of the cage and she was left behind. Well, the first few weeks were difficult for all of us, battling tapeworms and URIs, but everyone seemed to get along, Fate and Mycroft played together well enough, and the family introduced themselves slow enough that the kittens accepted them easily. Soon enough, Fate and Mycroft were given free run of the house and integrated seamlessly into our routines

Fast forward to this last week. Fate is a bit of an attention hog, an understatement of mass proportions. If we are cleaning out the litter box, she is jumping in the litter box, trying to attack the scooper. If we're on the computer, she's on the keyboard helping out. If we are playing with or loving on Mycroft, she either takes over the game or tries to nudge her way under our hand. It's the last one that brings me to this post.

Over the last week, Mycroft has completely given up, it seems, on taking part in the family. To begin with, he was a reserved cat, but now, he won't even attempt to join a game like he did in the past, and when we finally coax him into playing, he will simply stop and walk away when he sees Fate bound up to join in (because she will join in). We tried separating them, taking him to my room to play for a while behind closed doors, but Fate freaked out when she couldn't find him, and it only took one mournful cry from her for Mycroft to stop playing and sit at the door until I opened it so that he could comfort her.

You see my problem, no? Mycroft is becoming more withdrawn while Fate just gets more outgoing. This normally wouldn't be a problem, but he becomes a completely different cat when we finally get him to play, which makes me certain that Fate's attention-hogging personality may be stunting Mycroft's own personal growth. Any suggestions, cat experts?

 

[stephiedoodle]

Ignore her when loving on Mycroft she needs to know he needs attention to and then when he's fed up of being loved on go to fatectryytiring her out with a big game then a snackefore doing the same with Mycroft

 

[Columbine]

I think it's really important that you start trying to boost Mycroft's confidence again. There's nothing wrong with a cat being reserved, but it sounds like Fate really is pushing him out. I would suggest that you start a routine with both of them where they each get their own interactive play session each day. You might have to shut Fate in another room whilst playing with Mycroft for now, but that's fine - it certainly won't hurt her. You keep talking about 'we'. An even better solution would be for one person to give Mycroft attention whilst another occupies Fate. However you do it, Mycroft has to have time with you where he doesn't feel pushed out. Over time, the play should boost his confidence a bit, so he should become less willing to just let Fate walk all over him.

[article="0"][/article][article="0"][/article][article="29658"][/article][article="30274"][/article][article="30316"][/article][article="32735"][/article][article="32493"][/article][article="22480"][/article]