I have recently adopted a four month old kitten to be a companion to my 6 month old kitten. The first is called Rosie and the latter, Ozzy.
Ozzy is a very high energy cat. I play fetch with him and he also loves the wand toy. We used to spend 2 or 3 hours playing everyday (with breaks). We would play until he is panting, then I would feed him treats and then he would go off to sleep.
Besides that, whenever he is awake and not being tired up by playtime – I admit that I can't always stop what I am doing to entertain and tire the cat up – he often gets into what I call "play mode". He will start running around and playing with stuff in his imagination. Any attempt to get close to him while he is in "play mode" will lead to biting. I have a countless number of scars on my forearms from grabbing him or trying to pet him while I didn't know he was in play mode (he often just stops and stares at the wall but that doesn't always mean he is calm).
He loves to be on my lap. I kid that sometimes I avoid picking him up because he never wants to go back on the floor. It's not like I am forcing him to be on my lap...
Anyway, my point is, I know how much his bites hurt. He draws blood every time he bites me. I am now training him to stop biting because when you pick him up or pet him and he does bite, he just puts his ears back, tail starts to slap around and he keeps coming to attack me. I try not to move my arm and just tell him to stop while blowing on his face and once he lets go, I get up and leave the room without giving him attention for him to learn that it's OK to play, but it's not OK to chew on my arm.
Despite spending the last 2 months training him to stop biting, he hasn't improved a bit. So the real problem now is that, when Ozzy is playing with the new kitten, Rosie, he starts biting her. Even when she is surrendering and/or hiding, he makes sure he finds her and bites her whenever he can. She growls, hisses, tries to run... She is clearly in distress while he has a body language that shows that he is playing (tail up, ears pointing forward).
He is still biting me on a daily basis and now he also starts chasing and biting her at random times. Sometimes she is just playing with her favourite toy – a strip of cardboard – and Ozzy just jumps right on top of her and bites her. She tries her best to squirm away and runs but Ozzy just follow her whenever she goes and keeps trying to bite her.
They also play a lot together, mainly tag. Rosie chases Ozzy, Ozzy chases Rosie... But then, suddenly, Ozzy starts trying to bite her and won't let her go. It's really hard for me to understand what causes this aggression being that they were initially playing.
I have also tried separating them if I notice that Rosie just gave up and she is taking the bites, what seems to be causing Ozzy to just bite harder. She does sit for a little bit whenever we put her, but in a few moments she is ready to start playing tag again and again it escalates to aggression and hissing.
Outside of playtime, they are best friends. They sleep together, watch Cat TV (the window) together, groom together etc.
Another thing that I have tried is squirting water or clapping to stop them from fighting. It works, but they fight once every 10 minutes and as someone that works from home, I can't stop work every 10 minutes to stop fights. What also works is to create a distraction. If I start playing with Ozzy, he will either bite me (10% of the times) or start playing with the toy (90% of the times). But that also leads to problems as when playing with Ozzy, Rosie often wants to play too and Ozzy clearly gets upset that she is stealing his toys. When I feel he is getting agitated, I just lock myself and him up in a room without Rosie so we can have some play time together. That worked the first few times, but he hasn't been willing to play with me anymore.
Rosie is a cutie pie. She is a lot calmer and she just likes to sleep most of the time. As for her playtime, she prefers to chase a catnip mouse by herself instead of playing with the toy wand. Her only behavioural issue is that she likes to suckle on my clothes and/or the blankets I have covering me. That doesn't really bother me, as the only inconvenience is the drool on my clothes.
Additional Info:
Ozzy was neutered two weeks ago. He didn't really display any sexual behaviours aside from masturbating.
Rosie is not spayed yet, as the rescue organization said she was too small. I am taking her to spay next week.
I also foster a feral cat, but the feral cat doesn't really interact with the kittens. She just likes to lay down nearby and watch me do stuff. She doesn't like to be pet and any sudden movements or loud noises (and even looking at her, sometimes) may scare her away.
I have also attached some pictures of Ozzy and Rosie's downtime
Ozzy is the blue cat and Rosie is the white cat.
Ozzy is a very high energy cat. I play fetch with him and he also loves the wand toy. We used to spend 2 or 3 hours playing everyday (with breaks). We would play until he is panting, then I would feed him treats and then he would go off to sleep.
Besides that, whenever he is awake and not being tired up by playtime – I admit that I can't always stop what I am doing to entertain and tire the cat up – he often gets into what I call "play mode". He will start running around and playing with stuff in his imagination. Any attempt to get close to him while he is in "play mode" will lead to biting. I have a countless number of scars on my forearms from grabbing him or trying to pet him while I didn't know he was in play mode (he often just stops and stares at the wall but that doesn't always mean he is calm).
He loves to be on my lap. I kid that sometimes I avoid picking him up because he never wants to go back on the floor. It's not like I am forcing him to be on my lap...
Anyway, my point is, I know how much his bites hurt. He draws blood every time he bites me. I am now training him to stop biting because when you pick him up or pet him and he does bite, he just puts his ears back, tail starts to slap around and he keeps coming to attack me. I try not to move my arm and just tell him to stop while blowing on his face and once he lets go, I get up and leave the room without giving him attention for him to learn that it's OK to play, but it's not OK to chew on my arm.
Despite spending the last 2 months training him to stop biting, he hasn't improved a bit. So the real problem now is that, when Ozzy is playing with the new kitten, Rosie, he starts biting her. Even when she is surrendering and/or hiding, he makes sure he finds her and bites her whenever he can. She growls, hisses, tries to run... She is clearly in distress while he has a body language that shows that he is playing (tail up, ears pointing forward).
He is still biting me on a daily basis and now he also starts chasing and biting her at random times. Sometimes she is just playing with her favourite toy – a strip of cardboard – and Ozzy just jumps right on top of her and bites her. She tries her best to squirm away and runs but Ozzy just follow her whenever she goes and keeps trying to bite her.
They also play a lot together, mainly tag. Rosie chases Ozzy, Ozzy chases Rosie... But then, suddenly, Ozzy starts trying to bite her and won't let her go. It's really hard for me to understand what causes this aggression being that they were initially playing.
I have also tried separating them if I notice that Rosie just gave up and she is taking the bites, what seems to be causing Ozzy to just bite harder. She does sit for a little bit whenever we put her, but in a few moments she is ready to start playing tag again and again it escalates to aggression and hissing.
Outside of playtime, they are best friends. They sleep together, watch Cat TV (the window) together, groom together etc.
Another thing that I have tried is squirting water or clapping to stop them from fighting. It works, but they fight once every 10 minutes and as someone that works from home, I can't stop work every 10 minutes to stop fights. What also works is to create a distraction. If I start playing with Ozzy, he will either bite me (10% of the times) or start playing with the toy (90% of the times). But that also leads to problems as when playing with Ozzy, Rosie often wants to play too and Ozzy clearly gets upset that she is stealing his toys. When I feel he is getting agitated, I just lock myself and him up in a room without Rosie so we can have some play time together. That worked the first few times, but he hasn't been willing to play with me anymore.
Rosie is a cutie pie. She is a lot calmer and she just likes to sleep most of the time. As for her playtime, she prefers to chase a catnip mouse by herself instead of playing with the toy wand. Her only behavioural issue is that she likes to suckle on my clothes and/or the blankets I have covering me. That doesn't really bother me, as the only inconvenience is the drool on my clothes.
Additional Info:
Ozzy was neutered two weeks ago. He didn't really display any sexual behaviours aside from masturbating.
Rosie is not spayed yet, as the rescue organization said she was too small. I am taking her to spay next week.
I also foster a feral cat, but the feral cat doesn't really interact with the kittens. She just likes to lay down nearby and watch me do stuff. She doesn't like to be pet and any sudden movements or loud noises (and even looking at her, sometimes) may scare her away.
I have also attached some pictures of Ozzy and Rosie's downtime
Ozzy is the blue cat and Rosie is the white cat.
