Resident cat and new kitten interactions

[Gem90]

Hi, all!

We recently brought home a 9-week-old kitten, Soybean. We already have a 2-year-old neutered male, Toby, and I'm really hoping someone can shed light on what we've seen so far with the intros.

They met face to face on day 3 because there had been no hissing, growling, avoidance at the door or with any of the scent swaps we did. Toby was also happy to scoff treats at the door separating Soybean from the house, and because of the comings and goings with feeds, they'd glimpsed each other a few times anyway.

The initial meet had lots of sniffing and some chasing, but no noise. Now, we're letting them have supervised time together, and we're seeing:

— Soybean playing with toys and Toby loafing in the room watching him and slow blinking.

— Eating treats side by side.

— Sharing litter trays.

— Soybean suckling Toby's belly, with Toby licking and biting him; yesterday they fell asleep like that in the same bed.

But we're also seeing:

— Soybean pawing at Toby's face or tail to play, and Toby throwing him to the ground, lots of licking, biting. If Soybean fights back, Toby bunny-kicks him until the kitten squeals. Even if Soybean approaches him purring and rubs alongside him, he usually gets tackled. Most of the time, Soybean goes back for more, though he is more wary of Toby now, and he's never been injured that we can tell.

Does any of this sound normal? Are we seeing typical behaviour of an adult telling an infant off, a resident cat setting boundaries, rough play where the kitten is maybe just too small for it right now?

I just feel so stressed and wish I could skip the next six months too see if it works out or not!

 

[vansX2]

Hi, all!

We recently brought home a 9-week-old kitten, Soybean. We already have a 2-year-old neutered male, Toby, and I'm really hoping someone can shed light on what we've seen so far with the intros.

They met face to face on day 3 because there had been no hissing, growling, avoidance at the door or with any of the scent swaps we did. Toby was also happy to scoff treats at the door separating Soybean from the house, and because of the comings and goings with feeds, they'd glimpsed each other a few times anyway.

The initial meet had lots of sniffing and some chasing, but no noise. Now, we're letting them have supervised time together, and we're seeing:

— Soybean playing with toys and Toby loafing in the room watching him and slow blinking.

— Eating treats side by side.

— Sharing litter trays.

— Soybean suckling Toby's belly, with Toby licking and biting him; yesterday they fell asleep like that in the same bed.

But we're also seeing:

— Soybean pawing at Toby's face or tail to play, and Toby throwing him to the ground, lots of licking, biting. If Soybean fights back, Toby bunny-kicks him until the kitten squeals. Even if Soybean approaches him purring and rubs alongside him, he usually gets tackled. Most of the time, Soybean goes back for more, though he is more wary of Toby now, and he's never been injured that we can tell.

Does any of this sound normal? Are we seeing typical behaviour of an adult telling an infant off, a resident cat setting boundaries, rough play where the kitten is maybe just too small for it right now?

I just feel so stressed and wish I could skip the next six months too see if it works out or not!

It's too bad that you got Soybean at such a tender age of 9 weeks. Another 3 weeks with Mom would likely been better. I got my younger boy Jackpot at 13 weeks. From the beginning the older boy Miles of 1.5 yrs was was always gentle with his new playmate. But as Jackpot grew up he became the aggressor. Jackpot is now 2.5yrs. and the dominant Cat. Miles has finally gained courage to stand his ground against Jackpot .
Since Soybean is at a age disadvantage you May have to intercede more often so play doesn't get too rough.

 

[LTS3]

I think it's pretty typical as the adult cat tries to establish that he's Boss Cat. 9 week old kittens have no manners either so an adult cat will get annoyed and tussle with the kitten. Kittens are also all about playing and testing their limits. Mom cat usually teaches the kittens how to more or less behave.

This TCS article may help: Are My Cats Fighting Or Playing? – TheCatSite Articles

 

[ArtNJ]

It all sounds fine to me. The older cat is doing some combination of playing and setting limits. You can trust the little kitten -- if the kitten only makes protest noises and/or runs away during actual rough play, then all is fine. If, on the other hand, the kitten acts afraid of the big cat when rough play is not going on, thats a different thing.

The raking a tiny kitten with the back paws is one of the scariest looking ways for an adult cat to play with a tiny kitten. However, if it wasn't play, the kitten would be bleeding everywhere, perhaps crippled or dead. Raking with the back paws is the classic cat defensive manuever used against enemy cats and predators. With claws out, its incredibly effective and damaging. They do practice it in play -- with claws in. Since claws were very obviously in here, its certainly play, no matter what it looks like. Some cats are not totally perfect with retracting the claws though, so watch and listen for the noise of claws getting caught in fur/flesh -- but thats just an abundance of caution thing.

Another scary looking manuever you might eventually see is biting the kitten's neck. That is how cats kill prey, but again, they "practice" by doing it in play without actually biting hard. It might look scary, and the kitten may even make protest/discomfort noises. But it will be play, there will be no wound, and I'd exptect the kitten to come right back and act like nothing happened a few minutes later.

 

[Gem90]

Just wanted to pop back and thank you all for the replies.

It's too bad that you got Soybean at such a tender age of 9 weeks. Another 3 weeks with Mom would likely been better. I got my younger boy Jackpot at 13 weeks. From the beginning the older boy Miles of 1.5 yrs was was always gentle with his new playmate. But as Jackpot grew up he became the aggressor. Jackpot is now 2.5yrs. and the dominant Cat. Miles has finally gained courage to stand his ground against Jackpot .
Since Soybean is at a age disadvantage you May have to intercede more often so play doesn't get too rough.

Thanks, we're keeping a close eye on them. I would have preferred an older kitten too, but here in the UK 8 weeks seems to be the norm unless you go through a professional breeder, and in those cases the waiting list can be years.

It all sounds fine to me. The older cat is doing some combination of playing and setting limits. You can trust the little kitten -- if the kitten only makes protest noises and/or runs away during actual rough play, then all is fine. If, on the other hand, the kitten acts afraid of the big cat when rough play is not going on, thats a different thing.

The raking a tiny kitten with the back paws is one of the scariest looking ways for an adult cat to play with a tiny kitten. However, if it wasn't play, the kitten would be bleeding everywhere, perhaps crippled or dead. [...] Since claws were very obviously in here, its certainly play, no matter what it looks like. [...]

Another scary looking manuever you might eventually see is biting the kitten's neck. That is how cats kill prey, but again, they "practice" by doing it in play without actually biting hard. It might look scary, and the kitten may even make protest/discomfort noises. But it will be play, there will be no wound, and I'd exptect the kitten to come right back and act like nothing happened a few minutes later.

Thanks, this is so reassuring. The kitten definitely isn't afraid of him, he will approach Toby often and walk past him, no problem; he usually runs right back and smacks him to start it again. Once during a bunny-kick, we saw some fur fly off, but it was Toby's, so almost certainly he's catching his own belly fluff because it happens when he kicks his toys too. And we're seeing the neck biting as well, usually in the middle of an intense grooming session.

It's like learning a new language. So tricky.

 

[vansX2]

Both of my boys are from a TICA "Turkish Van" breeder. I got Miles the Black/White at 10 months . And Jackpot at 3 months.