Resident Kitty and Chasing

[Sensitivemuse]

The good news! after several months Resident kitty now gets along with my 8 month kitties! we were told when we adopted resident kitty that she was a "one cat" household. With a lot of work and effort we made it happen! They can eat together. They sleep in the same room (not close but at least in the same space!) and when we play all three of them join in.

So...the only problem is resident kitty now has a tendency to chase the babies around to the point where they hide under the bed and sometimes when she's feeling particularly vicious, she chases them under the bed too. I don't think this is play chasing...as they're not taking turns chasing each other.

We don't hear any growling. The very rare hiss, and a small swat. Any thoughts?

 

[ArtNJ]

If there are no hisses and growls, its probably play. Play can be unequal when there is a size difference, and the smaller cat sometimes does run and hide. As long as they don't act afraid when rough play isn't happening its all ok. Yes, we'd prefer they initiated play sometimes. They may well be a bit intimidated. But if there were truly being hurt and stressed they wouldn't play with you together or sleep in the same room. So things should get better with time.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Absolutely agree with A ArtNJ . And if it isn't play, it is no more than, "You annoyed me, that is not acceptable. STOP IT!" Not unusual when there is a big age difference in cats. The older cat just gets fed up with kitten antics. LOL, I get that way, myself, when one of my friends brings her very active 6- and 7-year-olds over. I've wanted to chase them under the bed a time or two.

 

[Sensitivemuse]

Well today just out of the blue, one of the babies was sitting on the couch minding her own business and resident kitty just comes up, swipes at her face and it caused massive chaos. We had to separate both of them and give them a time out. After that it was moments of chasing throughout... it didn't sound so good. Is this a form of bullying or rough play? The baby girl is starting to get scared and runs quickly by resident kitty or stays a good distance.

Is this trying to figure out who's who on the pyramid as well? thanks for all your input!

 

[ArtNJ]

Sometimes cats do a swat charge thing to mean "back off! Give me my space!" What Mamanyt1953 said basically. That is normal. However, it *is* kind of unusual that its happening here after several months with the 8 month olds, at least if they aren't bugging the older cat at all. I kind of assume that they *are* bugging the older cat *some* because almost all 8 month olds do that. At the very least, they are probably flying around and tacking each other close enough to the older cat to stress him out. This likely explains his messaging. Maybe sometimes he is giving the messaging when they aren't actually acting up, which is a really crotchety thing to do!

Swat-charging tends to not be such a big deal if that is all it is, but do the check the kittens for scratches and watch to see if they seem stressed by the older one even when the older one is calm. And of course its not impossible that swat-charging could morph into something else. Your definitely hitting the age where kittens start getting perceived as adults, and suddenly real fights are possible.

 

[Sensitivemuse]

I'm completely baffled and I'm not sure what to do at this point.

One minute they're sleeping on the same bed (not closely huddled but same bed nevertheless) or they're eating together (separate bowls) the next few minutes resident kitty is chasing the heck out of them and they're running amok and they're scared.

Tried giving more love to each one. We play with them. This happens every day now

To be fair these kittens aren't saints lol they do follow her around sometimes or sniff at her. Do we just separate them when the chasing happens? Give them a time out?

 

[di and bob]

If you can, but it will all work out in the end. Your resident cat is trying to establish the rules in her domain and the kittens are getting to the age they are rebelling and want their own. I would try to see if you can distract the resident cat by throwing a toy like a kickeroo (on amazon) in front of her when she is stalking or chasing. As long as there are no actual injuries like scratches or deep bites, everything is good. Have the kittens been neutered? their hormones may be bothering the resident cat too. If anyone goes to the vet, take all three along or you will have a big setback in introductions too. That is what I do, I know it is a pain but worth it. Work it out that all 3 can be brought in for vaccinations. only one office visit charge too!

 

[Sensitivemuse]

Kittens have been neutered. You're right the babies are fighting back. At least the boy is and since he's as big as resident kitty she's a bit shocked when she gets the paw back in the face.

We're doing what we can here with giving love to everyone, separating fights and playing with all three. Let's hope they work it out!