Trouble in Cat town.. advice needed

Mouser138

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Hi all,

New members here and we need some advice: we have 2 male cats: 1 older one , Cole, who is 12 yrs and we just got a new kitten, Amorette , who is like 4 or 5 months and by recommendation of our vet has not been fixed yet but will be next month. We did the introduction thing, briefly, but maybe not enough in my opinion. That is what we need advice on.

so they get along ok, but the kitten has boundless energy and ALWAYS wants to play. inevitably, any time Cole comes in the room with the kitten (we try to distract ) Amorette tries to play/attack Cole. This brings one of 2 reactions... Cole either hisses or growls and paws him to stop (which rarely works unless he takes a stand about it... more on that later ) and then Cole runs away if Amorette is too insistent about it OR Cole just runs away, which then the kitten runs after him and will jump on him all the time. Cole is somewhat of a timid cat, at least with Humans other than us. Amorette is very headstrong and he goes after any food or toy no matter which dish or whether Cole is eating or what, so its hard to get them to interact together easily.

Cole almost always runs away or to his room and either hides or makes a stand there. When Cole makes a stand though, they will sit there posturing, like for dominance or fighting and Amorette may twitch to jump or paw at Cole and Cole will paw at him to stop or push him over then Amorette usually yelps and retreats,,, occasionally Cole gives chase at this point and Amorette runs to hide behind a stack of baby gates, where Cole sits or lays outside in wait for him ... and keeps Amorette back there for a while, pawing him if he comes out... not sure what that is about but i guess that is when he has had it with the situation? He still doesn't really try to hurt the kitten. Cole stays in his room a lot now though. Also Cole was the only kitten that survived in his litter with a somewhat feral mom, so we are not sure he knows the whole kitten thing.

I can't tell whether this is play or not but the hissing and sometimes growling at times by Cole worry me. They never really try to hurt each other as far as I can tell but I worry about it stressing Cole because it is all the time... or that they will start real fighting as Amorette gets older? Cole cannot hardly walk around the house without Amorette going after him and even after being disciplined by Cole, Amorette waits a bit and is right back at it... Cole stays in his room a lot more now and just about 90% of the time Amorette approaches him, he hisses and runs off. is it territorial? should we reintroduce them? We love both cats of course, we just want to see if we can make it easier for them to live with each other.

anyway thanks for any help you can give in advance.
 

maggie101

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Once the kitten is fixed you will notice a difference in personality. One of my 3 cats is territorial, other 2 are not. My territorial cat hisses if someone's in her bed. Have you tries clicker traing Amorette? Or play with him with a wand toy. I like the Purrfect leather bouncer. I shake it in front of my cat to annoy/distract her
 

ArtNJ

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Lets take this in layers.

Firstly, Cole won't hurt the kitten. Some sort of biological hard wiring exists, adult cats don't hurt kittens.

Second, kitten pestering and stressing out an older cat is totally normal, and hissing is normal.

Third, the older cats seem to do a lot better if they will stand up for themselves and wump the kitten a little. They don't hurt the kitten, but there might be a head noogie/indian sunburn type level of discomfort, which may cause the kitten to make some noise and/or seek to run away for a bit. That the kitten comes right back for more play in a few minutes tells you everything is fine. This is them working it out, and the older cat teaching the kitten to respect its signals. Doesn't necessarily work, at least not quickly or fully, but the again, it seems like the older cats that make the attempt do a lot better.

Fourth, it really sounds like the older cat is playing some, which is terrific and far from a given for a 12 year old! Would need to see a video to tell you for sure, but whether its putting the kitten in its place or true play, either way its fine.

Conclusion: this seems to be going ok, you can let them work it out. A video wouldn't hurt. Put it up somewhere else and put a link in your post. Putting the actual video here seems much harder and doesn't work for most.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi!
I don't believe it will get worse, more likely as that incredible kitten energy wears down with maturity, things should improve.

When Cole is in his room, go ahead and close the door now and then if you feel it will give him a break from your little furry baby :)
 
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Mouser138

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Once the kitten is fixed you will notice a difference in personality. One of my 3 cats is territorial, other 2 are not. My territorial cat hisses if someone's in her bed. Have you tries clicker traing Amorette? Or play with him with a wand toy. I like the Purrfect leather bouncer. I shake it in front of my cat to annoy/distract her

we have played with a wand toy, but have not tried a clicker training yet. that is a good point, we'll try that and see if we can keep his attention a little better, thanks!
 
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Mouser138

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Lets take this in layers.

Firstly, Cole won't hurt the kitten. Some sort of biological hard wiring exists, adult cats don't hurt kittens.

Second, kitten pestering and stressing out an older cat is totally normal, and hissing is normal.

Third, the older cats seem to do a lot better if they will stand up for themselves and wump the kitten a little. They don't hurt the kitten, but there might be a head noogie/indian sunburn type level of discomfort, which may cause the kitten to make some noise and/or seek to run away for a bit. That the kitten comes right back for more play in a few minutes tells you everything is fine. This is them working it out, and the older cat teaching the kitten to respect its signals. Doesn't necessarily work, at least not quickly or fully, but the again, it seems like the older cats that make the attempt do a lot better.

Fourth, it really sounds like the older cat is playing some, which is terrific and far from a given for a 12 year old! Would need to see a video to tell you for sure, but whether its putting the kitten in its place or true play, either way its fine.

Conclusion: this seems to be going ok, you can let them work it out. A video wouldn't hurt. Put it up somewhere else and put a link in your post. Putting the actual video here seems much harder and doesn't work for most.

ok well that is reassuring then, if it all seems normal, thanks. I'll see if i can get video of them interacting and post it.
 
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