Young Cat (11 Months) Terrorizing Older Cat

[jkendall]

Hi there,

Hoping to get some advice. I adopted my cat Pony about 4.5 years ago, I'm not sure of his age but the vet guessed he is probably around 11 years old at this point. He is the love of my life, a very large all white male with a very sweet, chill personality.

Last year Pony and I moved to NYC to live with my boyfriend and we decided this year in January that Pony seemed lonely and bored (he's always been a very needy cat who wants a lot of attention) so we decided we should adopt a friend for him. I wanted to get an older cat, as I was worried a young cat would have too much energy for pony, but my boyfriend fell in love with a black 5-month old male kitten, so we adopted him and named him Cain.

We separated them for the first few days and after some initial hissing from Pony the two seemed to get along well, playing together, occasionally cuddling while they slept, etc.
Cain is now around 11 months old and as to be expected has an absurd amount of energy. He is constantly chasing, jumping on, and play biting Pony. I know this behaviour is play but Pony is having NONE of it. He hisses, growls, and makes all these awful noises. I feel terrible, I feel like Cain is torturing him.

I don't know what to do, we love Cain and he is a wonderful addition to our family, and I assume in the next few months he will grow out of this behaviour a bit and calm down, but I hate the thought of Pony, whos is getting older, being stressed all the time.

A few weeks ago we moved from NYC to California and this behaviour seems to have escalated. Granted the cats have a lot more space now, going from a tiny one-bedroom apartment in NYC to a single family home in California. When we first arrived here we stayed for a few days with my boyfrends brother and his girlfriend, who have a two-year old Scottish Fold (George), Cain and George got along great and played and chased each other, no hissing or crying.

Now we are in our own place and since having a taste of playing with another cat Cain's playful (maybe borderline bullying) behaviour towards Pony seems to have escalated to the point it feels almost constant when he's not sleeping. I've tried giving him time out's by putting him in one of the bedrooms so Pony can have some peace, or vice versa and after some crying it seems to work, but as soon as I open the door it starts up again. I don't want to be mean as I've read online time out's don't really work on cat's.

So... long story I need some advice on what to do.
I am wondering, should we adopt ANOTHER young cat so Cain has a playmate? Seeing him play with George made me wonder if this could be a solution. But the last thing I want is to stress out poor Pony more.
Are we just not giving Cain enough stimulation? He has lots of toys and we throw them and he runs and chases them, he has wand toys he plays with but he will always prefer chasing Pony over a toy.

The irony of the situation is that Pony is so much bigger than Cain, Pony is a very large 15lb and Cain, while tall, is quite slender. But since getting older the roles seem to have reversed and now Cain is the dominant one.

Attached is a photo of a rare moment they are getting along, which gives me hope there is a solution

Some advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Kflowers]

the cats are sleeping next to each other. That's huge. Pony's snarling, hissing and slapping are the older cat explaining boundaries and manners to the kitten. Be glad he's doing this. It's very hard and painful (to the human) for a human to try to teach a kitten manners.

Cain is playing and Pony is telling him when he goes too far. It's the same way an older child would tell a younger one when they are playing. Or a nanny would control her charges.

They are sleeping together. Did I mention that's huge? It means they really do like each other.

Others will be by to say more. My opinion is my own, based on my experience.


I think, at this point, adding another kitten would only make things a bit more difficult for Pony. Of course if you find an orphaned kitten you'll make it work. There is a good chance that Pony likes being the kitten's dad/uncle.

 

[Kflowers]

It's always more fun to play with someone who is alive than a toy. After all Pony moves on his own, Cain doesn't have to pretend as he does with the toy.

 

[jkendall]

the cats are sleeping next to each other. That's huge. Pony's snarling, hissing and slapping are the older cat explaining boundaries and manners to the kitten. Be glad he's doing this. It's very hard and painful (to the human) for a human to try to teach a kitten manners.

Cain is playing and Pony is telling him when he goes too far. It's the same way an older child would tell a younger one when they are playing. Or a nanny would control her charges.

They are sleeping together. Did I mention that's huge? It means they really do like each other.

Others will be by to say more. My opinion is my own, based on my experience.


I think, at this point, adding another kitten would only make things a bit more difficult for Pony. Of course if you find an orphaned kitten you'll make it work. There is a good chance that Pony likes being the kitten's dad/uncle.

 

[jkendall]

Thank you for the reply!

While it is very rare they will sleep next to each other, when they do I always think 'ok I guess they do like each other!'
I kind of figured that's what the behaviour was, Pony being like an older brother getting annoyed by his sibling. I guess it's just the age Cain is at where he's like an annoying teenager, pushing boundaries, but I hope he will grow out of it and calm down a bit and give Pony some chill out time.

Will definitely not rush into getting another cat/playmate for Cain, and continue to see how it goes and hope Cain can learn some better manners.

Thanks for the advice!