Younger Kitten won't allow my other cat to play?

[kristina marie]

So I have a cat who is almost 2 years old and a newer kitten is is abut 6 months old.  The love each other and with play with one another however when it comes to toys the situation is completely different. They are both very playful and active but my issue is no matter what the toy is whether it be a ball or the laser my kitten will not allow my other cat to play. I will give them both a ball and once she hears him playing with his she immediately runs over and takes his away. Same with the laser as soon as she hears him tearing after it she gets right there and he stops playing. I feel bad because I feel like my older cat can't play ever and I cannot hold the kitten down. So I am wondering if anybody knows anything about this? If there is a way to correct this behavior or if it will just fade over time?

 

[mr muffins]

I actually had the exact same issue. The older cat was slow and cautious, and the younger cat would just run after everything that moves. The result of this was that whenever the older cat tried to play with something ( or if I held a feather or something for her to play with) , the younger cat would swoop in to play as well, which would startle my older cat and demotivate her to play. 

What I ended up doing is giving her, her own playtime, while the kitten was in another room. That way, she could play without having to worry about him. As they got older, the kitten less playful and feisty, and the cats got to know each other a little better, the problem more or less went away. 

 

[kristina marie]

Yeah I have tried to play with them separately but she has super kitty hearing lol. There is also the fact that it makes it kind of hard because they are always together..The follow each other into the bathroom, eat together, every where one goes so does the other haha. 

 

[mr muffins]

What I did was just close a door. I didnt lock the kitten in a room, but rather closed of one door in the house to make sure that the kitten wouldnt be able to come in for a while. You may say that is a little hard on the kitten, but he really did not seem to care. And besides, I wanted to make sure that my older cat got proper attention, even with the new kitten, so I was guilty of playing favorites. 

I forgot to mention the other thing I did, which was play with one cat, while my girlfriend played with the other. 

 

[kristina marie]

Thanks for the advice!! I'm defiantly going to have to try it!