One kitten biting the neck of another

vik61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
524
Purraise
1
My two kittens are about eight months old now, brothers. Today, one escaped outside for awhile but I got him in without incident. Then I noticed the other biting him on the back of the neck. Now, he was biting him on the back of the neck earlier too so I don't think it was because he was angry that he went outside.

When he bites him, he is on top of him from behind.

Any idea what kind of behavior this is? Should I discourage it or no?
 

hissy

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Feb 19, 2001
Messages
34,872
Purraise
76
Are they neutered and how long was the one cat gone? If they are not neutered, they need to be.
 

kluchetta

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
11,023
Purraise
30
Location
Golden, Colorado
That is mating/dominance behavior. Usually it's male on top of female. We've got a neutered kitten that does that to one of our spayed females. (She's his "favorite") I only break it up if it looks like it's getting too rough.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

vik61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
524
Purraise
1
They've been neutered since before they were even one pound. Hopefully nothing went wrong way back then. These guys were little ferals when I got them and yet they are very affectionate. Peeka, the part-Siamese, is a bit of a biter anyway, he likes me to use my fingers to "bite" him--and it took him awhile to finally get that through to me then he calmed right down as soon as I started doing it. (There is a video in here, my last post, of me demonstrating this) I'm wondering if this isn't part of his behavior because of some mother issue, loss of mother, more precisely.

This neck-biting just started today. Peek, the biter, has never shown an interest in getting outside, but Boo has, and he's snuck out before but so far has only gotten as far as the front yard under the window and he wasn't out very long, maybe five minutes. He goes out there to hang out with Pixel, my outdoor cat, and she lets me know both times now when he's gotten out. (I'm making them an enclosure so this won't be happening in the future...)
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

vik61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
524
Purraise
1
Edited. I just noticed kluchetta's neutered kitten is doing this too. Okay, I am not feeling so concerned.

Thanks!!!
 

jean44

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 15, 2006
Messages
1,252
Purraise
1
Location
Oahu island, Hawaii
Eric, age 9, does this to Fluff, age 4. Both are long since neutered, of course. My understanding is that it is dominance behavior, which would make sense in this situation considering Eric's personality.
 

crazyforinfo

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 26, 2006
Messages
6,773
Purraise
4
Location
Philly
Yep my males do the samething. Lucky is always on the bottom. LoL I don't feel so bad cause 15lbs on 6lbs would scare me.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

vik61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
524
Purraise
1
Oh my little baby is starting to grow up. I am just now starting to notice this new behavior in Peeka! This morning he was attacking my foot. He used to attack it under the covers and it was cute and now this morning he was attacking my leg like it was another creature....not so cute...

I guess he's going through something. Dang...I wish they could stay kittens forever, eh?
 

kluchetta

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
11,023
Purraise
30
Location
Golden, Colorado
Originally Posted by Vik61

I guess he's going through something. Dang...I wish they could stay kittens forever, eh?
well, maybe, but don't you intend on being able to hang curtains and leave things out on the coffee table sometime? LOL.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

vik61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
524
Purraise
1
Actually, it's my seven year old, who's never been destructive in her life, who recently learned how to claw her way through the screens to get outside. I was away for a month and left her with the kittens and my roomie. The roomie decided to take a second job, instead of doing what I'd charged him with doing--which was watching my felines for the month--and he totally neglected them all. Pixel went nuts and has been going through screens at an alarming rate ever since. The kittens are perfect angels....
 
Top