The cat in question is the first cat I have ever owned, he is 7 or 8 years old now and still riddled with poor socialization that me and my family inflicted on him simply because we didn't know any better :/ He showed up at our door when he was 4 or 5 months old so I don't know anything about his earliest kittenhood, but the mistake we made was keeping him as the only kitten when he obviously needed a feline influence in his life. He never learned when the level of aggressiveness he displayed in playing was inappropriate, and that eventually got him kicked out of my parents home, so now he is living with me and my other cats.
Instructions on how to curb aggressive play in kittens revolve around doing something the kitten doesn't like, like stopping the play and ignoring him. I didn't know that when he was a kitten, I just thought that was what kittens were like and that I had to put up with it. Now I wonder, does that suggestion really work in practice? My new cats (or should I say kittens as they're only 7 months old) are wonderfully socialized and accepted the newcomer fairly soon; he was quite a bit puzzled at first but now he's sleeping with them in a kitty pile, approaching them to groom their fur, allowing them to groom his - they are generally getting along very well. Except when it comes to playing. The old cat simply doesn't know how to play, I can only assume he was separated from his mother too early and never learned that lesson and then we neglected to teach him when he joined our family. When he goes overboard, the kittens will hiss at him and scratch him, then stop the play and leave. But I am not sure he's taking the message. Is there any hope they will teach him the playground rules?
Instructions on how to curb aggressive play in kittens revolve around doing something the kitten doesn't like, like stopping the play and ignoring him. I didn't know that when he was a kitten, I just thought that was what kittens were like and that I had to put up with it. Now I wonder, does that suggestion really work in practice? My new cats (or should I say kittens as they're only 7 months old) are wonderfully socialized and accepted the newcomer fairly soon; he was quite a bit puzzled at first but now he's sleeping with them in a kitty pile, approaching them to groom their fur, allowing them to groom his - they are generally getting along very well. Except when it comes to playing. The old cat simply doesn't know how to play, I can only assume he was separated from his mother too early and never learned that lesson and then we neglected to teach him when he joined our family. When he goes overboard, the kittens will hiss at him and scratch him, then stop the play and leave. But I am not sure he's taking the message. Is there any hope they will teach him the playground rules?
I guess he attacked my family out of boredom, I don't think he had enough stimulation sadly in my parents' house. He was alone most of the day and the few hours they could play with him in the evening simply wasn't enough. Now he does the same thing kittens do, he comes to me for cuddles and when he wants rough play and chase he turns to his feline companions. I just *hope* he will learn to be gentle with them too, and that these fights are just reorganizing hierarchy in their orders. I'm not sure if he can ever be truly happy in a multicat household, having been an only cat all his life.
