Older Cat Biting New Kitten's Neck...

ambernicole

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Messages
30
Purraise
11
Location
Dallas, Texas
Hello everyone! This is actually my first post on here. I'm wanting to find out information on how to go about introducing two cats. I recently acquired a 3-week old female kitten (her mother was ran over by a car). She is now 6 weeks old and doing great. My concern is with my older cat, Louis. He is a 2 year-old male, neutered, and pretty easy going most of the time. Because I have had to bottle feed the new kitten (her name is Monday, by the way..) Louis has been around her quite often. When I am supervising both of them I let him get close to her, but twice he has tried to grab her by the neck. Is this normal behavior, or is he trying to kill her? It makes me so nervous! Should I continue to let them be near each other (when I'm around, of course)...or should I wait until she's a little older?
 

mrblanche

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 28, 2008
Messages
12,578
Purraise
119
Location
Texas
This is probably a dominance behavior, trying to show the kitten who is boss, but I'd be very careful about leaving the two alone when you aren't there to supervise until the kitten gets larger.
 
 

whollycat

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Mar 20, 2012
Messages
538
Purraise
37
Location
NW Iowa
Yeah, I'm with mrblanche. I would not let this tiny kitten be alone (or even on the floor) with your boy until Monday is much bigger. That bit of aggression is a sure sign that Louis is not taking kindly to Monday and could hurt her...or worse.

While Monday is getting some size to her, I would lavish more attention on Louis. He's probably also feeling a bit left out with the attention that Monday is getting and could be contributing to his aggressive behavior.

 

catwoman707

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 16, 2011
Messages
7,689
Purraise
2,263
Location
Vallejo, CA
mrblanche and whollycat hit it on the head, your older male is showing who is king of the castle, but he may feel a bit of resentment to the new baby as well since you need to give alot of time and attention to the kitten.

Just be sure to pay extra attention to the older cat, especially when the kitten is present, and it's def. best for the kitten to gain some size and the newness to fade before allowing them to be alone together.

Also you can engage in playtime with both kids at the same time, which will be alot easier in a few weeks when kitten is bigger and spunkier/agile.

They'll do fine.

The fact that the older male is neutered eliminates the question of him trying to hurt/kill the baby, but he could accidentally injure the kitten easily if he's too rough too though.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

ambernicole

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Messages
30
Purraise
11
Location
Dallas, Texas
Trust me...I'm too scared to leave them alone in a room together. For now Monday is in the bathroom, while Louis has the rest of the house. I've only let them around each other when I'm feeding her or playing with her...and even then I kind of keep him at arms reach. Every now and then I have let him sniff around on her though....in hopes that once she's older he'll feel more comfortable with her around.
 
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

ambernicole

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Messages
30
Purraise
11
Location
Dallas, Texas
Thanks for the replies! I'm sure you guys are correct in saying that this is probably Louis showing dominance. I guess I'll just keeping doing what I'm doing (leaving them in separate areas of the house and only letting them around each other when I'm holding her) until she gets older. Hopefully it all works out!
 

flowerpowerluvn

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Oct 5, 2015
Messages
1
Purraise
1
Our six month old neutered boy does that to our new 3 week old female kitty. He started softly and now he bites her neck and throws himself on top of her. She cried and we never allow it ever again. We want them to get along but we are scared that he will really hurt her. She's so tiny! We always supervise her.
 

crazy4kitties78

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jan 16, 2017
Messages
4
Purraise
18
How did this turn out for you? I recently rescued a baby kitten. My 3 year old male cat (neutered) keeps biting her neck. It scares the heck out of me. She doesn't cry or even seem to mind it, but I am terrified he will accidentally hurt her. The kitten is only 6 weeks and still under two pounds. Mr.Bears is over 10 pounds. I constantly monitor them and yell at Mr.Bears when he does it, but it almost seems as if he can't control himself. He runs up to her, bits her neck, and basically just holds her down in that one spot, until I yell at him. Once I firmly say his name he lets go and walks away. I am terrified to leave them alone together. Thankfully, I work from home. But I occasionally need to go to appointments and such.

I am wondering how your situation turned out? Do they get along now? Did the older one ever hurt the baby? Did the older one eventually stop biting? Any help you could provide would be much appreciated..
 

thescarletfox

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jan 28, 2017
Messages
7
Purraise
1
 
Hello everyone! This is actually my first post on here. I'm wanting to find out information on how to go about introducing two cats. I recently acquired a 3-week old female kitten (her mother was ran over by a car). She is now 6 weeks old and doing great. My concern is with my older cat, Louis. He is a 2 year-old male, neutered, and pretty easy going most of the time. Because I have had to bottle feed the new kitten (her name is Monday, by the way..) Louis has been around her quite often. When I am supervising both of them I let him get close to her, but twice he has tried to grab her by the neck. Is this normal behavior, or is he trying to kill her? It makes me so nervous! Should I continue to let them be near each other (when I'm around, of course)...or should I wait until she's a little older?
Now that they are older is this still happening?
 

vince

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 23, 2017
Messages
2,172
Purraise
3,540
Location
metro Detroit
I have a six year old who keeps trying the same dominance move on his three year old "sister" (both are fixed). She puts up with it for only so long and then complains vociferously, bites him and runs off. Yes, it does seem to be something they don't entirely grow out of.
 
Top