Kittens being really agressive

My friend's neighbor found a litter of stray kittens. I took Percy home when he was 5 weeks old. After a few weeks Percy was playing really rough with me and always wanted to wrestle, so I thought he would enjoy having a playmate. Yesterday I brought home another one of his littermates. Nico is really sweet, but Percy does not like having another cat treading on his territory.

Both cats are now 10 weeks old, and neither one remember the other. At first Nico was excited to see another kitten since he had still been around other cats during the weeks I had Percy, but Percy was attacking Nico so viciously that Nico has started to fight back. Sometimes it does seem to start out as friendly play, but it always seems to escalate. I try to distract them by getting them to play with a toy together, but they will only do this for about 30 seconds before they start attaching each other again.

The only time they are together for any length of time and not fighting is when I put down their wet food, but as soon as they are done eating, they go right back to fighting.

I asked my vet for advice yesterday, but the only thing she told me was to give them time. I really would like some more concrete suggestions! Both cats cry when they are left alone, and I am constantly having to separate them. Any advice would be appreciated!

I took a video so you can see what a typical interaction looks like.

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

When you bring another cat into the household you really need to do it very carefully and slowly, even with kittens.

Here's a run-down on how to go about it:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats

You can start again from scratch (no pun intended  )

Also, kittens can scrap pretty nastily without really hurting each other... I know the situation you showed on the video looks really nasty, and it's not ideal, but neither kitten seemed to be hurt - they're just going through a process.  But it is best to do the whole thing slowly.

Thanks! I'm a first time cat owner, and feeling a bit overwhelmed. I'll try taking it slower. My vet made it seem like I shouldn't separate them, but that doesn't seem to be helping.

How is it, it is just Percy chasing after poor Nico and beating him viciously, or do the take turns, more or less?

  Myself after your description and the short film, I think they are "just" playing roughly and vigorously...

Many cat owners has witnessed their wrestling matches does often looks quite serious, esp when halfgrown kittens..

Be sure you show Percy he is your number one.  Dont  cuddle too much just with Nico when Percy is near.  Dont have Nico in your arms while Percy is on the floor.

So Percy wont have any reason to feel jealous and be vicious because of this..

Othewise, I think you are doing and thinking right, this with playing with both simultaneously, and feeding them together (from two different sauces).

Good luck!

At first it was just Percy beating on Nico, but now it goes in turns. I think I will keep feeding them together and slowly increase the time they spend together after eating. Hopefully in a week or two they'll be more accustomed to each other and be more relaxed around each other.

Good advice everyone and thank you! I'm already seeing improvement. Since they only see each other at feedings, they don't seem as aggressive with each other. I let them socialize until the wrestling gets too rough, and then I separate them again. This is how they were playing after their dinner!


[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

I'm so pleased!  Well done!

BTW, LinaTherese, do you know how to embed youtube videos into the thread? I've been asking the mods to do it for you.

Thanks, they still have a ways to go, but at least we're moving in the right direction!

I copied YouTube URL, and then pasted it using the link button. Not sure if that's how to get it embedded.

LinaTherese said:

I copied YouTube URL, and then pasted it using the link button. Not sure if that's how to get it embedded.

Click to expand...

I go to "share" then "embed" and copy that link.

Don't worry about it this time as I've asked someone to do it for you.

The kittens may look fierce and it can be a bit freaky, but they really are just being kittens.  Doing the separation thing is a great idea.

Keep us posted!

I've embedded the video for you. For future reference, there are instructions here: How to embed YouTube videos