My adopted stay kitten wouldn't stop attacking my house cat

faithist · Mar 13, 2015

2 months ago I rescued a stray ginger from a construction site. Vet said he was about a month old when I picked him up. Gave him his jabs, got him litter trained, collar, bed, and named him Bourbon. Cute scrawny little thing has the classic Puss-in-Boots eyes and does his stands very well too. Our intention was to take care of him until he is old enough and strong enough to be left out of the house. He is now a healthy 3 month old ginger with a big appetite and is way way too playful.

The problem is, he wouldn't leave my 6yo British Shorthair alone. What we thought to be cat-playing which i tried to intervene when it gets too rowdy has become quite a scare for my big cat. I mean, Bourbon attacks hard! When he was smaller, Ashley still wins most of the battles and we thought that would put him in his place, but NO. Now Bourbon is bigger and much stronger, he overpowers my gentle Ashley most of the time. We tried to separate them but it made things worse coz now everytime Bourbon sees Ashley, he ATTACKS. Bourbon gets a timeout when he does that, but it's not working. Once he is back he attacks again. Ashley is obviously distressed and doesn't really want to come down when Bourbon is around downstairs out of his timeout corner. I dunno what I can do to stop this.

What can I do?

detmut · Mar 13, 2015

is he fixed?

StefanZ · Mar 13, 2015

I think he is playing! These wrestling matches can look rough. But the British are contendend with more cautious play, so it gots too much for him.

I have seen similiar cases, where the solution become to get another playing comrade for this youngster in question. and thus, them leaving the more immovable older lady / Gent, in peace.

After it, everybody could be friends with each other again! Everyone happy.

shadowsrescue · Mar 13, 2015

First off, is he neutered? If not that is a must. It will help to calm him down. Also if you have any plans of letting him go outside, please please please do not let him out if you have not neutered him.

Secondly, it sounds like you need to do reintroductions? Did you do any type of introduction between the two cats when you brought the kitten home or did you just let them try to work it out? Cats are very territorial. It sounds like the cats need to be separated for awhile and do some reintroductions.

Do you play with the kitten to help wear him out so he leaves your more mature cat alone? The kitten really needs many good play sessions each day. Get a laser pointer or wand type toy (da bird) and really get the kitten moving. When he is worn out, feed him a snack or a meal so that he will then be very tired and ready for a nap.

Here is a link to cat to cat introductions. The same principals apply when doing first time intros as they do for reintroductions.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/the-ultimate-yet-simplified-guide-to-introducing-cats

StefanZ · Mar 13, 2015

Faithist said:
2 months ago I rescued a stray ginger from a construction site. Vet said he was about a month old when I picked him up. Gave him his jabs, got him litter trained, collar, bed, and named him Bourbon. Cute scrawny little thing has the classic Puss-in-Boots eyes and does his stands very well too. Our intention was to take care of him until he is old enough and strong enough to be left out of the house. He is now a healthy 3 month old ginger with a big appetite and is way way too playful.

The problem is, he wouldn't leave my 6yo British Shorthair alone. What we thought to be cat-playing which i tried to intervene when it gets too rowdy has become quite a scare for my big cat. I mean, Bourbon attacks hard! When he was smaller, Ashley still wins most of the battles and we thought that would put him in his place, but NO. Now Bourbon is bigger and much stronger, he overpowers my gentle Ashley most of the time. We tried to separate them but it made things worse coz now everytime Bourbon sees Ashley, he ATTACKS. Bourbon gets a timeout when he does that, but it's not working. Once he is back he attacks again. Ashley is obviously distressed and doesn't really want to come down when Bourbon is around downstairs out of his timeout corner. I dunno what I can do to stop this.

What can I do?

Please, what did you planned to do? Explain more, please.

faithist · Mar 13, 2015

We planned to leave him in the yard, coz there's no way I can take him back home when I leave this country coz I already have one more family cat back home. I'm working in Middle East and I get very upset when I see the conditions of the strays but my housemates were quite firm about rescuing them since they are not that big on cats, but they've been converted when they see how lovely my Duke Ashley is, so this time they thought it would be fine to introduce one more cat, on the agreement that we rescue him and when he is big enough to fend for himself, let him live in the yard but not in the house. My Ashley is fully stay-in cat, he doesn't go out so he is very clean and quite a pretty playmate. They were astonished at how rowdy Bourbon is. I'm pretty certain it's not playing, especially this month onwards, coz he got quite aggressive and has to chase Ashley out of the hall up the stairs and all the way into my room and kept pouncing on him and biting him. Even when i tried to hold him back, he is still trying vigorously to claw at Ashley. Normally when he bites us, a stern "No" will halt him a bit, but he does get very bitey, thus earning the nickname Piranha. Now Ashley sits at the staircase landing most of the time, wary to come down. Last month he totally stopped eating for 3 days and refused to come out of my room until we put Bourbon into the storeroom away from him to come down for a while. We tried to alternate their play time but Bourbon gets more ferocious every time he gets out of his confinement. Lately Bourbon has also taken to marking his territory by peeing at various rooms just to tell Ashley to stay off.

shadowsrescue · Mar 13, 2015

Faithist said:
We planned to leave him in the yard, coz there's no way I can take him back home when I leave this country coz I already have one more family cat back home. I'm working in Middle East and I get very upset when I see the conditions of the strays but my housemates were quite firm about rescuing them since they are not that big on cats, but they've been converted when they see how lovely my Duke Ashley is, so this time they thought it would be fine to introduce one more cat, on the agreement that we rescue him and when he is big enough to fend for himself, let him live in the yard but not in the house. My Ashley is fully stay-in cat, he doesn't go out so he is very clean and quite a pretty playmate. They were astonished at how rowdy Bourbon is. I'm pretty certain it's not playing, especially this month onwards, coz he got quite aggressive and has to chase Ashley out of the hall up the stairs and all the way into my room and kept pouncing on him and biting him. Even when i tried to hold him back, he is still trying vigorously to claw at Ashley. Normally when he bites us, a stern "No" will halt him a bit, but he does get very bitey, thus earning the nickname Piranha. Now Ashley sits at the staircase landing most of the time, wary to come down. Last month he totally stopped eating for 3 days and refused to come out of my room until we put Bourbon into the storeroom away from him to come down for a while. We tried to alternate their play time but Bourbon gets more ferocious every time he gets out of his confinement. Lately Bourbon has also taken to marking his territory by peeing at various rooms just to tell Ashley to stay off.

He is rowdy because he is a kitten and needs to be played with. If you get rid of some of his energy by playing with him this help. He will not want to bother Ashley as much if he is tired and all played out.

Also you did not answer whether he is neutered? This can have a great impact on his behavior.

faithist · Mar 13, 2015

ShadowsRescue said:
First off, is he neutered? If not that is a must. It will help to calm him down. Also if you have any plans of letting him go outside, please please please do not let him out if you have not neutered him.

Secondly, it sounds like you need to do reintroductions? Did you do any type of introduction between the two cats when you brought the kitten home or did you just let them try to work it out? Cats are very territorial. It sounds like the cats need to be separated f or awhile and do some reintroductions.

Do you play with the kitten to help wear him out so he leaves your more mature cat alone? The kitten really needs many good play sessions each day. Get a laser pointer or wand type toy (da bird) and really get the kitten moving. When he is worn out, feed him a snack or a meal so that he will then be very tired and ready for a nap.

Here is a link to cat to cat introductions. The same principals apply when doing first time intros as they do for reintroductions.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/the-ultimate-yet-simplified-guide-to-introducing-cats

Bourbon is too young to be neutered when I first brought him home. I'm also under the impression that he will be more docile when he gets neutered, which doesn't work well for him if he begins living in the yard coz the local cats are very ferocious and he may not be able to fend them off if he gets more docile. When he first came, I separated them for 2 weeks and kept Bourbon mainly in the hall after that for another 2 weeks before introducing him to other areas of the house. Ashley has lived with 2 other cats during one of my holiday trips and he did well then. When he first met Bourbon, he was cautious and not trying to make contact, but Bourbon started pouncing on him. We were amused to see a small kitten taking on a 6kg cat and thought they were playing. We usually play with him till he gets tired and falls asleep. But Now that he is bigger, he doesn't seem to tire out that much and he is getting very ferocious and started attacking visitors as well by biting their feet and jumping onto them. We have to put him in another room whenever someone visits now. I have also started leaving him out to play in the yard for 15-20 mins everyday just for him to get use to the environment and he does always hang around the yard till i open the door again for him to come in.

I did thought about the reintroductions part but there isn't a spare room to put him away from Ashley on a temporarily permanent basis. Previously when he was too small for the staircases, it worked well that Ashley stays mostly upstairs and he downstairs. But now he simply terrorizes every corner of the house to chase Ashley away. I tried putting him in the kitchen but he is knocking everything over. Tried leaving him in the bigger powder room (it is 1.5m x 2,8m) but he mews so sadly inside that my heart breaks so i had to let him out. I tried putting him in his favorite big box as a confinement punishment everytime he bullies Ashley to train him that it is not acceptable but he mews so sadly inside.

shadowsrescue · Mar 13, 2015

Faithist said:
ShadowsRescue said:

First off, is he neutered? If not that is a must. It will help to calm him down. Also if you have any plans of letting him go outside, please please please do not let him out if you have not neutered him.

Secondly, it sounds like you need to do reintroductions? Did you do any type of introduction between the two cats when you brought the kitten home or did you just let them try to work it out? Cats are very territorial. It sounds like the cats need to be separated f or awhile and do some reintroductions.

Do you play with the kitten to help wear him out so he leaves your more mature cat alone? The kitten really needs many good play sessions each day. Get a laser pointer or wand type toy (da bird) and really get the kitten moving. When he is worn out, feed him a snack or a meal so that he will then be very tired and ready for a nap.

Here is a link to cat to cat introductions. The same principals apply when doing first time intros as they do for reintroductions.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/the-ultimate-yet-simplified-guide-to-introducing-cats

Click to expand...

Bourbon is too young to be neutered when I first brought him home. I'm also under the impression that he will be more docile when he gets neutered, which doesn't work well for him if he begins living in the yard coz the local cats are very ferocious and he may not be able to fend them off if he gets more docile. When he first came, I separated them for 2 weeks and kept Bourbon mainly in the hall after that for another 2 weeks before introducing him to other areas of the house. Ashley has lived with 2 other cats during one of my holiday trips and he did well then. When he first met Bourbon, he was cautious and not trying to make contact, but Bourbon started pouncing on him. We were amused to see a small kitten taking on a 6kg cat and thought they were playing. We usually play with him till he gets tired and falls asleep. But Now that he is bigger, he doesn't seem to tire out that much and he is getting very ferocious and started attacking visitors as well by biting their feet and jumping onto them. We have to put him in another room whenever someone visits now. I have also started leaving him out to play in the yard for 15-20 mins everyday just for him to get use to the environment and he does always hang around the yard till i open the door again for him to come in.

I did thought about the reintroductions part but there isn't a spare room to put him away from Ashley on a temporarily permanent basis. Previously when he was too small for the staircases, it worked well that Ashley stays mostly upstairs and he downstairs. But now he simply terrorizes every corner of the house to chase Ashley away. I tried putting him in the kitchen but he is knocking everything over. Tried leaving him in the bigger powder room (it is 1.5m x 2,8m) but he mews so sadly inside that my heart breaks so i had to let him out. I tried putting him in his favorite big box as a confinement punishment everytime he bullies Ashley to train him that it is not acceptable but he mews so sadly inside.

Cats can be neutered as young as 2 months and 2 lbs. Please do not put him outside if he is not neutered. The cat population is terribly out of control. He will wander, fight, spray and become very territorial. He will mate with any available female producing litter after litter. Please get him neutered. He can start to go into maturity as early as 5-7 months.

For introductions, you can try a dog crate or even a cat carrier. Also you can use site blockers by using large pieces of cardboard or even baby gates covered with a sheet or towel.

detmut · Mar 13, 2015

not all vets will neuter at 2 pounds/2 months, but your cat is old enough at 3 months and sounds big enough to be neutered. do you have a vet where you are willing and able to do it?

Willowy · Mar 13, 2015

In my experience, there are some kittens who just love to attack older cats, they think it's funny :/. Neutering won't help this as it's not a hormonal behavior. It's just an obnoxious teenager picking on a middle-aged fuddy-duddy :tongue2:. The only thing that will make it stop is maturity, although that doesn't work all the time. Playing with him more will help, anything to help him get his energy out in an acceptable way. Kittens play very roughly, but they learn how to regulate themselves from their littermates and mother. Since he was separated from his family so young, he didn't learn his proper cat lessons.

Even if you plan to keep him outside, please do have him neutered. This will protect him somewhat from the local toms, as he won't be a threat to their mating territory, and will protect him from picking up some diseases, plus will keep him closer to home so there's less chance of an unfortunate accident. He'll still be able to protect himself, but will be less likely to start fights. I doubt it'll do anything for the population, since there will be plenty more toms to pick up the slack, but it will be better for HIM. Also make sure he gets all his vaccinations, it's ugly out there on the streets.

StefanZ · Mar 13, 2015

Willowy said:
In my experience, there are some kittens who just love to attack older cats, they think it's funny :/. Neutering won't help this as it's not a hormonal behavior. It's just an obnoxious teenager picking on a middle-aged fuddy-duddy

. The only thing that will make it stop is maturity, although that doesn't work all the time. Playing with him more will help, anything to help him get his energy out in an acceptable way. Kittens play very roughly, but they learn how to regulate themselves from their littermates and mother. Since he was separated from his family so young, he didn't learn his proper cat lessons.

Even if you plan to keep him outside, please do have him neutered. This will protect him somewhat from the local toms, as he won't be a threat to their mating territory, and will protect him from picking up some diseases, plus will keep him closer to home so there's less chance of an unfortunate accident. He'll still be able to protect himself, but will be less likely to start fights. I doubt it'll do anything for the population, since there will be plenty more toms to pick up the slack, but it will be better for HIM. Also make sure he gets all his vaccinations, it's ugly out there on the streets.

A very good post.

I want to add. When neutered, he will be accepted by the females into their company and their colonies. So although he cant compete with the toms, he will be very much all right, he wont be defenceless, he will instead get natural alliances with females and other neutered males.

I agree also, neutering will not help him with THIS here behavior, unles you miscounted somewhere and he is quite much older than 3 months.

but for his other life later on, neutering is essenitial yes. Especielly if you must abandon him.

faithist · Mar 15, 2015

Thanks folks for your helpful responses. I've been too busy to reply but trust me I have read your comments and pondering seriously about them.

Locally, the vets in where i am will only do the operation for cats between 6-9months old. Don't ask me why, this is not exactly a part of the world that I can easily relate to, other than just my work. Bourbon has been vaccinated, and just to set the record right, I do not intend to abandon him. Leaving him at the yard doesn't mean I don't take care of him anymore. He has a 2-year vaccination and healthcheck arrangement with the vet that I already paid in advance. And not taking him indoors after he goes out eventually is also for the better of Ashley, coz the first and only time Ashley went out to the beach, he came back with an earmite infection. Apparently the sand and dust of this country isn't very healthy for cats, so I rather not have Bourbon in direct contact with Ashley when he starts going out regularly.

I have started the separation of them since yesterday, I placed Bourbon in the big powder room, and let him out to the yard to play every few hours. So far, Ashley and him has not seen each other for 2 days, and when Ashley spotted him at the window, he was curious but not hostile. I will keep this on for another week or two depending on Bourbon's performance.

My adopted stay kitten wouldn't stop attacking my house cat

faithist

TCS Member

Thread starter

detmut

TCS Member

StefanZ

Advisor

shadowsrescue

TCS Member

StefanZ

Advisor

faithist

TCS Member

Thread starter

shadowsrescue

TCS Member

faithist

TCS Member

Thread starter

shadowsrescue

TCS Member

detmut

TCS Member

Willowy

TCS Member

StefanZ

Advisor

faithist

TCS Member

Thread starter

Latest Posts

Connect with us