new kitten introduction leading to wrestling. help?

detectiveoreo1

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I adopted a second cat a couple of weeks ago named Luna. She is 4 months old and very playful. My other (boy) cat Detective Oreo is almost 2 and he is also playful. I have done all the right introductions- site swapping, feedings coordinated, scent swapping, etc. They can eat together, next to each other and even occasionally be on the condo at the same time and just hang for a minute. Sometimes they play with each others paws under the door since I keep her separated from him when I am not home to watch them. The major issue is that Detective wont stop jumping her and wrestling with her. She is about 4 pounds and he is 12 pounds of pure muscle so that makes me worried. She definitely starts it some of the time in that she'll tag him and then run away which leads to him chasing her then wrestling her. He is just so much bigger than her and she is SO LOUD. She meows loudly when they are wrestling. I don't know if I should break it up or not. They also do this every time they see each other. is this actual fighting or are they playing? Should I restart the introduction process?
 

NewYork1303

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This sounds like playing to me. Our cat and kitten who were recently introduced love chasing each other around the house and wrestling. Usually the kitten only gets loud if the cat gets too rough with her. I don't think the Detective's intentions are bad, but with that much size on her he might be playing too rough.
 
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detectiveoreo1

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This sounds like playing to me. Our cat and kitten who were recently introduced love chasing each other around the house and wrestling. Usually the kitten only gets loud if the cat gets too rough with her. I don't think the Detective's intentions are bad, but with that much size on her he might be playing too rough.
Should I stop them from doing that then? How do I stop them?
 

NewYork1303

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When my cat is being too rough an I'm worried that he'll actually hurt her, I just say "Hey" in a clear loud voice (but not yelling). In our house this is the universal word that my cats understand to mean stop what you're doing. Carrot will then let her go and walk away.I think mostly the word just distracts him and reminds him not to get carried away.
 

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It sounds like play to me too.  I would only break it up if you feel it is too rough for the small kitten.  When cats play they can be loud.  They like to mimic that they are fighting.  Yet the vocalizations are not yowls or growls.  Just keep an eye on it and if you gut tells you it's too rough, they redirect with a cat toy or separate for a bit of a time out and cooling off period.
 
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detectiveoreo1

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She makes the same sound when I try to cut her nails or when we leave her in the other room. Very intense, loud and sad sounding meows. Almost crying.

As for redirecting, I can't get my other cat to redirect to another toy. I have tried pretty much all of the toys I own and even bought some new ones and he just focuses on her. Occasionally, I can distract them with treats but I can only give so many treats and I am not even sure she should be having treats since she is just 4 months old. I can distract her but since she is smaller, she cant always get out from under him when he has her pinned down.
 

pawpawkuma

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This is weird - I just bought home a new kitten and also named her luna :) and I have a 1 year old boy Leo.

The same thing is happening, they can sit together, and sniff noses and be completely fine however he gets quite boisterous and chases her and recently started pouncing on her :(

She hisses and growls but theres no signs of aggression coming from him, he just backs off but a minute later he's at it again.

I think it must be really annoying and stressful to keep having a giant lump of fur jumping on her constantly but don't know how to stop him doing it!

He hasnt lived with another cat and I think he's just too excited at having a friend and I think its probably the same with your boy

Let hope when our Lunas get bigger they will be able to stick up for themselves better :)
 

handsome kitty

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I have two cats 6 mths apart.  Luckily the younger kitten (6 mths) at the time is large.  she has been here 5 months and is the same size as the older one.  I think he still outweighs her, but we also think she is part Maine Coon so she could pass him by.  He is about 12 lbs.

They also play wrestle and chase.  i have a hard time knowing when to intervene because Fluffy hisses at her toys when she plays.  When I see Eclipse's tail all fluffed out I know they need separating.   There was one week where I was separating them every few hours.  it got to the point where if they were wrestling and I went to make sure it was ok, they would be laying about a foot apart acting casual.  Like 'No problem here, move along"  LOL
 

2kittiesohmy

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I am currently having the same issue. I adopted two kittens. They are 3 and 4 mos. old. My male, Thespis  is 4 lbs and my female, Aria  is 2 lbs. He constantly pounces on her and wrestles her. She on the other had will at times instigate this by pouncing on him (it's happening more and more now). I often separate them when she cries out...he can get too rough. I am able to redirect him with a laser....at which time, I'll take him to another room and play one on one with him to get some of his energy focused on prey....I'll let him out and then take the other one in for the same treatment. It does work most of the time....I am trying right now to have 3 of these sessions a day. 1 each one on one, and one in the middle of the day with both of them (2 toys). Glad to know I'm not the only one. I want to be able to know the difference between play and possible aggression. I'm trying to read their body language....sometimes friendly, sometimes the one on the defense is not happy with ears back and tale puffed.
 
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