Is my cat being a bully or playful

Hello everyone my older cat is still isolating himself and hiding and I'm beginning to wonder if it has something to do with the younger cat bullying him. When the older cat tries to approach me the younger one swats him several times. He also will try and eat his food and randomly walk over and swat him couple of times no hissing from either cat and no response from the older one is this bulky behavior that the older one is possibly fearful of. Thanks

The difference between playing and bullying is that play should be evenly balanced. One cat running after and then they change over. I think the younger cat is seeing you as his. I have this problem with one of my cats sometimes. The best thing to do is to reduce the older cat's threat at meal time is to feed him in another room.

I try to deal with both cats at once, ie while I pat one I'll be engaging the other by throwing a toy or talking to it.

Your older cat needs to feel confident and safe. Making sure to have high places as well as low to escape to, lots of play and affection from you.

I try to keep one step ahead of my bullying cat so if I see her about to pounce I will distract her with a toy or I will tell her to stop in an authoritative voice.

I try to engage them both in interactive play with treats to so they see an association between fun and treats and the other cat.

Sometimes I fail completely and separate them for a short time to umm reset things.

Thanks for the reply. I posted on here 1 other time about my older cats situation. I adopted both these cats about 2 months ago. The older one came from an abusive home and would flinch if I tried to pet him and will hide for most the day in a cat cave or other spots. He will not engage in play with me or my other cat and after a few days he wouldn't accept being pet anymore either he will hiss an growl if I get too close. I'm wondering if this behavior has to do with my younger cat bullying him or not at all. Even when I separate them he won't play or allow petting however he will let me get extremely close with tuna fish and eat in front of me but no petting. Do you think the bullying has something to do with it

Cats can become withdrawn when they are being bullied but cats who have been abused will not trust easily. It could be a combination. Perhaps he didn't like you trying to pet him when he was already scared and in a new place? It's important to let the cat come to you. 

Have you tried playing with him with a fishing rod toy? It may bring him out a bit more but if he won't play that's ok too. It may take awhile for him to feel more confident in the new space. 

I really do recommend that you don't allow your other cat to chase him or bully him in any way. Distract it with a game or a toy and allow your other cat lots of places up high (for when it starts to build up it's confidence) and low where it can't be cornered. 

Hello my older cat is slowly gaining confidence as he will now come out and eat in my presence and even just hang out. He still hasn't come to me to be petted. Should I try and pet him or only if he initiates it? Also the younger cat loves to chase him around at high speeds last night I stopped him and put him in another room because I thought he was tormenting Oscar. But then Oscar sat by the door until I let puss in boots out does this mean he enjoys being chased around even though he never gets to be the chaser? Thanks

Sorry I didn't see there was a question in the last post. He won't engage in play with me up until a few days ago he played very little with the laser pointer an then the battery died so I have to get new ones and also he is defiantly loving having the drop ceiling to hide in he goes there when he doesn't want to be bothered by anyone

It's interesting and not surprising that he will play with a laser pointer, teaser toys are attached to your hands and your hands move with the toy. A dot from a laser pointer has no contact with you. This actually gives us a good indication that there is more work to do. 

It's great that your kitty is trusting you more. Yes, it's better if he initiates it by rubbing himself against you. There are several things you can do meanwhile to try to make him less fearful, They are explained in this article:  

[Article] 10 Must-Know Tips For Happy Living With A Shy Cat

Your older kitty is not confident enough to chase your other kitty which means your more confident kitty's game isn't being reciprocated. When cats run away from cats they are prey in a hunting game. You have to get your older kitty confident enough to stand it's ground when your younger kitty tries to chase it. As I mentioned above, the game has to be equal and reciprocal otherwise it just adds more stress to an already fearful kitty.

It's a matter of trying to distract your younger kitty, playing with it to get rid of it's extra energy so it is less likely to go after your cat. You could try using positive reinforcement when your younger cat is interacting calmly with your other cat and distracting it when it looks like it's about to chase. I think putting your younger kitty in another room for about 10 minutes when it is chasing your fearful cat is great, I do that with my kitties who also can't stand to be parted but can get a little intense with each other sometimes. Cats have short attention spans, hopefully when it comes out of the room it will have forgotten about chasing.

It's only been three months, that's not very long at all and it sounds like he's opening up.

Offer your hands for pets and let him sniff but don't try to pet him until he makes contact.

There I definitely a difference between younger cat behavior and older cat behavior as with Humans. It sounds like your younger cat wants to initiate play fighting and your older cat predictably is too old to want to deal with it. If it is swatting and no hissing the younger one is just wanting to play fight and not much else. You will need to take over that and play with the younger one. I have this problem in my household and when it happens I just pick up the older cat and whisk them away. I had an older cat that passed away that did playfight with him and it was nice to see an older cat rolling around with him but that is not really the norm older cats usually want to be left alone. I think if you step in enough he will be fine.
As for the food hording you may want to feed them on separate sides of the house until the younger one calms down in a couple years.

Appreciate the responses I definitely play with the cat a few times a day. I have a pretty large house and am not opposed to getting a third younger cat to play too. Should I not do this untill the older cat has adapted more or is it OK to do