HEEEELP!! Kitten bites younger kittens

killika

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Hi, so I want to tell you all the story, it's a bit sad but I need your help.

Around 3 weeks a friend of mine found in the trash 10 kittens, abandoned. They were sick and dying so he went to the vet, stopping everythin, even to save those animals.
The vet tried to save them but almost all of the kittens but 4 died.
From there we gave the four little rascals some medicine and special food that the vet gave us, paid the bill and then took them. 2 of them were adopted right away, but since my friend works like 12 hours a day and I work from home I decided that the best would be if I took them and take care of them until somebody with a good soul adopt them. Both are female and are like 6 weeks, and are very active and cute but I have an older cat, like 3 months now and I tried to introduce them a week ago. There was a lot of hissing and dirty look but now that's not the problem.
The little kittens dont like to be in a room all day and vet bored, and I try to get them out and room in the house but my older kitten seems to pat them and then bites them, in the neck and now in the tummy and I get really scare because the little kittens scream and I need to separate them.

My first question is, is this a normal behaviour? Or my old kitten just hates them? Maybe she doesn't want to hurt them but plays very rough.

I would like to everyone in the house to get along until somebody takes the kittens away.
I'd appreciate any advice, tips or warnings you can give me. I think nobody wants any kitty to suffer by any means, and I'm not very experienced.

Thank you all
 

Kieka

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How old is the older cat? Do you know how old she left her mom? Any littermates?

Knee jerk reaction would be that your older cat doesn't know how to play with little ones. If she left mom/littermates young she may not have learned how much is too much play.

The kittens are young enough that they don't need much room. Really a crate, closet or bathroom would be sutible for them. For their safety you probably should limit interaction to supervised until they are 3 months old and can hold there own better.

I don't think your older one is purposefully hurting them. She likely doesn't know better or fully understand size difference. When supervising make sure to say No firmly or pick her up if she gets too rough. Don't remove her too far initially so she can link the behavior with the reaction (short attention spans). She will learn fairly quickly that too rough equals no more play.
 
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IndyJones

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Where do you think?
The other thing is your older ones paternal instincts may be kicking in. Bite on the neck swatting the nose and pinning is how mom disciplines her brood.
 
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killika

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How old is the older cat? Do you know how old she left her mom? Any littermates?

Knee jerk reaction would be that your older cat doesn't know how to play with little ones. If she left mom/littermates young she may not have learned how much is too much play.

The kittens are young enough that they don't need much room. Really a crate, closet or bathroom would be sutible for them. For their safety you probably should limit interaction to supervised until they are 3 months old and can hold there own better.

I don't think your older one is purposefully hurting them. She likely doesn't know better or fully understand size difference. When supervising make sure to say No firmly or pick her up if she gets too rough. Don't remove her too far initially so she can link the behavior with the reaction (short attention spans). She will learn fairly quickly that too rough equals no more play.
It was separated like 2 months old, and I saw her licking the kittens, and then bitting and playing. I'm going to tried that, thanks.
 

elliesvictim

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My cat used to be feral. When she was about 3 months she used to play with a feral cat I was feeding that was about a year old. I used to freak out because the play looked seriously violent. My girl was smaller and would often loose and get "pinned" or grabbed by the other cats mouth. I kept watching and no harm or sore feelings. They both jump up and the roles reversed and my girl would chase the other cat. So keep an eye on play but I guess remember they can play rough.
When there good behaviour praise the $h!t out of them.
 
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