Getting quite worried...

Hi all. We have a 6 1/2 month old kitten/cat - Sleeves and got an 8 week old baby girl last night. To begin with they were playing lovely and kissing and tonight its getting a bit intense.
Although Sleeves is kissing her and cleaning her, the next minute he's got his arms clamped around her and biting her. She hisses at him and Im not sure whether he's really hurting her ot not but I struggle to get him off her.
She's so tiny compared to him and Im worried she's going to be a nervous wreck or get a bad injury from him biting her.
I just can't see if he's seriously biting or not and its not doing my nerves any good!
One thing I'll say is that after he's attacked her, he'll go and lie down after we've seperated them and then she runs right past him... is she enjoying this?
Lauren

Hello,

First off, I saw pictures of your new little girl, she is so beautiful.

I wouldn't worry so much about it, but make sure when you can not keep an eye on them, or have errands to run, that you keep them separated.

When I brought Smokey home he was 12 weeks, Ellie was 1 1/2 years old. I actually had a problem with him being aggressive towards her. It was pretty much that way until I had him neutered, since then he has calmed down, but still bully's Ellie. I would say Sleeves is letting her know he is the boss. If it gets out of hand I would say separate them and start with a slow introduction. Smokey is now 9 months old Ellie is 2 years old and he still likes to attack her, at times I wonder if he is hurting her and the next I see her running by him bitting him and running away. You stated something pretty similar to that about her, I wouldn't worry too much now, just keep an eye on them when they are together.

Originally Posted by Pombina

One thing I'll say is that after he's attacked her, he'll go and lie down after we've seperated them and then she runs right past him... is she enjoying this?
Lauren

Click to expand...

YES!! I think it shows that they are playing, of couse keep a close eye on them. You should be able to tell if it is getting too serious, she will probably growl if he gets too rough. Hissing is normal of a cat in a new situation- I have personally noticed that females due it much more than males. It sounds like they are playing/establishing hierarchy. I know it's nerve wracking, but they will sort it out. Just supervise their interactions until you are confident it is all play.

Lily always hissed at Twitch(not that it did much good, her being deaf & all ) when Twitch pounced on her. She was unsure if it was playful pounce of the "I'm going to eat you" pounce. After awhile they got to where they both beat the heck out of each other & no one cries. Twitch did whack Lily pretty hard last night, though. I head it when I was half asleep & it woke me up. A good resouding thwack seems to straighten Lily right out, Twitch has learned.

My two are constantly fighting!!

After more than 2 months, Diesel still wants to kick the hell out of Portia, and she just seems to run back for more!!! But then he gets too rough, and she squeals like nothing else!!

I would definately watch them and make sure the play doesn't get too rough, and also make sure there are places for the little one to hide if she has had enough.

I know I'm no expert but my cats are only 6 months apart and when I brought the older home to the resident younger cat I didn't keep them seperated like veryone suggests. I let them sort themselves out. The younger(Buttons from now on) was curious and the new one(Simba) was solitary. Buttons would go over paw at him/swat and in general try to instigate some play time. Over the next few months they would wrestle and I would hear yelps and so forth but neither was injured. It was all good old fashioned fun for them, or at least for Buttons.

Long story short, each pair of cats are different. Seeing as how you have two cats that are not grown and one that is sizably bigger then the other I would keep an eye on them. But remember to let them be animals and work out dominant status and so on.

Thanks for all your replies. I think we had a breakthrough last night. I didnt take my eyes off them since I didnt want her getting hurt, but she fell asleep and Sleeves went over and cleaned her - she had been at the vets and was covered in flea spray so he obviously wanted to clean her up. It was so cute and I got pictures. While he was doing this, he was also opening his mouth really wide and looked as though he was biting her but I think it was just to groom her fur.
Then when she finally woke up hours later, she got up and went straight over to sleeves and rubbed all over him.
They were chasing each other all night and Sleeves was pouncing on her but she just kept going back for more. There were quite a few occasions I had to pull them apart but I just picked Sleeves up, theres no point in getting angry with him as he'll just take it out on me. I just took him for a drink from the tap or a cuddle somewhere Nismo wasnt.
He won't let her out his sight, everything she does is 'supervised' by him.
This morning she was hiding somewhere and he miaowed really loud so I think that was pretty cute.
I just hope it stays like this because I started to think Id made the wrong decision by getting a new kitten last night...
Im not going to leave them alone though, despite the good behaviour as I had to pull them apart this morning so they cant be trusted just yet.
She knows that when she runs it gets his attention and he bombs after her and she keeps doing it. It sounds like a herd of wild horses...
She's coming on great though she's so adventurous and sleeps with us on the bed. Last night she was curled up on marks shoulder on his pillow. Im glad she's happy, just hope I can relax a bit more soon.

Lauren x

Lauren don't worry chick thats all normal kitty play My two still give each other the odd nip when they play.

Sophie used to run up to Rosie and jump on her, and still does to this day!, but as a kitten when Rosie bopped her head to tell her she'd had enough Sophie would leave her for a while then jump sideways towards her and run off as if to say " Come on then, chase me!! ".

I've got hardwood floors all throughout downstairs and when they start playing chase after each other their so noisy it's unreal

I know I know Im worrying over nothing
I just know how much it hurts me when Sleeves bites or scratches so when I see his teeth sinking into her neck it worries me a bit. All she does is hiss, she doesn't scream or anything. Its all so new to me! Marks in with them again today so Ill get an update later

The time when i say something to them but i don't shout it, is when one of them(usually Sophie! ) bites that little bit too hard when the other one cries out, then as soon as i say something they part.

She's showing Sleeves she's a feisty little madam though if she's answering back with a hiss

I agree...this is just "kitty-stuff" that they have to do to work out their relationship....but again, as others have said...don`t leave them alone together if you are worried about it. When you are there try to stay out of it unless someone is really being hurt ...like if you see blood. (Hissing and growling and scratching, biting and holding down is all normal and the less you butt in the better)
Kitties tend to want to play a lot...and if the bigger one gets too rough, then the smaller one will run off and not want to play for awhile. The bigger one will soon learn just how rough is too rough before he loses his playmate. They`ll work it out better if left to do so on thier own for the most part.
Darling babies, both of them I might add! :-)
Linda

oh the joys! Im going to go home early again today as Mark has an exam tomorrow and is trying to study but cant because he's having to watch them aswell... Apparently Sleeves got her in the 'death grip' (as Ive been calling it) earlier and bit her and she squeeled. Not good... but then after that he said they were both eating out of his food bowl, he managed to get his on camera too!
I think they both have split personalities lol. I know what you mean, Im trying to stay out of it as much as I can and not be rough in removing them from each other either just to stay calm but it has been getting too rough, you know when the back legs kick out repeatedly to batter whatever it is they are holding...? this is not going to do the tiny little thing any good...
Ill keep you updated..

She's being " rabbit kicked ".

Oh sleeves are you going to be in for it from your stepsister when she gets bigger