Cat/kitten Introduction Problems

[Afraser305]

Hi all,
Hope someone will be able to help!

We have a cat (Miles who has been neutered) who is just over a year old and 3 weeks ago adopted a 12 week old kitten (Bella) we looked at all of the information online about introducing cats to each other.

We kept Bella in a separate room for a week with minimal contact with Miles. During this time we were scent swapping with blankets and cloths around the house and room for both cats and neither are reacting to the scent. Miles is even laying on Bellas blanket. We’ve been letting Bella out of the room for a wander when Miles was outside and feeding them at opposite sides of the door. We then bought a fly net for the bedroom and continued to feed them at opposite sides of the door this is when things started to go downhill Miles managed to get through the fly net and chased Bella and she hissed but that seemed to be the end of it. I’ve read that hissing and play fighting is normal. We have now made a mesh door so they can stiff each other through this but they are just pawing at each other underneath this (Miles with claws, Bella without).

We have borrowed a large crate and put Bella inside but covered two sides of it with towels so she doesn’t feel so exposed. Bella seemed to get distressed in the crate so we haven’t tried it again.

Feeding together was going really well decreasing the space between them every day until they are next to each other without a barrier and no problems, but as soon as they finish eating Miles chases Bella and bites her. We have also tried opening the door a little to let them see each other and they both paw at each other. We have been trying to introduce them around the house with more open space for short periods of time, but wherever we do this the same thing happens he backs her into a corner and hits or bites her.

Now and again they do bump noses which I hear is a sign of them saying hello but this is rare and usually ends up in a chase.

We bought a Feliway last Sunday hoping this will help but are running out of ideas now.

Any ideas on how to stop Miles biting, swiping or is this him just showing whose boss?

 

[danteshuman]

Where does he bite her? Is he kinda whacking her over the head with his paw while his claws are not extended?

I ask because he may be doing a dominance bite between the shoulders or a "I'm the top cat and you are annoying me!" Bop on top of her head move.

They say if there is no blood, screaming (cat fight sounds) or fur flying it is NOT an attack. It is a dominance scuffle or a 'you are bugging me, stop' scuffle.

Because your kitten is so young I would suppervise and break it up if things get rough. I would try picking her up and carrying her back to her territority after they eat. I wo

 

[danteshuman]

..... I would however let him 'beat her up' a little because this is how kitten's are taught mannerd.

I know as their cat mom you want to over protect! However they may wind up getting along great if you let it play out.... a bit. You can try distracting her with play if she is starting to bug him. If the kitten keeps going back for more, I wouldn't worry. If she starts hiding or running in fear all the time and avoiding him, then worry.

 

[Afraser305]

Thanks for your response.

He is either biting her head, back or belly and when he is hitting her it’s usually her paws through a slightly opened door.

There is no blood or fur flying but when he is biting chasing her if she squeaks he will usually stop for a second then start again.

If this happens then we would normally break them up or try to get them to avoid each other. We will then place Bella in her safe room or another place out of the way of Miles.

 

[danteshuman]

After she squeaks, if you do nothing, what happens? I ask because despite what we kitten helicopter moms might think, adult cats are usually very gentle with kittens. Usually the kitten wants to play/insists on play ... the older cat engages ... and wins!!!! So the kitten shrieks at the unfairness of it all (maybe some cat play death scenes to, in kitten speak) ... then gets up and in 1-5 minutes is back to playing/challenging/annoying that poor adult cat again.

I freaked out when my sweet adult cat gently PUT HIS ENTIRE MOUTH around my then 6 week old kitten's neck. So a month later that kitten punk was biting my adult cat on the shoulders/neck and riding him around like a horse, with his little legs dangling over the adult cat, but not touching the ground. My adult cat was walking slowly in circles begging me for help since I had threatened death & dismemberment if he ever harassed that "sweet" baby kitten again. It was at that point I encouraged him to fight back. It wasn't until years later I learned adult cat sometimes do that to kittens as a a dominance thing. He was telling the new baby kitten gently "OK kid you ca stay but these are the rules." My household would have been/would be 1,000 times more peaceful if I had let my resident cat 'beat up' the kitten a bit from the get go. Instead I have 2 cats squabbling for dominance all the time. Plus that kitten/now adult cat is just a punk, a beloved punk, but a punk. I should have gently disengaged his mouth off the kitten, watched them closely but allowed my resident cat show him who is boss. (Though IMO minus the mouth around the kitten's neck part.)

 

[catlover73]

My now 12 year old cat Starbuck was adopted as a 6 week old kitten. She had no concept of kitty manners. She would demand play time by biting the heads of my fully grown adult male brothers Claude & Tegato. Claude would get annoyed and run away. Starbuck is a munchkin with short little legs and does not jump well. Claude could escape her easily. Tegato on the hand decided one day that he was fed up with her behavior. He took one paw and held her down on the floor until she calmed down and stopped biting him. Once she calmed down he played with her. She screamed like she was being murdered. The first time he did this I separated them because she was so noisy and I missed what happened right before he did it. The 2nd time I saw the entire incident and realized he was not actually hurting her at all. She was being a brat and he was telling her no. She just did not react well to being told no. Once I realized he was teaching her manners I stepped back and watched. She learned very quickly biting was not an acceptable way to communicate when she wanted to play. Once he taught her that Claude bonded with her very quickly. The size difference between baby Starbuck and my adult boys was really big. Starbuck was not biting hard enough to cause any injury to my adult boys.

My hubby and I also had to teach baby Starbuck that nose biting was not an acceptable way to communicate with her humans. She would get a light tap on the nose and be told no biting. She would then be placed on the floor and completely ignored for a minute or two. She would follow us around crying at first. It was not easy to ignore her. She learned that she would not get attention for biting noses. When she was being affectionate in other ways she would get a treat. She thankfully learned not to nip our noses pretty quickly. She has always loved to groom our faces and still does it as an adult but without the nose nips.

 

[Afraser305]

Hi All,

So tonight we have let him ‘beat her up’ so to speak. There is still some chasing but we have separated them when it looks like it’s getting too much for either cat. They seem to be getting on better and chilling out near each other.

Even if it looks like it’s getting rough Bella is going back for more and returning chase.

My partner even said that they were grooming each other earlier and had some nose bumps and rubbing against each other too.

Thanks all for your advice.
Andrew