Kitten Hissing and Growling Over Food

[stephdray]

A few weeks ago, I posted our sob story about our new kitten hating our older cat. Well, things have calmed down between the two of them, for the most part. They co-exist peacefully now, though they are not friends, by any stretch of the imagination.

The exception to this rule is dinner time.

Our older cat is a big dominant tom-cat, but he has never been a jerk about food. He has always shared with other animals.

Not the kitten. Oh no.

We put down a bowl of food, Mercury will hiss, growl, and even swat at our older cat--and even drive him away from the food dish. I feel so sad for our older cat, who just sort of ambles off, depressed and hungry. He weighs 13lbs more than the kitten, so I don't understand why he doesn't just swat him and put him in his place.

The kitten, for his part, actually got so aggressive with his food that he growled at my husband. This earned him a time-out. Growling at us is not acceptable.

I don't understand what's going on here though. Is the kitten not getting enough food? Does he think he's starving? Why is he so greedy and mean? Why is my older cat, who has always been a very dominant cat, putting up with this?

 

[hissy]

You need to feed your cats in separate dishes, and not punish your kitten for growling. Just leave him alone while he eats, he is food dominant a normal trait for a stray- If you do indeed have an intact tom, you should get him neutered-

 

[missymotus]

Is it possible for you to feed them in separate rooms? That way you know that each is getting enough to eat.

 

[stephdray]

Originally Posted by hissy

You need to feed your cats in separate dishes, and not punish your kitten for growling. Just leave him alone while he eats, he is food dominant a normal trait for a stray- If you do indeed have an intact tom, you should get him neutered-

The tom-cat is neutered. I guess technically that doesn't make him a tom. As for growling at the humans who are feeding him, that's not acceptable under any circumstances, and I have never put up with that from any cat or dog I've ever owned.

 

[stephdray]

Originally Posted by missymotus

Is it possible for you to feed them in separate rooms? That way you know that each is getting enough to eat.

Yes. I'd hate to have to start doing that--I was hoping there was a way I could get the kitten to be nice. But if it is normal behavior for him to be a greedy little thing with the food, then I'll feed them separately.

 

[notme1295]

I noticed the growling with my new shelter kitten too. I don't know if you have any idea where your kitten came from, but even being at the shelter might account for the growling. He might have had to fight for food and the growling and batting away anything nearby might be something he naturally associates with the practice of eating. Your older cat could be the most patient, laid back cat in the world, but all the kitten knows is that everyone else around him is bigger, and as far as he knows (and might have learned in the shelter) is that the ONLY way to get something to eat is to growl at everyone around.

Once they are fed separately, and he is given peace and quiet and not in a position where he feels you are threatening his need to eat, then the growling will probably stop. After a few days of eating completely privately my new shelter kitten still does some growling if the other cats around in sight when she's eating, but she lets me sit next to her without growling at me. She just needed to know that she'd be able to eat and I'm sure will eventually outgrow the growling habit. We can't really blame them for their survival instincts...

 

[stephdray]

Originally Posted by notme1295

Once they are fed separately, and he is given peace and quiet and not in a position where he feels you are threatening his need to eat, then the growling will probably stop. After a few days of eating completely privately my new shelter kitten still does some growling if the other cats around in sight when she's eating, but she lets me sit next to her without growling at me. She just needed to know that she'd be able to eat and I'm sure will eventually outgrow the growling habit. We can't really blame them for their survival instincts...

We got him from an ad in the newspaper, and so I don't know much about his upbringing before we got him at 9 weeks. And you're absolutely right that we can't blame them for their survival instincts . . . I just want him to share nicely so that I don't have to have two feeding stations, and so that my older cat doesn't go into complete depression.

I love this new kitten so much, but I am feeling so guilty about how unhappy he is making my older cat

(the kitten)

(the older cat--all sad)

 

[jesika lin]

i have two  2 1/2 month old kittens and one of them is very aggressive with food. once she starts eating, if anything touches her dish she will not only growl, she will swat and dig claws into anything in the vicinity of her food dish. i had been feeding them out of one of those dishes with two sections, each in their own half, but if their heads got too close and whiskers touched she would swat at her brother with claws. he started to get scared to eat out of his own side of the dish and would slink away. she is normally a very sweet kitty, shes very cuddly, and usually they get along perfectly well-- they only playfight, they dont hurt each other.

i started feeding them out of two dishes, maybe two feet apart. i also started actually taking their bowls into the kitchen and filling the dishes out of their reach, because she would swat at me even when i started filling her bowl. now, they even know which bowl is theirs-- when i put the bowls down, they each always run to the same side every time. i for the most part leave them alone while theyre eating, but usually when they first start eating i will pet each of them on the back a few times, hopefully to reinforce that not fighting is good. she now doesnt mind me petting her when she eats, i guess the competition is gone so she has calmed down.

the kittens were from two combined litters of 11 kittens total, so im guessing there was just a lot of competition for food. i think maybe, if you feed your kitten by itself, it will learn that it will always have food and will be able to get it without competition, and i think it should calm down. i dont think growling and real aggression is okay from a cat either, but maybe you just need to give the kitten more of a comfort zone where it does not feel that its food is threatened, and once its being fed consistently this way hopefully there will be no problems.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Welcome to TCS Jesika!  Your kitties sound like cuties!  This thread is a few years old; I'm not sure if the OP still comes around so they may not see your response. 

Please come introduce yourself and tell us more about your kitties in our New Cats on the Block forum: http://www.thecatsite.com/f/20/new-cats-on-the-block   Pictures are always welcome too!