New Kitten Vs 1 Yr Old

[Kyraj95]

I just got a new kitten, around 7 weeks old. My original cat, derp, doesn't seem aggressive towards him. Expect for the fact he will grab him by the back of the neck and will pin him. I'm not sure if I should be worried. Throughout the day derp has tried to play with him. But he is like 5 times the kittens size... Should I expect aggressive behavior or just let them work it out?

 

[ArtNJ]

Its a common but unnecessary worry; you can find a hundred posts like yours, but you won't find one where a kitten was actually hurt. That said, sometimes a full size (or nearly full size for a one year old) cat will make a kitten squeal by overdoing it a tad. This is like a big brother making little brother call for mom with an indian sunburn -- little cat may want out at that moment, but will want big cat to play again a minute or two later, which tells you that everything is good.

Some forum members will tell you to intervene just in case, or if it gets unpleasant for the kitten, but its actually a tricky thing to intervene without scaring them or sending them the wrong signal about playing rough with your hands. It can be done if you know what your doing, and there is no harm if its done carefully, but I personally do not think its necessary and you won't be able to entirely prevent rough play no matter what you do -- nor should you.

 

[catlover73]

How does the kitten re-act when Derp grabs him and pins him down? Does he complain and continue to interact? I went through something similar years ago. My 12 year old female Starbuck was adopted as a 6 week old baby. I had two full-grown adult male cats. Starbuck used to chomp on Tegato’s head to ask him to play. He would pin her to the floor with his paw until she calmed down. She screamed her head off and I actually separated them the first time it happened because I took things out of context. He did it again right in front of me and I quickly realized he was teaching Starbuck manners and she was just loudly complaining. Tegato was not hurting Starbuck at all but was communicating that biting him was not acceptable. Once he released her they would continue playing. If you watch closely and look at what is happening right before Derp pins him you may see that this is a form of communication and not an attack. My Tegato was at least double the size of Starbuck and he never hurt her.

 

[Kyraj95]

How does the kitten re-act when Derp grabs him and pins him down? Does he complain and continue to interact? I went through something similar years ago. My 12 year old female Starbuck was adopted as a 6 week old baby. I had two full-grown adult male cats. Starbuck used to chomp on Tegato’s head to ask him to play. He would pin her to the floor with his paw until she calmed down. She screamed her head off and I actually separated them the first time it happened because I took things out of context. He did it again right in front of me and I quickly realized he was teaching Starbuck manners and she was just loudly complaining. Tegato was not hurting Starbuck at all but was communicating that biting him was not acceptable. Once he released her they would continue playing. If you watch closely and look at what is happening right before Derp pins him you may see that this is a form of communication and not an attack. My Tegato was at least double the size of Starbuck and he never hurt her.

He screams but then will continue playing after we either separate them or derp let's go. I don't think he has hurt him yet

 

[catlover73]

It definitely seems like this is about teaching boundaries then. A 7 week old kitten may need some lessons on kitty manners. It sounds like this is what you are seeing.