Playing or Fighting? (Older cat new kitten)

[fredsterkitty]

I have a kitten, Frederick, he's about 6 weeks old now. I have another cat, Wilson who is about 7 or 8 years old (he was a rescue and I got him at about a year the shelter said)

When they were first introduced, Wilson would hiss at him A LOT. Then over the week Wilson basically stopped hissing at him at all. Now Wilson likes to kind of pin him down and lick/bite/nip at him. Frederick does the same back (pounces on him a lot too) however when Wilson does this to Frederick, Frederick squeals and meows loudly. Yet I can't see any damage has been actually done and when Wilson lets him go he just gets back up and pounces on him again, yet I swear it sounds like Frederick is in pain when Wilson nips/bites him. Some times Wilson pins him down just to lick him (which also makes him squeal) but it doesn't appear as if he's really attempting to HURT Frederick. I'm not sure if this is aggression or playing. I don't hear growling or hissing but it seems to get pretty violent (probably only because Wilson is HUGE like 15 pounds and Frederick is only about a pound if that). Frederick is a recent rescue and Wilson if he gets too annoyed usually just goes somewhere Frederick can't get to (as he can hop onto things and Frederick is too small for that still) but how am I supposed to know if this is aggression or playing? It's far more obvious with dogs than cats.

 

[freyaandzelda]

I was actually in a similar situation, although the age difference between my cats is not as drastic. Right now, my Zelda is 9 weeks and Freya is 5 months. I found Zelda at six weeks old, same age as Frederick. Even at 4-5 months old, Freya was (and still is) much larger than Zelda. After the initial introductions and nervousness, they began to play together, and they played rough. Freya would grab Zelda and bunny kick, she would bite at the kitten, she would pounce on her. Most of the time Zelda would cry like it was upsetting her, but she never had a scratch on her and always went back for more. Per advice from this community, I let them play and just supervised them. Wilson is also probably asserting his dominance, which Frederick is too small to care about right now. He will also be teaching Frederick cat manners, since Frederick doesn't have his mommy to teach him these things anymore. That's why it's generally recommended that kittens stay with mommy until they are around ten weeks old- although in some cases, like yours and mine, this isn't always possible- they learn how to act and play properly with the help of momma cat and their siblings.

With Wilson as big as he is, you may want to supervise the play and make sure he isn't being too rough. I was concerned with Freya playing rough with my six week old kitten, and she only clocks in at 4.5 pounds and is only older by a couple of months. I would say if neither cat is actively trying to run away or hide they are probably just playing, but with the size difference you probably should keep an eye on them for now and not leave them alone together. It doesn't sound like Wilson would hurt Frederick intentionally, but it would be fairly easy for him to do so accidentally.

Good luck!

 

[fredsterkitty]

I did read that as long as neither cat is hissing too much or growling a lot then it's more than likely play. I read that sometimes cats MAY hiss during play once in a while but if there is continual hissing then it's best to break it up. Sometimes it seems like Wilson is biting Frederick really hard but then as soon as Wilson lets him go he pounces on Wilson. I haven't seen any actual aggression other than when Frederick tries to take Wilson's food (which I fixed by getting them each their own dishes) Frederick is really REALLY overly dominant about food, will get into the dish and sit there when he eats and Wilson just pulls him away, but so far so good neither is hurt. Thanks and good luck yourself.