I have two kitties. Max is 12 years old, and Ninja is about 4 months old.
Ninja was adopted from the humane society after my 17.5 year old cat Sam died. Max used to try to get close to Sam, but Sam would get mad at him when he tried grooming him and swat him away. I always saw Max go up and start licking him as his attempt to pick a fight, but now I know Sam was the one that didn't want a friendship.
Max and Ninja get along fine for the most part. I've seen Max groom the kitten many times (I always expected him to attack the kitten after grooming like he did with Sam, but he just kept on cleaning him). I've seen them hanging out together on the bed with no problems as well, so I know in time they will be completely fine.
The only problem is that the kitten, well is a kitten. He plays very rough with Max, and instead of Max telling him enough is enough he'll just run off and get out of reach. I'm sure as the kitten matures it won't be much of a problem, but in the mean time it just seems so unfair to Max. He'll be relaxing and the kitten will come flying out of nowhere and attack with all his might. I've even seen him pull some of Max's hair out a few times. The kitten's body language is saying that it's all in good fun, so I'm not worried about their compatibility at all.. I just wish there was a way to get him to not be so rough with Max.
Is there anything I can do, or do we just have to wait it out until he grows up a little?
Ninja was adopted from the humane society after my 17.5 year old cat Sam died. Max used to try to get close to Sam, but Sam would get mad at him when he tried grooming him and swat him away. I always saw Max go up and start licking him as his attempt to pick a fight, but now I know Sam was the one that didn't want a friendship.
Max and Ninja get along fine for the most part. I've seen Max groom the kitten many times (I always expected him to attack the kitten after grooming like he did with Sam, but he just kept on cleaning him). I've seen them hanging out together on the bed with no problems as well, so I know in time they will be completely fine.
The only problem is that the kitten, well is a kitten. He plays very rough with Max, and instead of Max telling him enough is enough he'll just run off and get out of reach. I'm sure as the kitten matures it won't be much of a problem, but in the mean time it just seems so unfair to Max. He'll be relaxing and the kitten will come flying out of nowhere and attack with all his might. I've even seen him pull some of Max's hair out a few times. The kitten's body language is saying that it's all in good fun, so I'm not worried about their compatibility at all.. I just wish there was a way to get him to not be so rough with Max.
Is there anything I can do, or do we just have to wait it out until he grows up a little?