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Still helping the new kitten and resident adult (year old) cat get used to each other. It's been about a month now and we're still doing brief periods of closely supervised interaction, never leaving the two alone together. The two constantly chase either other, rough house, swat at each other, but I hear no growling from the adult cat. When things get rougher than I'm comfortable with, I pick one cat up and off it goes to its room. This is generally when the adult cat has the kitten pinned on the floor, usually around the neck--adult cat is often licking the kitten's head at the same time (?). Am I right to intervene? I don't want injuries.
If the adult cat is licking the kitten I would leave them alone to it. We just got a kitten a little over a week ago and the 3 yr. old female will pin Samson down and lick him. As long as there is no blood drawn I wouldn't worry. It's natural for them to rough house and swat each other. It's how they play. You also said there is no growling and that is a good sign. I've left Samson alone with the other 4 cats and there have been no problems. The baby has to learn his place in the pecking order and the adult cats are teaching him. If it turns ugly you will be able to tell...there is no mistaking the sound of an angry cat. Good luck and have fun with them!
It's grooming behavior. My 2 yr old will pin my 7 y/o to groom him and the other way around. The more you intervene, the longer they will take to adjust to each other. Unless one is yowling in pain, I'd leave them to it but watch them. Cats play by play-fighting, as do dogs. It looks and can sound bad, but unless someone is howling or yelping in pain, it's fun to them. Hard as it is to understand!
It's a good idea to still keep an eye on them...but, this is pure kitten/cat interaction. As long as kitten isn't yowling his head off, leave them be. Jax has only be in the house for 2 weeks or so...has gotten along great with the other cats and dog...but 2 of my other cats, the big males, sometimes don't know their own strength and could get carried away in their play....so play time is monitored at all times.
It's a good idea to still keep an eye on them...but, this is pure kitten/cat interaction. As long as kitten isn't yowling his head off, leave them be. Jax has only be in the house for 2 weeks or so...has gotten along great with the other cats and dog...but 2 of my other cats, the big males, sometimes don't know their own strength and could get carried away in their play....so play time is monitored at all times.
This was my main concern--that the adult cat doesn't know her own strength and size. But it sounds like I need to let them go at it for longer periods each day *under* close supervison. Kitten just won't leave the adult cat alone--and just chases her, jumps on her whenever he sees her.
This kitten is slow to learn! The adult can pins him down, swats at him, does judo tosses, and the kitten keeps coming back for more! Cat must be really annoyed with this little guy who can't leave her alone for a single second when he's out of his room. I leave them together as long as possible at a time. It is funny to watch them because the kitten actually is good at sneaking up behind her when he's "stalking" her. The two cats collided in mid air a few days ago just when the dog rounded the corner so it was a 3 way collision!
My cats still do the licking thing nearly 2 years after I brought the second one home. It's so funny to watch them sometimes. DC will get up, look around and spot Nudge sleeping on the couch and decide, "Yep, it's time to groom her again." So he wakes her up and at first she'll just lie there with her eyes screwed shut putting up with the attention. Then she'll start licking him back and then she decides, "Ok that's enough!" and attacks him.
Then they chase each other around, knock each other down, wrestle and pin each other to the floor BUT (and this is important) they never hurt each other. Occasionally one of them will squawk if the other is sitting on their head or something, but they never draw blood.
This is just what kittens do....no rhyme or reason....stalk, attack and play.
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Good luck and have fun with them!
