Cat help please

jonnybadd

We have a female cat thats 3 years old.
About 2 months ago we got a 6 week old male kitten.
We did everything the vet said to introduce the cats to each other and they got along fine for the first few weeks.
But now whenever they see each other they fight.
Is this play fighting or are they still not used each other?
Should i let them continue with this or stop it?

Sorry about the questions just not used to this situation any help is greatly appreciated

Nala

Hi,
It's completely normal for two cats to just not get along. Cats are by nature loners, they will usually tolerate each other but will not really be friends. We have two cats, a mother and a daughter, that didn't get along for years. A mother and daughter!

Your kitten is 4 months old, she is reaching sexual maturity which begins when they are about 6 months. She is looking to establish territory of her own and may pick fights with your other cat over this.The older cat probably feels threatened and jealous of this new whippersnapper, which is normal. The pecking order may not be established, they will sort it out between themselves. You may find that after a while, they just ignore each other. In the meantime, an angry "NO" should help. To distinguish between playing and fighting, if they are fighting they will glare at each other, growling and often hissing.

luckat

I have to disagree with Neev - I've had plenty of cats that got along, and several that clearly loved each other.

If they fight, separate them. If they're near each other, praise them. They'll soon find it more rewarding to like each other.

jonnybadd

Thanks for all the help, but some new information that i have thought of.

Its the kitten that always instigates the attack, they'll have a bit of a boxing match than one will walk away, then about 3 minutes later the kitten will go for her again.

Is this significant of anything?

Also the older cat will Hiss at the kitten when there nearing the end of a grapple, causing the kitten to flee, and thus ending it, for about 2 minutes!

Thanks again for all the help so far

luckat

Either the kitten is playing and the long-suffering adult is putting up with it, then saying "Enough, already! Basta!" when she's had enough, or else it's a dominance question, which they'll sort out in their own time.

I'd suggest that you get one of the Feliway pheremone plugs to calm the pair of them down.

Apart from that, they'll calm down as they get older. Kittens are mad things, kind of like teenage girls - they love to race up curtains and dangle there looking dangerous and things like that.

jonnybadd

Yeah hes a bit of a mad yolk alright, he likes to crawl upside down where the cusions come out of the end of the couch. Thanks anyway hopefully they'll sort themselvs out

hadook

Sounds like a normal horror kitten

When one of my cats was younger she'd divebomb my 4 year old tom and attempt to
disembowl one of his eyes for fun.

She'd also jump out on him from halfway up the stairs and he'd chase her through the house and appear to be killing her.

I do feel sorry for your cat though... Kittens are made from indesctructable rubber (well so they believe anyway!) and EVERYTHING is a source of fun. The only animal that should have to tolerate a kitten playing is another kitten.