Five months ago we adopted a kitten to be a companion and playmate for our 8 year-old cat, who we had also adopted as a kitten. Both males. He was accustomed to having another cat as a companion, but that cat went to kitty heaven a year ago and he’s been alone. We’ve done this before and have never had a problem with the new cat and the older cat getting along, even bonding. They had a long introduction and have had ample time to get to know each other. The problem is that the younger cat (now 7 months old) just won’t stop attacking the older cat, who responds about as well as you’d expect. Hissing and growling and the two of them rolling around on the floor. They can really get into it. Somehow the younger cat just can’t connect his attacking behavior with the older cat’s annoyance. We’re hoping the little guy will grow out of it but right now we can’t leave them alone together. We tried the Feliway phermone diffuser with no results. Cat owners, is there any hope for this relationship?
Maybe. The young one will eventually outgrow the goofiness, but it will take time - like years. I hate to say it but your best bet might be another teenager-cat, so they can roughhouse together, and then be snuggle buds/socialize with the older guy when they’ve worn off the worst of the crazies.
Both are neutered, correct?
My first thought.
Yes, both neutered. The older cat has never been especially playful, and of course the kitten wants to play all the time. One of the reasons we got him a companion was so that he wouldn’t be as sedentary as he is.
I’m afraid if you want the kitten to stay, the best thing might be to get another kitten. It’s not fair to either cat to force an energetic kitten on an eight year old sedentary cat. Another kitten will naturally wrestle with the first kitten, and the older cat will have companionship at least a little on its own terms.
Otherwise, either keep the two apart as much as possible until the kitten grows out of its rambunctiousness, or re-home the kitten. Not the older cat. He doesn’t deserve to have his homelife upended over this unfortunate situation.
Are either cats getting injured? If not, I’d tend to let them sort things out for themselves.
I assume you’re doing simple stuff like giving them similar amounts of attention, feeding them side-by-side, providing escape spots they can use to avoid interaction, etc, so that they’re not directly competing with each other.
Seconding.
That particular kitten needs somebody to wrestle with. And that particular older cats needs to not have to wrestle.
Waiting for the kitten to grow out of it may not work. I’ve known cats to remain aggressively playful into their teens, though granted they spent less of the day at it than they did when they were kittens. I currently have a nine year old who still badly needs somebody to wrestle with; which he used to do with a cat who was eight years older than he was, until that cat hit old age.
Luckily, the young cat who showed up on my doorstep a couple of years ago fills the bill: he’s younger and larger, the nine year old’s more aggressive about his playfulness. They’re a perfect match. And the Cat Who Does Not Want to Wrestle (she’s four, and didn’t want to wrestle when she was two, either) doesn’t generally get harassed.
Yes. Or a young adult who still has play in him.
True. Especially since it seems like this particular kitten is high on the Must Wrestle You Down scale: a somewhat larger young cat might be better able to pin him down some of the time, which would be good for him.
Changing vote: not another young kitten, or another 7 month old, but a cat known to be playful who’s between about 1 and 3 years old.
Do you have cameras in the house to see how they behave while you are gone? We have somewhat the same situation at our house, but if they think no one is watching they are a lot more accomodating of each other, to the point of eating out of the same food bowl at the same time…until they look up and see us, at which point the hissing and slapping commenced.