Expert: Dear Tabbi - 6/26/2008

Question
I have an adult cat who is about 5 yrs old and mostly to himself.  My husband and I got a kitten at the end of April.  She is a wonderful cat, but we have a couple of problems. One, she has a tendency to find small objects and hide them.  For example, my earrings, necklaces, and hair ties.  I am constantly loosing these things.  Is this normal, or is she just bored?  Second, she plays with our adult cat a lot and I'm concerned how rough they play.  He has a bad habit of picking her up by the neck and treating her like a rag-doll.  I know they will do it in a nurturing way, but he  does not do this.  She meows while he is dragging her around and tries to get a way.  When I do get her away from him and pick her up the whole side of her neck is soaking wet.  Is he really trying to harm her?  Because he is still doing it I am afraid to leave them alone during the day.  I would like them to be able to play together during the day so she will actually sleep at night.  When is the right time to start leaving them alone?

Answer
Sarah,

I wouldn't be afraid to leave them alone. If he was going to harm her he would have tried along time ago, or he wouldn't have anything to do with her.

What looks rough to us is not to cats. He may be teaching her to defend herself. As long as ears aren't pinned back, major fur is not flying, and no blood is being shed then I wouldn't worry. The only time he may possibly hurt her would be accidently, and that can happen with full grown cats.

Your kitten hiding things is just her being mischievious, but boredom could have something to do with it as it is her way of keeping herself amused. You may want to thnk about getting another kitten about her same age and temperment. A kitten needs another kitten for companionship and play. An older cat doesn't have the energy level a kitten does and can't play as much, and the way, she would like. Two kittens have a tendancy to play together and not bother an older cat as much.

Also you may want to be thinking about getting her spayed. A kitten can start going into heat at about 4 months, and even though a male cat is neutered, that may cause him to display sexual tendencies, i.e. biting the kitten's neck.

Tabbi