Expert: Norman Auspitz - 5/24/2009

Question
Hello there! I have a few questions that I hope you can give me answers to. I have gotten a kitten and have had him for 6 weeks. He is a domestic breed and he is very hyper active. He has toys galore and our full attention most of the time. He is a very friendly cat but he (most of the time) plays very very rough with us. He bites and scratches HARD. We try to calm him but he is a bit strong willed. I believe that since we have gotten him from 4 weeks old that maybe this can be why he plays with us so rough.We are his only companions. We are adopting a new kitten who is about 4 weeks old. It is also a  boy who is currently living in a bush at my sister and laws home. She found these kittens and now I am going to be adopting one so that my 10 week old kitten has a friend and so that I can save one of them from being feral. We do not know what exact breed the kitten is but he looks part bobcat(stubby tail, bobcat ears, but with an orange tabby marking). Telling you all the information I have above this leads to several questions....
What can I do to determine if this new kitten is a "hybrid"?

Do you think a new kitten will impact my current kittens behavior for the good as far as the rough playing goes? Or do you think he will continue to bite and scratch us really hard constantly as he does now?

If this new kitten is indeed a hybrid, would vaccinations harm him?  

Answer
Nicole,

One of the things you are experiencing is that 4 weeks is entirely too young for a kitten to be away from its mother.  At 4 weeks, it would not be properly weaned. At 10 weeks, kittens are all bounce and play and have not really developed personalities yet.

If you were to watch a litter of kittens at play you would be appalled out how roughly they play with each other and their mother.  Cats and kittens, in particular, have very tough skin, so it is normal to do lots of biting and scratching.  They have to learn that the biting/scratching behavior is unacceptable with us softer skinned humans.  We like to carry our kittens around, stroke them, and speak to them softly.  They love this carrying, stroking, softly speaking game.  If they begin the biting scratching behavior, we immediately put the kitten down and walk away.  It usually does not take them long to figure out the biting/scratching behavior with humans is not acceptable.  In addition, it is critical that no one in the household rough house with the kittens.  Humans should play with them gently.  This can be tough to make sure any children follow this rule, but it will help stop the biting/scratching behavior.

Having another kitten for your kitten to play with is a fine idea as long as everyone in the household persists in playing gently with both kittens.  They, of course will play roughly together, but that is OK.

As to hybridizing with bobcats, domestic cats have the wrong number of chromosomes, so it will not work.  The bobcat configuration (fur and physical structure, has been successful,. so cats in the feral population here have evolved many of those same characteristics.  Believe me you would not want a bobcat X domestic cat hybrid, if it were even possible.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Best regards... Norm.