Expert: Kate Tilmouth - 6/4/2009

Question
I know that you have already answered similar questions to this and I have seen your guide on introducing cats (which we have largely followed), but I was wondering if you could possibly give any advice on this specific problem we are having.
We have a 11 month old neutered male cat (Seppe) and recently (last Sunday) brought home a 9-week old male kitten. Seppe is generally very chilled and good-natured but has not been exposed much to other cats as so far he was been an indoor cat.

We have been keeping the new kitten in a separate room, with his own feeding bowls and litter tray etc and have let them sniff at each other under the door. We then brought the kitten out and put him in a large cage so that they could see each other, sniff etc without actually getting too close. That all seemed to go very well and so we decided to let the kitten run about a bit. Again, this initially seemed ok - quite a bit of batting went on (by both cats) and a lot of chasing around, but it did not seem like Seppe was trying to hurt the little one. Yesterday, we had them both out and they were running round as usual, but then Seppe grabbed the little one with his paws and went for his throat. I pulled them apart, but Seppe tried to do it again so I took the little one back to his room. This morning, when I opened the door to the room, the little one rushed out. The first thing Seppe did was try to grab him and bite his throat. It doesn't seem that Seppe is playing with him - it seems more aggressive than that. Also, Seppe is a huge cat (a British blue - almost 6kg) and the little one is tiny (500grams), so even if Seppe were just playing, I am worried it could end in disaster.

I know it's early days yet (not yet a week), but do you think this is a sign of true aggression or could it be playing?  

Many thanks!!  

Answer
Hi
it sounds to me like playing with a little bit of dominance to me.

However I would keep them  apart for a few more weeks with regular supervised visits. This will give the kitten a little more time to grow and also will allow the older cat to become more familiar with the kittens smell etc.

Often cat play and also dominance can look rather aggressive but often it is not. i have seen kittens playing with each other and they grab the throat alot. but as you say with the size difference it could turn into an accident.

As you say it is early days. i am sure given time they will settle down with each other, with just the occasional spat.

best wishes Kate
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