# Year old cat attacking 11 week old kitten!



## Sophkat (May 30, 2013)

Hi everyone,

I am at my wits end! I have a lovely year old neutered tabby cat called Milo, he is such a sweet boy, so laid back and chilled...until....we got a new 8 week old kitten. He is still a lovely cat towards humans but he attacks poor little Mika (new kitten) every opportunity he gets. It is really horrific to see, Mika squeals and hisses at him but that just seems to spur him on, he bites Mika's neck and tummy, and pretty much whatever part of Mika he can get hold of. I have to intervene all the time, by the time I have chased Milo away Mika is huddled in a corner shaking. 

I tried to introduce them slowly, for the first few days they were separated and slowly I began to bring Mika into the lounge inside his carry cage so Milo could sniff at him and get used to his smell. This didn't make a shred of difference, Milo always goes for him, its like he cant resist chasing and hunting him down. Thats what it looks like, Milo goes into stealth mode and stalks and pounces on him which ends up with Mika squealing pinned to the floor. Or Milo just literally chases him into a corner and lunges at him repeatedly, clamping his jaws around his neck/tummy. The strange thing is there is no blood or visible wounds on Mika, and it really looks so vicious from Milo there ought to be bites and cuts all over him but there isn't.

Its really driving me crazy, its been three weeks now and its just not getting better. Everyone keeps saying to me 'wait until Mika is bigger so he is the same size as Milo' which is all well and good but I just don't have the space in a two bedroom flat to keep them separated for a whole year until they are the same size! It is really a sad situation, poor Mika cries when he is shut in the kitchen, he wants to come out and play. And Milo howls when he is shut in a room for an hour to give Mika a chance to exercise. I love both of my boys but Milo's behaviour is really upsetting me and it is so so so so frustrating. I feel like shouting at him and being like 'arrghh if you just left Mika alone you both could run around the house until your hearts are content!!'. But obviously I cant do that! 

Can anyone help/give advice on what to do! I have tried giving Milo treats in front of Mika, tried giving Milo lots of fuss when Mika is around, tried playing with both of them at the same time, tried 'leaving them to it' but it breaks my heart when I hear Mika squealing I have to separate them. I am at my wits end!!!

I should add that the reason I got Mika was because I thought it would be nice for Milo to have another cat in the house to play with and be some company for him. That has spectacularly backfired!


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## huckybuck (Jan 17, 2014)

Oh what a shame. It sounds as if Milo is laying down the law with Miko - showing him who's boss.
Hopefully you'll get lots of suggestions but mine would be to get Milo on some Kalm aid or Zylkene to help him feel happier about the newcomer.

Zylkene Natural Pet 10 Tablets
Nutriscience Kalm Aid (Kalmaid) 250Ml For Cats And Dogs: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies

Plug in a feliway diffuser.

And when you do put them together, try playing with some distraction toys, perhaps keep a flying frenzy or da bird toy for just this occasion.

I hope things calm down for you quickly.


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## Ragdollsfriend (Feb 13, 2014)

I wonder if scent swapping could help to re-introduce Milo to Mikka and vice versa. This is what I was asked to do for my cats to make them believe they're best friends. 

Do your cats share any litter trays? I have 2 litter trays and when Daisy moved in with us, she was locked in the room with her own tray and Leo used a separate one. But at the end of the day I had to swap them, often without cleaning them fully. The next trick was to give my cats smaller portions in the morning so they ate their food and licked the bowl. Then I had to swap the bowls without cleaning them and put more food in. Saliva is very fragrant and by exchanging saliva cats learn to recognise and accept each other. I actually used this trick with bowl swapping more than once a day. 

The next stage for me was to feed my cats at the same time but keep them a fair distance apart but still allow them to look at each other. I had to be ready to step in to stop any potential trouble. This was to let my Leo associate nice things like food with Daisy, the trouble maker. Every few days I had to make this distance shorter and shorter. Seriously, after 3 weeks Daisy was able to eat and ignore Leo who was by then less than half a meter away. Needless to say, supervision of any interaction was still necessary. They slept in separate rooms and behind shut doors. After about 5 weeks I opened the doors to Leo's room one morning and Daisy was waiting right outside. She came in and they just nicely greeted each other 

What do you think of the above? I got the advice from a cat behaviour expert who visited our war zone earlier this year :biggrin:


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## Isisini (Jun 3, 2014)

Our older cat and our kitten didn't get on when they first met, and Monty used to regularly give Audrey smackdowns if she got too close or annoyed him. In fact sometimes he still does. BUT he would always let go of her when she squealed, and ultimately he wasn't actually hurting her - just making sure she knows her place. Cats generally do know the difference between a kitten and a cat and it's pretty rare for them to actually hurt a little one on purpose.

I'd suggest trying to find ways to expand your cat's territory within your home and give them safe spaces to get away from each other e.g. cat trees, boxes, wardrobes. We found minimising 'chasing zones' in the house really helped, in fact we built a cat fort out of cardboard and kept it in the living room for about a month when the kitten first arrived.

Your kitten is very small so I would keep them separated for at least some of the time each day until he is bigger.. but take heart that things usually settle down after a while. Your cat might feel he is having to compete for resource that was once all for him, so the trick is to create a feeling of abundance: of food (feed them separately), toys (don't make them share toys), sleeping spaces, roaming spaces, human affection, play etc.


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## Ragdollsfriend (Feb 13, 2014)

Just to clarify my post above: both of my cats had to be kept separate during these first weeks. So Leo was comfortable in the master bedroom and stayed there during the day but I let him out to enjoy the flat at night as then Daisy was shut in the guest bedroom. Sometimes I changed the routine to let Leo enjoy the flat during the day.

Btw, the cat expert only visited us once and I paid about £50. She was happy to answer by email any follow up question I had at no extra charge.


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## LizzieandLoca (Jun 30, 2014)

I'm no expert at all... 

But I do have 2 kittens. Loca is 6 months and Alfie is 4. We had Loca from when she was tiny and introduced Alfie 2 weeks ago. 

At first there was lots of hissing etc and then the neck biting/ pinning down (Loca being the "bully"). It looked awful! But.. I read up on it all and from speaking to experienced cat owners, this is merely the cats establishing a pecking order which is natural behaviour. It looks so scary but it died down after a couple of days now they both know their place. I pretty much left them to it but if there were any loud squeaks I would distract them with laser pens/ toys. I never separated them but they were always supervised as I had time off work.

hey are now best of friends, they sleep together, groom each other etc (I think I'm v lucky in this respect and it's probably as they are both still young, however) Loca will still occasionally do the pinning down/ neck biting thing but Alfie never runs away like he did at first, rarely squeaks and if anything always goes back for more! 

There is a really good book called Cat vs Cat which I'd recommend and it talks a lot about the pecking order. 

What position are their ears in when the altercations happen? This is a good guide to the level of aggression as flat back is generally fear/ anger. If their ears are pointed forward it's not as worrying. 

I'd also have a look at YouTube for cats play fighting v real fighting. There's a big difference and some play fights, although scary looking, really aren't that bad - especially if there's no injuries! 

Hope this reassures you a bit!


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Sophcat, I agree Mika is too small still for the 2 cats to be left to get on with it. Especially as it does not sound as though Milo is just playing, as he is so persistent with his attacks on Mika. Luckily, there has been no blood drawn, but the fact is with continued attacks Mika is going to end up feeling fearful and bullied. 

I appreciate you don't have a lot of space but you need to find some way of keeping the two cats separate for the time being, whilst as the same time allowing them to see each other for short periods of the day. 

An easy way to do this is to fit a temporary mesh screen door the full height of the the door of Mika's safe room. My OH made one for my kittens' safe room when they were small, and I was integrating them with my adult males. It did not cost a lot and worked very well, (basically he made a frame out of wood, and then fitted mesh to it, hung it on hinges so it opened outwards, and put a bolt on to keep it safely closed.) As you retain the existing door which opens inwards it means you can close that if you need to give the two cats a break from seeing each other.

Using this method it may only be a matter of a few weeks before Milo begins to start accepting Mika. But you must proceed at a pace Milo is comfortable with, always slowing down if he is getting upset. 

At present the pace is all too fast for Milo, and so he is getting agitated, hence his determined attacks on poor Mika.


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## Sophkat (May 30, 2013)

Thank you for all your advice! 

When Milo attacks Mika it begins with his ears up straight and a few bats of his paw, then Mika is the one who gets his claws out and drops to the floor which seems to antagonise Milo who then immediately starts lunging at Mika, ears flat on his head and jaws around his neck/tummy. By this point little Mika has his ears flat on his head and hisses. Then he starts squealing but Milo just wont let go of him unless I intervene

They dont share litter trays but they sneakily eat each others food when im distracted with my toddler! And they drink from each others bowls no problem. 

I have got a room divider I used to use when my daughter was a baby, Mika can squeeze through the bars but Milo cant. Perhaps I should wrap mesh around it and section off a part of the home for each cat. And chop and change every hour or so?

I really appreciate all the advice, I hate it so much that they dont get along. Milo is so kind natured to people..never even heard him hiss until the day we brought Mika home!


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## Ceiling Kitty (Mar 7, 2010)

Cats are solitary species, unlike dogs and humans. Unrelated cats do not tend to live in pairs or groups.

That said, multi-cat households can work, with patience and the right expectations. Young cats such as yours ultimately have more chance of getting on, though it's not a given.

For now, you have TWO distinct social groups in your house (albeit two groups of one cat each). You must manage them separately and provide every opportunity for them to function separately under the same roof if they so wish.

With time, and provided with their own space and no pressure, hopefully they will get on and may even become friends. Be prepared, that in the worst case scenario, they won't. That's okay, and normal, if they don't; many multi-cat households work despite the cats not getting on as long as they have their own space.

Here's some reading for you. Make yourself a cuppa and have a look through.

Multi-cat households and how to survive them | international cat care

Aggression between cats | international cat care


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