# Adult cat pinning down and biting my kitten's neck - HELP!



## Siobhan K

Hi everyone,

I've recently brought home my new kitten and still in the early stages of short introductions with my adult cat, but my cat's behaviour is concerning me slightly, he keeps pinning my kitten down and biting him on the neck, a few times my kitten has let out a loud meow and I imagine he is hurting him, I always seperate them by shaking a can of coins when this happens, but I'm just wondering if anyone can give me advice/tips/similar experiences?

Thanks

Siobhan


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## dukey

Hi

We took in a stray a couple of months ago and my kitten started biting her on the neck. I was worried but after posting on here it seems it is the existing cat showing who is boss!


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## Siobhan K

I have read that on a few different forums, but haven't seen anything about how things ended up?

Does your kitten still do this? I'm worried he will keep going until he really hurts him.


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## dukey

Mine only started doing it 2 or 3 weeks ago. He does still do it but much less than he was. Daisy squawks but they stop as soon as I yell!


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## jill3

Is your cat mainly ok with the kitten? Or is he constantly doing this.
Pinning down and biting the neck is quite common . The one doing this is saying that they are boss. it is all to do with the pecking order.
It is not nice to see and you are quite right that if your kitten is crying then yes I would stop them. Maybe when you see this happening you could interact with them by playing with a wand toy, or simply split them up for a few minutes.
Overtime you will find that it will not happen so much.
Having said that mine still play fight. Usually it's first thing in the morning.
Hope this helps.
Would love to see some pictures of the little Tinkers:001_wub:


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## havoc

> *He* does still do it but much less than he was. *Daisy* squawks


I'm gleaning from this that it's a male doing it to a female. How old is the female kitten?


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## 1336252

My cat coco did this to my kittens. She doesn't do it anymore now they've gotten a bit bigger. I thought it looked rough when she did it so I'd just make a noise so she'd stop. They all sleep next to each other now.  

Think it is just showing whos boss


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## carly87

My thoughts exactly, Havoc.


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## Jiskefet

Is the male neutered?
Is the kitten old enough to be calling (4½ to 5 months)?

If we are talking unneutered cats, the tom may be trying to mate.....


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## wind1

Sorry this isn't offering any advice but just wondered about my two. Whisper always approaches Beanie and goes to bite his neck but then backs down, is this her way of trying to be dominant?


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## Siobhan K

He is ok with him when he is sleeping/eating/using litter, but when he sees him wandering around or playing with anything then he is likely to pin and bite. He hasn't hissed, growled or anything like that though.


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## Siobhan K

havoc said:


> I'm gleaning from this that it's a male doing it to a female. How old is the female kitten?


Both my cats are male, Vedder is 10 months and Cash is 9 weeks old, Vedder has been neutered.


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## porps

Rumble does this to Tango a lot in my house, and tango makes such a noise about it... but if i split them up tango will just go chasing after rumble rather than retreating to safety.. i've also seen tango do it right back to rumble so i really dont know what to think, except that judging from this thread its perfectly normal.


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## SammyJo

My 4 year old neutered male cat used to do this to my male kitten, now the kitten is bigger he does it back, they always meow, let go then chase each other round like idiots. Then they cuddle up together on the chair and go to sleep when there tired.


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## egyptianreggae

Tiny (three years old) will sometimes do this to Simba (eight years old) but the soft grey paw of retribution is swift and unsparing.


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## Channy98

We recently just got a long haired male kitten (11 weeks old) called ninja. We have another male kitten who is called shadow (8 months old). Since we got ninja, shadow has been chirping then pinning him down from behind, as well as biting the back of his neck. Shadow doesn't growl or hiss when he does this he just makes a chirping type of meow sound. On the otherhand Ninja hisses, growls and sometimes squeals but then chases shadow after he leaves.
Me and my mum dont know weather to be worried or not as we just want them to be buddys\Brothers.
Any advice? thank you


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## Calvine

@Channy98: My most recent and youngest (14-month-old female) does to a larger, older boy quite often, pins him down with a paw each side of his head and chews his neck. he doesn't seem to mind too much, and it has never culminated in a proper fight, tho' sometimes when she has done it and run off he chases her, then they just stand and stare at each other for a while and forget about it. Shadow is still a kitten himself at eight months so is probably quite enjoying the chance to play a little (as he would do if you had adopted him and a brother).


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## Christopher Mccully

My understanding is that kittens are aware that the back of the neck of not a sensitive area to be biten probably from the experience of being lifted about by their mothers. So surely, a cat biting this area to assert dominance on a kitten is a similar behaviour. My 15 month old neutered male kitten, Milo, has been pouncing and softly biting my 9 week old kitten, Jenny, over their first few days of meeting. I have been concerned with how rough he has been with her but have been supervising closely to ensure no fighting. Jenny seems largely unbothered by any pawing or biting and I think this is the crucial element. As long as the non-dominant cat is not reacting with aggression and biting initiates fighting, it is clear that perhaps the resident cat is simply playing and there is nothing to worry about.


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## Rufus15

This thread is from 2013


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