# Kitten problems



## Vikingtorti (Jun 28, 2012)

Hi

We have Six adult cats, one youngster of 10 months & a 14 week old male kitten. Our oldest cat's male and the rest bar the kitten, lare female. Introductions went well, kitten was accepted with no problems bar occasional hiss. Our cats don't have a problem with other animals.

The kitten however is very aggressive towards our other cats and after really hurting our 10 month old Hazel last night we are unsure whether we will be able to keep him or not. We have had him a week. When one of the cats comes into the room he goes into prey mode, crouches down and springs landing on their backs, he clings on with his claws and bites them so hard they cry out. The only one capable of putting Boomer in his place is our older male, yet even that said, Boomer will still try his luck every now & then. Last night he landed on Hazel,and bit her so hard, she could not put her back leg under her. He had bit her on the knee, you could see the bite. None of the cat's will come into the house now.

With people and the dogs he is fine, perfect pet. He does not seem to like other cats. When you watch him objectively you will see him going into prey drive and will stay that way until he drives all the cats out. Hazel is ok, although she is still limping today.

At the Cat Shelter they said he used to bully the younger cat's and do this to them, jump on them to bite and make them cry out so they let him play with a male youngster of hazel's age who could cope with him. They thought he would be ok with us as Hazel was an older kitten and could hopefully cope with him, sadly that does not appear to be the case. 

We don't want to,give up on this little guy however have to put our other cat's needs first.

Any advice would be welcome

Thank you

Vik x


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## seraphinious (Jun 18, 2012)

Very difficult. 

What have you tried? Do you know anything of his history?


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## Vikingtorti (Jun 28, 2012)

He came in with some other kittens all of which were homed weeks ago. 

We have tried lifting him away from the others when he tried to bite them and saying "ah ah".tried giving him time out for few minutes at a time as he is very young we don't think he will understand anytime longer. Tried stoping him in mid flight as he chases one of the others. Tried holding him firmly but gently. Nothing works


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## RabbitMonster (Mar 20, 2012)

I would start all over again with intros. A week is a very short time to judge, and if this kitten hasn't been socialised properly (which is what it sounds like), he's not going to know what's right and wrong.

I think you should put him in his safe room and introduce him to your alpha cat. Get a relationship between them established first, and get the kitten socialised, and then start introducing to other cats.

If you see the kitten go to pounce, distract him with a dangly toy or wave a tail in front of his face.


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## scatchy (Nov 29, 2011)

I cannot help thinking this kitten might be better in a home as an only cat.
If he is acting like this now he could be a lot more dominant when he is a mature cat and that could result in a difficult life for your other cats.
His behaviour could be due to a lack of socialisation but don't underestimate the cats own individual nature, which you cannot change.
Some cats are bossy by nature just as some are timid, etc.


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## tamm (May 4, 2012)

scatchy said:


> I cannot help thinking this kitten might be better in a home as an only cat.
> If he is acting like this now he could be a lot more dominant when he is a mature cat and that could result in a difficult life for your other cats.
> His behaviour could be due to a lack of socialisation but don't underestimate the cats own individual nature, which you cannot change.
> Good post


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## Vikingtorti (Jun 28, 2012)

Things are slightly better, all our our cats have stood up to Boomer except the little 10 mth girl, Hazel, she just runs away. We think the word 'no' is beginning to sink in. We have told the rescue we will give it a certain amount of time & then make a decision & they are agreeable with that.


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## Vikingtorti (Jun 28, 2012)

He has now started to grip us round the ankles and bite - any suggestions for this


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## jenny armour (Feb 28, 2010)

maybe you should get him checked out at the vets to make sure there is nothing more sinister.


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## RabbitMonster (Mar 20, 2012)

Vikingtorti said:


> He has now started to grip us round the ankles and bite - any suggestions for this


Yes, this is normal kitten behaviour. You need to show him boundaries if you don't want this to continue, take him off and say no very firmly.


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## Vikingtorti (Jun 28, 2012)

jenny armour said:


> maybe you should get him checked out at the vets to make sure there is nothing more sinister.


 He was at the vets on Tuesday and pronounced fit and healthy and a great purrer.


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## Vikingtorti (Jun 28, 2012)

Rabbitmonkee said:


> Yes, this is normal kitten behaviour. You need to show him boundaries if you don't want this to continue, take him off and say no very firmly.


We were lucky with our other cats as none of them did it


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## Vikingtorti (Jun 28, 2012)

Wee update. We still have him. Lot bigger now and just as mad. Skims up and down the curtains & when he gets to near top, he hesitates for a split second to release one paw to "wave" at us - this little guy has a sense of humour

The older cats are remarkably tolerant of him, he has been neutered couple weeks ago so maybe in few months time he will settle down a bit. He is a very loving kitten towards us - most of the time


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## Simba9952 (Apr 25, 2009)

He will kind of grow out of this phase, what I would say is when he is in prey mode - separate him into a room on his own for 20 mins. Do this each time and he will calm down if not stop completely.

Also try playing with him and the other cats together, this may help with integration !

Frodo, a cat my partner and I found is also highly strung and when he was younger my parents went through the same ordeal. He is still highly strung but has calmed down a lot and is now best mates with the cat he used to make squeal everyday


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## RabbitMonster (Mar 20, 2012)

Vikingtorti said:


> Wee update. We still have him. Lot bigger now and just as mad. Skims up and down the curtains & when he gets to near top, he hesitates for a split second to release one paw to "wave" at us - this little guy has a sense of humour
> 
> The older cats are remarkably tolerant of him, he has been neutered couple weeks ago so maybe in few months time he will settle down a bit. He is a very loving kitten towards us - most of the time


Only just seen this, sounds like he's settled in well! His hormones will take 3-4 weeks to calm down, but after that you should see a very different kitty. Great news the older cats are accepting him, keep up the great work!

Can we see some pics now please?


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## Vikingtorti (Jun 28, 2012)

Still have the rascal, he is now very much part of the family even if he can still be dominant, deliciously loud purr


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