New Member

Posts: 7
From:bronx, ny
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 02-05-2004 06:40 AM         

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we just got a new kitten who is now 5 months old. we have had him for 2 months. my alpha BIG GUY is 10 years old. when the little one jumps him or smacks him or bites him on the neck the big one hisses, meows, and walks away. Once in a while he smacks him back.... i don't understand why he does not bite him back or really give the little one a good smack. He is a LARGE,strong, cat with attitude. Why would he let this little one make him run away of jump to a highter level rather that leveling him out. i try to break them up when i can, telling the little one NO! and picking him up or pushing him away.

My last double was closer in age and the alpha made his stand. This one reminds me of an old man whining " leave me alone".

Should i let Mr. alpha cat fight his own battles? Since i work all day i don't know what happens during the day.is the little one a "terrorist". please advise.
thanks

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Member

Posts: 701
From:CA
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 02-05-2004 07:38 AM         

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Hello. I think in general older cats are much more tolerant with kittens then they would be with an older cat. Is the kitten just trying to play with the older cat? Kittens love to play and sometimes an older cat is just not in the mood so they will try and go somewhere where the kitten will not bug them or hiss and give a light swat. I don't think your kitten is a 'terrorist.' Lol. I think the kitten just wants to play. Unless you think one of them is getting hurt I would leave them alone and let them work out their own issues. I'm sure if the older cat wanted to he could hurt the kitten, but has chosen not to. That's a good thing.

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Member

Posts: 19
From:richmond, va USA
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 02-05-2004 08:57 AM         

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I got a kitten in November (Hunter) and my husband has had his cat (Anna) for 13 years. We got a kitten that was rambunctious because we didn't know how Anna would behave. We did the whole keep them separated and slowly introduced them. Now...Hunter is like a holy terror to Anna...and she is relatively tolerant of him, she does smack at him and has put him on the floor, I get really scared because his neck is wet a lot of the time. He keeps at it though...and now it seems he is becoming more dominant over her...they play more now, I do think older cats even though they can be cranky are more tolerant of the little ones.

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Member

Posts: 19
From:richmond, va USA
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 02-05-2004 08:59 AM         

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Oh...one more thing..I often wonder what the kitties do while I am at work...the house looks in the same condition as when I left, but amazingly enough they can make quite a mess when I am at home. I think they love on each other all day and then when my husband and I get home they start showing off!

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New Member

Posts: 7
From:bronx, ny
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 02-06-2004 10:20 AM         

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thank you all for your posts.

They are reassuring. It is just so weird to see your " big strong CAT" being push around by a "small cute 5 mo old kitten" Maybe you are right the CAT knows he is a baby. Hope so.
for now my husband and i have agreed to keep the litte one off of the big one. We consider it "elder abuse" and the big one has rights and we love him dearly and need to protect him. When we are at work he is "on his own" Our only problem is his not eating. we have another vet appt Sat as his vet wants to check his urine....Does anyone know how they get a cat to Pee in a cup????
thanks.

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Member

Posts: 84
From:Ontario Canada
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 02-06-2004 03:02 PM         

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I don't know how you get a cat to pee in a cup, but if you replace the litter with something non-absorbent (spheres of some sort...I don't know exactly the name of the stuff) then the urine will stay loose in the litter and can be poured off. Good luck with the new kitten, I'm in a similar situation with a 5-month and a 12-y.o.

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Moderator

Posts: 1591
From:NY, USA
Registered: Oct 2002

posted 02-06-2004 03:10 PM         

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quote:

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Does anyone know how they get a cat to Pee in a cup????

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Someone on another board replaced the cat litter with lentils (if I remember correctly) to get a urine sample from her cat...she said it did'nt soak into them but dripped to the bottom of the box and she was able to collect enough for the vet.
The vet can also get urine from the cat by inserting a needle into the bladder. It sounds horrible but my grandmother recently had to have this done to her cat and was very upset but it turned out to not be as bad as she thought it would be.

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