Big Boy hitting my princess

CATS

Hi There,

I have 2 cats, Beethoven, my big boy is 4 years old and my little princess is just over one years old. When she first came to live with us, my boy wasnt too happy but accepted it. In the last few months he has started to pick on her, constantly bitting her and making her cry. It is a bit strange as they also play together and she does like being around him, sometimes (when in the mood to play) but other times he seems to bite her for no reason. I cant understand his behaviour and it really annoys me that he seems to pick on her for no reason. I am not sure what could be causing his behaviour and how do I make him stop? I tell him off when I catch him doing it so he pretends to be licking her, but of course a soon as I turn away he bites her :mad: anyone else experienced anything similar? how did you deal with it? photos below (might be a bit big)

DVardysShadow

CATS wrote: »

• I am not sure what could be causing his behaviour
• how do I make him stop?

• You
• Ignore it

I am thinking that your reaction to the situation is actually making your older cat feel that he is less loved and that you appear to him to beholding the younger one in a higher place in your affections.

Remember that they are not human and that trying to reason about their behaviour in human terms is likely to give wrong answers.

scaredy_cat

perhaps try a feliway plug in for a while?

geri1965_2

Nothing useful to add, but the second pic is soooo funny!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

CATS wrote: »

Hi There,

I have 2 cats, Beethoven, my big boy is 4 years old and my little princess is just over one years old. When she first came to live with us, my boy wasnt too happy but accepted it. In the last few months he has started to pick on her, constantly bitting her and making her cry. It is a bit strange as they also play together and she does like being around him, sometimes (when in the mood to play) but other times he seems to bite her for no reason. I cant understand his behaviour and it really annoys me that he seems to pick on her for no reason. I am not sure what could be causing his behaviour and how do I make him stop? I tell him off when I catch him doing it so he pretends to be licking her, but of course a soon as I turn away he bites her :mad: anyone else experienced anything similar? how did you deal with it? photos below (might be a bit big)

Which one's which?


Anyway, that's what boy cats do. Mine would be all friendly and get the girl into paradise by grooming her head and then he would suddenly flip and chomp into her ear. Especially if they think the Princess takes all the fusses from everyone. They're just a bit rubbish at the maternal grooming thing. And a one year old cat is potentially an adult and a threat, whereas a kitten isn't. So he could be less tolerant of her previous kitten like behaviour.



Although mine groomed Dizziee the Ninja Kitten to sparkly clean the other night without a single problem. Why is this different, I hear you ask?


No reason. Dizz just happened to sit beside him after having fallen in the bin going after a tin of herring in mustard sauce, so was covered in fishy gloop. Pure coincidence, that.

gettingready

Mine all all boys (4) and they generally get on fine BUT when Fred is in one of his moods he will jump on top of suspecting-nothig-as-fast-asleep Teddy to give poor Teddy a heart attack, Teddy runs off, Fred lies down on th warm spot for whole 5 sec then moves on to look where Teddy fell asleep again and reapeats.

George "teaches" Macius some cat manners by pinning him down and making Macius screem for England till he (George) decides it s ok to let him or or till Zara (my GS dog) decides to separet them and rescue the little Macius baby. After that Macius promptly runs back to George and bites his tail causing the exact thing to happen.

I just leave them to it, no damage done and after all I have Zara to deal with the cats to be honest.. SHE intervenes when she feels fit, they are HER babies

missmontana

Yep, its a boy thing, my Dizzy does it to Smokey and Peaches, Smokey does it back and tries with the other girls (usually fails) Normal cat behaviour, they all still snuggle up together!

Fridaycat

My big strapping boys, Harry (aged 7) and Robbie (aged 2), pick on my little Friday girl (aged nearly 14) quite frequently. I always break it up if it is going too far, but they also end up kissing and making up themselves. The problems arise when H & R try it on with my female Bengal, Lulabelle (aged 8 months) - she gives as good as she gets and always comes out on top, particularly when her twin brother barges in and helps out :rotfl:

I would keep an eye on them, but generally let them sort it out between themselves

geminilady

It is not just a boy thing,I have two girls,mum and daughter and the mum is the same sometimes she grooms her daughter and sometimes will chase her for no reason that I can see.I just leave them to it as she does not really hurt her.I think it is just a cat thing.I do have a question if anyone else has mother and child.The mum always lets her daughter have food first and will even let her take food off her wondered if this is normal behaviour once kittens have grown up?

CATS

Thank you everyone for your replies. It was just getting to me because he is constantly making her scream and picking on her. He is so much bigger than her so was a bit scared he will really hurt her. Hopefully it is just cat behaviour and he is not really hurting her. I dont want her to get stressed out. I think for now I will just leave them to it and will try the feliway to see if it helps.

charlie-chan

I think they are just asserting their dominance.

I was worried about my two cats at first as they were always screaming when they were fighting but now they just sort it out among themselves lol. I think the scream is a sign of the other cat has gone too far and they tend to stop.

I would just keep an eye on them as well .