Hello all,

I am in need of some advice. I just recently got a new Bengal kitten about a week ago and I am having trouble getting my older Bengal (who is 1 year old) to play gently with the kitten. My cat is 14lbs of pure muscle and very active, the kitten is also very active, but is just 2lbs and 8 weeks old. After the first two days they have been getting along great except for when they play. Sometimes they play nice with the toys or each other, but not always. They will start to play rough and the cat always ends up hurting the kitten. I have noticed that the kitten is unable to get away from the cat when he grabs him so I always go break it up. I know it is hurting the kitten because he begins crying loudly hand hissing. I keep the kitten closed up in a room every time I leave the house for fear that the cat will hurt him while I am gone, but I know that can't be a permanent solution. I'm just not sure what to do to make the cat understand that it's not ok to play that rough with the baby. Sadly, cats are not as rational as humans so verbally explaining to him why he has to be gentle has not worked. Lol. I should also mention that scolding him and saying "no" has not worked either. Please, if anyone has any tips on getting him to stop being so aggressive at play time I would be so grateful!

Thank you so much,
Ashley

Your new kitten is way too young to have been taken from its mom! It has been used to playing with its siblings and not some larger cat. There is a difference between aggressive play and fighting. Regardless, you cannot allow the older cat to bully your new kitten or she will become extremely stressed and anxious, which can lead to severe behavior problems. Make sure she has escape routes at every turn and the older cat cannot pen her in. She needs to be higher up, although the older kitty can also jump. Cat trees, shelves on the wall. More important is that these two need to be supervised so it doesn't get out of hand and the new kitten get killed or injured. Make sure you kitten has a safe area in your home while you're away from the house.

You appear to also have two males. Males, especially, are quite territorial! And you've brought an intruder into the mix. The good news is that your kitten (should he survive the attacks and playing), will grow to become a similar size to your older kitty, however, that is going to take time. While some playing is natural ... it can easily get out of hand as you've mentioned your kitten is getting hurt. Please do not allow that to happen as vet bills can be expensive to treat bite wounds that can easily become infected. Also, make sure your kitten is or gets neutered.

This is one of the reasons my 7-year old bengal will never have another cat in the house. He hates all other cats and I would never put another kitty through that. Good luck.

I would be really tempted to keep them separate until the younger kitten is more able to defend itself.

I wouldn't let them 'play' together at all.

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie

As you can see they are getting along great otherwise. They love to cuddle with each other, it's just the play time issue. I will take your advice and keep them separate when I am not home, at least until kitten gets big enough to defend himself. Thank you for the advice!

That's good that they are sleeping together. They're lovely by the way.

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie