An adopted kitten...

Question
I actually have a few questions.
First off, about a year ago, my boyfriend and I adopted four cats. One mysteriously disappeared from a completely closed off room, but we think we found him later. The one that disappeared was an adult male. The other three were kittens- Xiao, Sandy, and Savvy. My boyfriend keeps Savvy and Sandy with him while I keep Xiao with me.
My Xiao-Xiao is a very sweet kitten- at about one year old- so the vets guess. When we first got them, he had an infection in the lungs, we got that cleared up, but it took him 6 months to recover from being so frail (he weighed in at one pound barely when we got him). Now he is a big kitten (the father cat is HUGE).. And he bites me sometimes, well.. I hear of alot of people who get bitten on the hands and arms... But he bites the wierd places. Like.. my knees, nose, cheek, eye (yes, my EYE), and ears. He doesnt chew, or "assume the position", he just kind of sits there... purring. Savvy will do it too, but he will lay down and stare at me while doing it (Savvy is fixed, I am low income, so Xiao is next.. so is Sandy). I was wondering, what exactly are they doing when they do that?
Next, my kitten, Sandy... She doesn't meow.. she kind of honks- in spurts. I was wondering if there was a reason for this.
Also, the father cat is Salem, and I am not sure how to get him used to my other cats- he attacks Xiao under the door (or he could be playing, but its rather strong)and he is a big, big cat... who has fought with the other cats in the household (3 others, to be exact, when the other two are with my boyfriend). Any advice? Sorry to ask so much. =3

Answer
First off, good for you ,adopting so many. Thank you for that. As to your issues, its not too much reall. First off the biting. Its really nibbling from what I am understanding. If you ever watch your cat groom you will see that in addition to licking they often will appear to be biting at themselves, gently. If they are biting alot or hard then they may have flea troubles that need care, but I am not referring to that. I am talking about a fairly gentle biting at their own fur. It is part of their grooming process and totally normal. I have two cats that attempt to perform this same grooming on me. But since I don't have fur, teh net result is them nibbling my skin, just like yours. And it can be anywhere, cheek, arm, eyelids (they seem attracted to the lashes). Now beyond this if we are talking about hard bites, it could simply be overexcitement. Sometimes when you play with your cat, they may be purring but they get so excited that they will bite. In this case you need to gauge your own cat and undersatnd them better so as not to provoke this response. But in general as to biting, if it bothers you, simply nudge them away from you with a firm NO! and they will learn that you don't prefer this. Bt if it appears to you that it is teh grooming sort of nibbling, and it doesn't really bother you, then I would let it go since it is a bonding experience with your cat.

As for the purr that sound like a honk; that is hard to say. I have one cat who when she seems to be wanting to purr, all we hear is a slight click in her throat. Don't know why. But there is no health issue if all else seems well so I guess its just unique to every cat. Some cats never purr; some can't stop themselves from purring.

As for Salem, you don't mention if he is fixed. You will definitely have to get him fixed if not. If he already is but is still agressive to the kittens, I'm afraid only time and patience will help the situation. Only allow him to encounter the kittens when supervised by you. Do not force them into a room together but rather let them sort of find each other but only when you are around. You will have to monitor how they get along and see how it goes. It will take some get used to for Salem. When they are all together, if he seems agressive, try and distract him with a toy and play. But mostly you need time to pass for him to softne and accept the idea of them being around. they may never be fast friends; its hard to predict, but at least with time they will coexist and set up their own boundaries. Be patient and gentle.