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A 5 year old cat living with a new kitten!!

16:24:00

Question

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The text above is a follow-up to ...
When you mentioned in your answer to watch for howling, Did you mean to watch for howling when my kitties wrestle with each other? When they do wrestle with each other my older cat howls maybe because the younger one is biting him! Should i be aware when they are wrestling that they are not howling?
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I have a 5 year male orange tabby cat that's been alone for about 3 years. I ended up getting a 5 month old male orange tabby kitten for him to have companion. It's been 2 months now that they have been together and they wrestle with each other biting, scratching and tolerating one another. The kitten is a bully. He instigates the wrestling, biting and scratching. They sit far apart from each other. My 5 year old cat looks very uncomfortable and i can feel tension between them two. My question is what are the good signs that a cat and a kitten are getting along? What are the bad signs?
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Wrestling can easily be mistaken for something negative when it is actually normal interaction.  Play, after all, is a form of practicing their survival skills - fighting!  It's not at all uncommon for one or both to get a little excited, especially young ones, and end up getting too rough.  The result is usually a brief spat and then some grudges for a short while.  These generally wear off quite quickly, and though they may sound and appear horrible, it's all part of a normal relationship between cats.

It is common for a youngster to get on the nerves of an adult cat to an extent.  But this subsides as the kitten matures and his activity level naturally relaxes.  Also, as he approaches adulthood, the two will decide who is dominant in certain areas.  There will initially be some squabbling over certain things (who eats first, who gets to sleep where, that sort of thing), but once they come to an agreement on the issue, there's no more need for "arguing".

Bad signs to be on the lookout for are going to be if one of the cats is afraid to approach an area where the other is.  This can end up in a cat being afraid to use the litter box or eat or drink.  Howling is generally a bad sign, too.  Quickly separate them if this begins.  Of course bite wounds are a definite bad sign and are dangerous, though a scratch on the nose isn't so serious.  If you see any of these bad signs, you should separate them when you're not there to supervise, and you might want to consider talking to an animal behaviorist for exercises to get them to accept one another.

Answer
If they start vocalizing during play, aside from a squawk here and there, then you should break up the wrestling match.  It's a sign they're getting too carried away, and though probably not intentional, someone's starting to bite or kick too hard.  But if this is happening, I don't think there's necessarily a need to separate them completely while you're not home.  Cats can get overzealous during play, and that's understandable, not typically considered worrisome aggression.

I would only suggest keeping them totally separate while you are away if you are noticing howling for no other reason than coming face-to-face.