hi i got a male kitten about a week ago and now i went back and got one of his brothers today and its not going very well! any ideas people???

In what way is it not going well. I'm assuming fighting?

If so they will calm down - yes if it get's too bad separate them for a bit. You could squirt them with water (works with our two) if they won't quit. At least then they'll have to stop to lick themselves dry!

yeah the one i had the longest(henry) just wont leave the other (george) alone keeping jumping on him and biting him !

Sounds like normal kitten behaviour to me. My advice is to leave 'em too it. If it gets a bit too rough just separate them for a minute or distract them with a toy.

It's normal hen pecking order thing - our's are 11 months and still do this occasionally. They will sort it out between them eventually. Remember you are the top cat in the house hold though (and the water pistol is your weapon :)).

Cats and kittens seem to have a particularly poor memory for each other, even litter mates and close family friends. All it takes is a week or two and they have to go through the whole making friends bit all over again.

This could be what's happening here, or it could simply be that kittens are incredibly rough with each other, and you're interpreting that as nastiness.

Honestly, if there aren't any ears or tails on the floor, it's probably rough playing rather than true fighting.

Hissing and growling are normal parts of cat conversation- they don't indicate that the cat is particularly hacked off or about to do any damage. In a game you can expect to see raised hackles, ears against the backs of their necks and very confrontational body language- which will all be resolved at some (inaudible to humans) signal that they both understand.

I regularly have people PM me with a question along the lines of 'how on earth can I stop my kittens killing each other?' and the answer is usually that they aren't killing each other and let them get on with it.

There is of course the issue of humans and homes getting shredded along with the playing, but that's the sort of thing that's only resolved with time and patience in saying no, along with something like either a rattly tin with a couple of pieces of gravel in, or a squirty bottle of water, for when you really need them to stop. Both are used for distraction purposes rather than to punish or scare them, but they both work in that capacity.

You also need to give them plenty of things to hang off, climb up and chase if you don't want them to decide for themselves which things are ok to chew, chase or shred.

They aren't demonic- honestly. People have this image of kittens as sweet and soft, but more often they're not. They just have the little horns hidden by the fur round their ears.

sounds like my two cats merlin the oldest is so laid back just wonts to be left alone and is chilled now rosie she`s comin upto a year old is totally the oppersite all she wonts is to play and torment merlin but she soon leans merlin dont do the play thing rosie knows who is boss so just leave them to it and they will sort it out soon enough dont get to involved cos that may make it worse soon enough u will have 2 lovelly kittens playin together

trust me to get the bully of the litter and the runt of the litter!

trust me to get the bully of the litter and the runt of the litter!

Ahh it'll end up the runt picking on the bully soon enough!
:)

They'll work out their own pecking order- it's not up to you to work that out. Some cats are naturally leaders and some are naturally followers. Once they've worked out their own positions it will all be fine- give them a couple of weeks.

You'll still think that they're killing each other though- but that's kittens for you.

Hi rachie, I agree with medusa - its normal kitten behaviour, pecking order, establishing control. The noise they make is much much worse than what they are feeling - kittens are resilient little things and will withstand rough play with their siblings. Leave them to get on with it- if one is getting hassled by the other and doesnt like it, it can soon get out of the other's way.

oh and we have to see photos of them now!