Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have a new kitty and he (Azrael) and our resident cat Diablo seem to be getting on okay. They take naps together sometimes and play together and Diablo lets Azrael chew on his tail most of the time... however, I'm concerned about a behavior I'm seeing when Diablo starts to lick the kitten. He'll really get into it, too, which Azrael seems to love, but I've noticed he'll stop licking and take a bite (which I don't believe is hard at all) then he'll continue licking. At the end, Azrael looks drugged out, and I've checked him over and have never found any puncture wounds... and up until today he seemed to tolerate it. An hour ago I was watching the whole process again except it seemed more intense. Diablo had him pinned and was washing up Diablos rear end at one point, and then Diablo's ears were back as were the kittens and they seemed like they were wrestling pretty good with the biting thing. I heard a noise out of Azrael, so I tapped Diablo on the head and he let him go immediately. This behavior really confounds me because other than this licking/biting thing they seem to get on very well together... and Azrael keeps going back for more! I'm going to try to attach a couple of pictures that I took this afternoon... they might be too big... I'll try to resize and attach. Thanks for your comments --I did get the advice from another forum to blow in Diablos face, then take him gently and lay him on the ground belly up, "scruff" him and hold him there for 3 seconds telling him firmly "no" I take it scruffing is grasping up the skin at the back of the neck? Does this sound like good advice?? Thanks!

It's just a dominence game, nothing to worry about. Your older cat is just giving the new kitty a "lesson". The cleaning sessions are basically "school" as Mr. Man grooms, the occasional bite is a simple reminder that "You are submissive, I am Alpha".

Our older cat (24 years old) does the same thing to the two 6 month old boys we rescued. It has now been almost 2 months and you can see in their everyday actions that "Kool Kitty is the Boss" Even when they are playing, they will always check around to see if Kool Kitty is near, if he isn't romping around with them. If he happens to be resting near by, they will actually move their playing to another room as to not disturb "The Man" while he's napping LOL

It is also the same at the food bowls. The two kittens will fuss with each other about who gets to be at the food first... but if Kool Kitty walks up, they both step back from the bowls to let "The Man" in to eat.

It is so amazing to me to watch them and the roles they play.