New kitten

We recently got a new kitten who is a neutered male and 3 months old. We have an existing cat who is 7 years old who is also male and neutered. We got the kitten to be a companion to the older cat because about 7 months ago his lifetime playmate who was 9 years old passed away. Since he died the cat has been very lonely and would meow when left alone and become very needy when we were around. He is a very affectionate cat and loves people. My question is, we introduced him to the new kitten and he seemed very curious, sniffing him and following him around. There has never been any real aggession except that he bites the kittens neck (not very hard) and humps him. They have never had any hissing or growling matches, only what seems like playing. The younger kitten will pounce on the older cat and he doesnt like it much so smacks him and then the kitten stops and lays down.

Should we be worried about this humping/ neck biting behavior or will it eventually stop? They have been together for almost a week and we keep them in their separate rooms when we are gone for a long period of time during the day (more than an hour). I guess I should mention we also have a 10 year old dog (weenie dog) who likes to hump the kitten too. She will stop when I tell her to sit. They get along great as long as the kitten doesnt try to bite her tail.

Answer by Kate
Hi
I think this sort of behavior is quite common and I'm not sure why particularly that they are trying to hump the kitten. i have read that it can be a hormonal issue ie the kitten may smell of a particular hormone which triggers this mating behavior. If this is the case then this should go after a while.

You do need to be careful that the cat does not accidentally hurt the kitten, sometimes they can grab the neck to tightly and suffocate the kitten, this is purely by accident of course.

if I were you i would keep them separated for another few weeks and during that time have supervised meetings so that they can continue to get to know each other without the fear of harm etc.

there is a page on my website about pet introduction which you may find of further interest here

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/introducing-cats.html

best wishes Kate

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