My kitten is very cute but…

[GorgeousLadyofWrestling]

He will not leave my older two alone, at all! It’s starting to get to a point where he - 4.5 months old - is chasing them - 2 years old and quite hefty cats - around the place because he wants to play and they are sick of him play jumping at them. They try to escape him but he seems to think it’s just more play.

He’s going to be neutered next week and I am praying that combined with being let out will reduce his obsession with them. When they come in after a night out, he makes a beeline for them and I have to separate them so they can have breakfast and go and find somewhere quiet to sleep.

I feel so bad for my older cats but he is so lovely (when not being a pest) and no one wanted him 😩 We didn’t intend to introduce another kitten into the mix, but here we are. I know he will calm down and turn into a proper lazy boy but my gosh, he’s a bit of a pain right now!

Tbf to him, when he manages to control his play urges, they tolerate him sitting close to them. As long as he is chill. Sometimes he’s even managed to snuggle up to them when they’ve been asleep - which is basically like sleeping with danger but he’s a kitten and what do I know 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'd maybe get this moved to the Litter Tray section of MN for a bit more interaction?
Jackson Galaxy will have something on this I'm sure. I think you'll have to play with him more!

He will grow out of it, but is a kitten right now and his life is all about playing. Mine calmed down noticeably at around 8 months.

You could try to wear him out by playing with him (with the kitten toys esp ones on a stick) getting him to 'hunt' and be physical for at least 15 minutes at a time, you need to do it several times a day.

Yes, you need to play with him as much as possible to tire him our and help satisfy his play needs. He will calm after neutering and when he can go outside to burn off some more energy. They will all settle into a routine within a few months and the older cats will get over it. Keep on separating them when you need to so the others do get a bit of peace especially to eat. I always end up panicking when we get a kitten, thinking 'what have we done?' But it all comes good in the end!

Yeah we probably don’t play with him enough. We got a ceiling height cat tree that he loves, plus some crinkly, fluffy toys to beat up. The kids play with him quite a lot and we take him outside on a harness to stimulate him - but it’s hard with working full time and 3 kids and school and stuff.

He’s such a sweet little thing, but such a pest 😂🥰

@Whataplanker have you integrated a lot of cats?

We need a photo of the offender so we can dispense the correct advice

@Soubriquet sorry, sorry, my apologies 😻

No advice, but awww, he's adorable!!!

He's cute.
He will calm down and if they're tolerating him now I'd be fairly confident it will be fine in a couple of months.
Kittens love variety - change his toys daily. Mine used to love a daily den challenge..I took a kitchen chair, couple of pop up tubes, random boxes and bits of fabric and scrunched up paper. Moved it around every day when they were in full awake and pouncy mode and hid treats in it to find. Took a few minutes and kept them occupied for a while.
Get your kids to play with him. Tire him out!

Now that is pure mischief. You can see it in his eyes

Youre screwed. I’m happy to take him off your hands though

Well, he is absolutely adorable!

I ended up keeping a kitten I rescued last year - I already had four older cats. With hindsight it would have been better to get him a friend his own age, but I couldn’t go from four- six cats.

I have to play with him - the feather chaser toys are best, otherwise he can be a bit of a nuisance with my older cats. He also loves the toys that have little ping pong balls in that spin around. Fortunately one of the cats will play with him too, but they aren’t afraid to give him a hiss and a whack when they’ve had enough. The key is definitely to play with him so some of that kitten energy is dissipated. I also have feliway plugged in.

Under three months is a little young to let him out
he’s a lovely kitten btw and looks like he will bring lots of fun 🤩

Thanks everyone - he is sooooo cute and sweet but yeah, has a lot of energy! I feel bad now that he’s been so bored.

@Whiskeypowers he’s 4 and a half months now and will be about five months when he’s neutered and then let out.

I introduced a 4 month old kitten to my 5 yo and 10 yo cats

Whilst kitten has zoomies and wants to play the 5 year old watches her and my old boy let's her play with his tail and practise pouncing on him but he is a gentle giant of a cat

It's about 3 weeks in and now going well here

Ah right sorry!

One of mine loves playing fetch with a small rubber dart. (She used to bring it back....now it is just dropped and we get as much exercise as the cat.)

We also play laser pointer when it's darker.

My daughter plays chase too which they love with her.

You just have to tire the kitten out. I'm sure the older cats will say when they have had enough.

He is gorgeous though.

Yes, we currently have 4 of different ages. In fact we've had 4 for a long time so different cats have been and gone in that time. One memorable time was when older cat had a tail injury and was recovering from surgery on it and we had v small kitten who was obsessed by his tail (she didn't cause the injury!) and we had to keep them very separate in an open plan house. Dear God! I nearly lost the plot!
We got two kittens together last time which helped as they wound each other up instead of the older ones but that is the first time we have ever had siblings so it was quite a novelty watching them play together. In fact, they are in the garden now playfighting and they are 2 years old now!