Cat trying to eat our new kitten - any advice?

[iamwhaticallpregnant]

Hi all,

We have one cat who is about 7 months (male). We got a new kitten (10 wks female) a week and a bit ago. We have so far kept them separate with around 20 supervised meetings. We have been careful to let older cat have the run of the house, give him lots of attention etc. kitten has two rooms upstairs. When cat meets kitten he will - in this order:
1/ sniff kitten from different angles
2/ lick a few times from different angles
3/ bat with closed paw repeatedly - getting more and more violent
4/ Put his teeth around kitten's throat and on her back or stomach a few times until kitten finally makes a small squeal - and we separate them.

I can not stand to see the kitten upset or scared. We thought after a week or so Cat would lose interest - or stop hurting her. We have tried to act normal during their meetings. We thought him licking her was a good sign - but to me it looks like he is looking for a reaction out of her and he just keeps attacking her harder and harder and harder until she (and we) cant take it anymore.

We don't know what else to do at this point - so I am open to any advice??? I don't expect them to be best buds, but I would like to leave them both to roam the house and be relaxed about it. At the moment it is like watching Tom and Jerry.

[Fluffycloudland77]

I think he's trying to show her whos boss, violent as it looks.

10 weeks is still quite little, I would keep them apart again until she is bigger and can defend herself more.

Keep doing the switching of bedding so they learn each others smell though. They do calm down eventually.

The kitten will no doubt take over the house when she is an adult anyway, females usually rule the roost.

[sunflowerseeds]

If your older kitten hasn't been neutered I'd get it done ASAP. It sounds like he's trying to mate her. Of course she can't get pregnant but he's hurting her.

[SparkyTGD]

He's definitely trying to show her who's boss (for now). Agree to keep supervising meetings, once she gets bigger she'll be able to stick up for herself better.