Worried my new kittens hate each other

[Iamuhtredsonofuhtred]

We have a 4 month old male kitten and a 10 week old female kitten; they have the same father but obviously not litter mates. Today I tried introducing them for the first time and they are sending really mixed messages! My big kitten looked like he was going to be really friendly; he started licking the little one. But then he started doing this really aggressive wrestling thing using his teeth and whole body; little kitten was crying and hissing and lost some fur so not normal play it seemed. He was being quite aggressive with her and didn’t stop when she clearly wasn’t enjoying it. I obviously separated them and they are in different areas of the house for now. I know cats are territorial but I thought young kittens would get along quite well. Will they hate each other? What can I do?

Have you neutered the boy?
Who is breeding all the kittens?

He will get neutered next month. They’re from a farm

Not a kitten farm I hasten to add

I would get him neuteured now, have you tried a feliway plug in to keep them a bit calmer. keep them separate until he is neuteured.

My vets is really booked up; I can keep them separated for a few weeks. He’s so playful; that was why we agreed to take another as I thought they’d be great company for each other. Do you think the neutering will make the difference? Will definitely try some feliway

Why is the father of these kittens not neutered?

@Motherdare well you’d need to ask the owner. Farmers don’t always bother I guess

how do you know they have the same father? How come you have different age kittens? Of course the older one will want to play rougher. Kitten play is savage. I would have got two of the same litter tbh

neutering a male cat should calm him down, he is reaching his peak at the moment.
www.battersea.org.uk/pet-advice/cat-care-advice/cat-neutering

@Branleuse I was told they have the same father but I suppose there’s no way of knowing for sure.

@KittenCatcher thank you, I hope so. He will get done in 3 weeks

It's immaterial about the father - my kittens have the same father but different mothers.
Anyway ten weeks is really young. My cats play quite tough but they are the same age. By the way neutering did not change my cats behaviour at all - I believe it may stop them roaming, spraying and fighting but not playing. I think the issue is mismatch in ages.

Cats don’t usually want company - certainly not of other cats.

IME cats who aren’t litter mates or mother/ kitten at best tolerate each other, at worst get seriously stressed.

@Zarene

Cats don’t usually want company - certainly not of other cats.

IME cats who aren’t litter mates or mother/ kitten at best tolerate each other, at worst get seriously stressed.

Well you must have a pretty limited experience then. Many, many cats love other cat company and I have had more close friendships form than I can count among cats that had been strangers to each other.

Don't worry OP, it can take a while but it will almost certainly be fine.

Update; 7 days after the newbies arrival and the kittens are best friends. I found this video which really helped and the advice was to let the kittens spend more time together rather than less and it really worked. After a fairly crazy 24 hours where they were just constantly intensely playing/scrapping and yowling at each other (had the squirt gun on standby) they have settled right down and are loving each other. I found them all curled up together earlier today Obligatory kitten photo provided.

Gorgeous

Aww they are adorable, so beautiful that things have worked out between them.

My old feral boy had always lived his life by himself, and hated all other cats. Then I got the kittens who where separated from him. Love does conquer all, because over time they have melted his heart and he absolutely loves his 'babies'. He washes them, they cuddle up close and sleep with him, they push him out of his favourite sleeping area, and when out in the garden he stands guard and looks after them.

Never once has he been aggressive to them just an occasional warning tap with his massive paw when they have drove him a little bit crazy.

Be careful , we had a litter of kittens when we were kids , kept a boy and a girl , the girl was pregnant when she went to get neutered ( on time ) they were around 5 months !
My boy cats don't like each other either but jog along !

@gunnersgold Nooooo, I would die! Boy cat losing his fluffy balls in 2 weeks

They will just abort when they spay them . I don't think it's overly unusual to be fair !

I'm so glad that they're getting on now (and they're gorgeous!). I'd be careful though, I think some cats can go into heat at around 4months old!!

This is why I don't mix male or female kittens in homes, even from the same litter. The male will dominate and the female ends up with anxiety problems.