Kitten being an utter nightmare with older cats

[NotABeliever]

We have a 4-month-old Siberian male kitten, a 4-year -old cat and a 5-year old cat. We brought the kitten home 6 weeks ago.

The two older cats get along very well but ever since bringing the kitten home, they've had no peace! We followed all the recommended strategies for introducing a new cat - kept them apart for a while, then gradual supervised introductions, swopped blankets etc. Both older cats still hiss and growl at him which is to be expected, I guess, but the real issue is that the kitten - he just can't, or won't stop chasing them, leaping on them, play- biting them etc. They hiss and swipe at him when he does that but he won't give up and eventually they run off upstairs where he can't get to because we keep the downstairs room shut.

The kitten hasn't been neutered yet. It's booked for this Friday and I am hoping that he'll calm down at some point.

Is there anything I can do to stop him chasing them around and tormenting them? He really doesn't get the message. He's quite hyperactive and very bitey and I think he just wants to play with them but they are clearly not interested.

Any ideas about what I can do?

Kitty picture attached!

I had similar with a 2 year old and my four year old Persian exotics. Paddington was desperate to be friends and play with Penelope and was constantly in her space. If she was bomb proof it would have been ok. But it absolutely terrified her. I had to rehome him after four months. Hopefully you'll have more success.

A kitten needs another kitten, really. But as you may not be up for four cats in one house, I think it's up to you to play with him a lot, while keeping him away from your older pair.

Get another dkitten? When we had 1 grumpy ddog we got 2 dpuppies! Worked very well for over a decade she was around..... She dipped in and out of playtime and they had each other when she showed them her smile.......

I play with him loads! Nevertheless when he sees the other cats he just can't resist chasing them and jumping on them

My kitten did that non stop when she arrived. Drove my 15 year old cat nuts. Three years later they are quite silly with each other and will have zoomies. But they have settled down. Big cat teaches little cat a lesson when she is too much.

There's no way I can get another one!
The reason why I underestimated this was that when I introduced the older cat to the second cat I didn't have this problem. Sure there was some hissing and growling initially but no issues with the kitten pestering the older cat.
I didn't know that this could be an issue. I did tell the breeder about the other cats and she didn't say this situation could happen. In fact she said she was glad I had other cats! Is it because the kitten is male do you think?

If you can‘t get another kitten, you should really return it to the breeder. The kitten will be a kitten for some time and no matter how much you play with it, you cannot replace a kitten. It is really unfair for the other cats to let them deal with a rowdy kitten. What would you do if one of them decides to pee somewhere in the house outside the litter tray because it is stressed by the kitten?

I have been in your situation and don’t miss it one bit. We brought a kitten home when we already had a 4 year old cat. Exact same situation as you, as soon as she saw him she just chased him, jumped on him etc. even with him hissing and growling at her and hitting her, she still just found it a fun game. It’s as if she just couldn’t resist. As soon as he ran away she just had this instinct to chase him and nothing we could do would sway her interest. The only thing that worked for us was time honestly. We kept them completely separate until the kitten got older and calmed down. Now, she is much better. She still does get over excited every now and again and chases him but as soon as he tells her off she stops. She doesn’t do it often though.

We did think about rehoming her at one point but I knew it was just kitten behaviour that she would grow out of. If we didn’t have the option of keeping them separated I would’ve rehomed as it wouldn’t have been fair on older cat. But luckily we have big spaces that they can eat be confined in, or one inside and one outside and swap around etc.

Thanks @Forgetaboutit for your reply. It does feel like the more the other cats run away the more exhilarating it is for the kitten to chase them.

Like you, I'm dealing with it by keeping them apart as much as possible.

When did your kitten calm down and stopped chasing the other cat?

Well it actually improved a lot once we started letting her outside to burn off energy. She didn’t start going out until she was about a year old. So it started to improve then. She is 2 and a half now and I’ve noticed even more of an improvement since she turned 2. When she is inside now she mostly just wants to chill and sleep so isn’t interested in chasing and playing

That's more or less what I was expecting @Forgetaboutit
Thank you!