Overwhelmed with two kittens, one hairless

[Oddkittens]

My partner and I recently rescued two kittens. One is a a shorthair female kitten and the other is a hairless male kitten. They are both 13 weeks old, and they have had a strong bond the past 8 days since I brought them home.

We were very excited for the idea of a haired and hairless cat, but especially excited to have two kittens at the same age who can keep each other company.

The problem is when they play. The haired cat is much more rough during playtime.. and even though my hairless male kitten has fun with her and initiates play, he ends up yelping to get free from her teeth in just a under 30 seconds, every single time. I imagined a hairless cat would still know how to take a bite from another cat. I’m beginning to wish we only adopted the haired kitten. I feel like I can’t leave them alone together.

I can’t for the life of me find anyone who has experienced this problem.

[fjm]

Is she actually breaking the skin when she bites? I would expect the haired kitten to still be young enough to modify her play style - she has learned from her litter siblings how much pressure is acceptable before play stops, and is now learning again from her hairless housemate. The big test for me would be whether the hairless kitten keeps coming back for more - running and hiding indicates fear of a bully; breaking off the play fight, a brief time out to reset, and back to the fray is normal play behaviour.

If it is all play I would let them get on with it, unless the biting is causing significant wounds and as long as the hairy one is respecting the hairless one's Pax signals. The more they practice, the sooner she will learn to be more careful, and the sooner you can stop worrying.

[Oddkittens]

She never breaks skin but I’m always breaking it up before it could get that far.

She’s soft with her paws though, I don’t see her pulling out nails to claw him and that to me indicates she really is just play. But her biting is definitely too much when she’s hyper since he’s yelling. Sometime he hides from her for a little while, especially when he’s tired he does sleep more than her. Other times he initiates play/ comes back for more.

Thank you for your reply! It was helpful. I’ll let them play more without intervening as much so she learns.

[Ruth B]

Congratulations on the new additions. I've never had a hairless cat, but I've learnt a lot about them from watching Jackson Galaxy videos (I'm always open to learning something new about cats), as I'm sure you have as well, all the little bits of extra care they need.

I have to agree with fjm, if she isn't breaking the skin, and he isn't obviously trying to get away when she isn't letting him, then let them play together and set their own limits. Watch them closely and I'm sure you will learn there is a very different body language when he is just playing and yelling at her, and when it really hurts and he has had enough.

The only other thing I could suggest, and normally I am very against putting clothes on a cat, is to get a cat onesie for him, you might be able to find someone selling them, or you might have to try and work out how to make one yourself. It needs to be tight enough to stay on him, and not so tight that he resists it. i've mostly seen them used as a way of stopping a cat pulling at stitches as an alternative to having to wear a cone, but a light weight one might give him a little protection. The only problem is, if he has the protection she won't learn that she is playing too rough, but it might help his confidence if ;you feel he needs it.

[Oddkittens]

He definitely tries to get away from her sometimes and she’s not easily letting him go, but once I break it up, he goes back for more. But there are times where he’s so fed up, he hides and doesn’t wanna come out.

Still, it sounds like you are right. I need to let them learn!

Thank you