Play or fight

[marie73]

My little twinz go at it something fierce sometimes. I usually distract them because it bothers me.

[grrawritsjordi]

Originally Posted by marie73

My little twinz go at it something fierce sometimes. I usually distract them because it bothers me.

That is what I do. Sometimes Moosey gets way too rough, so I get the squirt bottle out. Most of the time I don't even have to spray it. I just say "NO" and hold it towards her or clap my hands very loud. The latter drives my boyfriend crazy and isn't as effective as the spray bottle.

[love.my.cats]

Playing. It can sometimes look abit rough, especially when one is so much smaller but once they're about the same size, it's fun to watch them chase and wrestle.


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[Marcia]

That is play! Notice at 3:14 when baby has his ears back in an offensive posture, Gosha backs down. Within a second or two baby's ears perk up as if to say, "HEY!, it worked - he turned away! I'm SO ferocious!" Then at 3:33 Goshs launches "oh yea? well take THIS! and THAT!!!"
Cute video!

[gosha]

Thank you for all the feedback. Gosha is a nice kitty, I was actually worried that kitten would bully him, but I'm glad Gosha takes control, I will continue let them hang out and see how it goes. I asked the vet the same question and she said as long as there is no punctures or blood it's a play, but it does look a bit rough to me, kitten is so tiny, he could fit in my palm, but I guess Gosha knows his limits and doesn't really hurt the baby Rasta. At least Rasta keeps coming for more lol

[NebraskaCat]

This is a very thin line and hard to judge at my house. At night during the 'midnight kitty olympics' when they play by chasing each other up and down the stairs, it occasionally gets to a point when one gets cornered and the hissing and folded back ears start. That's when I intervene. But I'm usually proved the idiot because two minutes later, they are curled up next to each other on the bed.

[dt8thd]

Lol, they're definitely playing. My most recent additions, Autumn and her kitten Ramona, full out wrestle and bite each other on the back of the neck or ears. Cats are thick skinned, and play like this--even with their claws and teeth, rarely results in injury. Autumn sometimes tries to play with my hand in the way she does with her kitten, but, unlike Ramona, I have thin, sensitive people skin, and Autumn has really sharp claws (she trusts me enough to let me touch her paws sometimes, but I haven't been able to clip her dagger claws yet.)

Sometimes play can get a little out of hand if one party decides they've had enough and the other cat persists, but generally that results in a hiss or a swat or two. A full out cat fight is really loud, really violent, and can cause a lot of damage. If you can call Gosha off simply by saying "no" odds are that Gosha's actually being quite careful in his play and isn't getting carried away--cats that are actually engaged in mortal combat would completely ignore you, and sticking your hand between a pair of seriously fighting cats would likely result in a trip to the hospital.

[MyBabiesDaddy]

Definitely play. When I got my 10 week old Simba, who was around 2.5 lbs and introduced him to my 12-13 lb Cuddles I had to watch them very closely. Cuddles would pin down Simba and because of the weight difference Simba couldn't get out from under him to run away. He would start to cry, which is when I'd slap my hands loud to distract them and Simba would be able to run off under the recliner (where he'd immediately start swatting at Cuddles again). If a bigger cat wanted to hurt a small cat, he would. Simple as that. The smaller cat doesn't stand a chance. It's like a 50 lb child fighting with a 250 lb adult. Like other have said, it becomes a more "even" wrestling match when they become closer in size.

I also wondered if my cat was actually trying to hurt the kitten so I did research. I looked up "cats fighting" on YouTube. Let me warn you though, it was VERY disturbing to watch. First of all because often the people taping the fight (usually Russians) are laughing, and secondly because I love cats and hate to see them hurt each other. ( animal on animal brutality makes me sad ) . Anyway, you'll quickly realize that body posture ( ears back, hair raised, slow and deliberate movement ) and vocalization are indicators of a real fight. Ears up, tail swishing, and normal hair position are usually indicative of play. But if the kitten cries out, you may have to intervene a little and get the bigger cat to back down a bit.

[Marcia]

Personally, I think they are getting along very well! They will be good friends. Congratulations!! I think a new rambunctious kitten is just what the doctor ordered for Gosha!!

[librarychick]

They're playing very nicely! I monitor my cats differently depending on who's playing.

If the boys are playing with each other I pretty much leave them alone. They're quite rough, even full-pouncing each other occasionally...but they both love it and when one gets bit too hard he yells and the other backs off. Two yells in a row is when I intervene, but even then all I do is say "Be nice!" in a bored 'parent' voice, then they straighten themselves out.

If either of the boys is chasing Torri I usually leave them be even when she hisses 'cause she's such a drama queen and will hiss if they even look at her some days *eye roll*. Don't get me wrong, if they didn't know each other I'd be much more careful, but Torri will literally run up to the boys and try to play, then hiss at their bums and run away...so I ignore it from her. She just hisses a lot and it doesn't mean much. If she starts growling/crying/yowling THEN I step in and yell at who ever is chasing her, if once doesn't work then I'll physically remove the naughty brother.

If the boys chase/play with Jitzu...she tells them off very well if she's had enough, so I let her stand up for herself. If they're being particularly irritating and won't get the message I step in, but mostly they listen to her.

Jitzu is NOT allowed to do so much as move towards Torri while looking at her...it just ends badly and I know they're never playing. It's not allowed. *shrugs* it depends on the cats and their relationships with each other.

When the boys were little I did pay close attention, and if someone cried twice in a row I'd step in a get them focused on a toy to break up the tension/energy. But they do need to learn to play together.

You're right to separate them when you aren't home though. the kitten is still too little to be left out unsupervised IMO, and they can be pretty annoying to an adult at that age. Giving your older kitty a break will work the best all around until the youngster is about 6-7 months old.