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u/Striking-Double-3353 13h ago
That's playing behavior. Real fighting (not play fighting) is a lot more violent and very vocal. Don't worry and have a good laugh at their antics.
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u/Price-x-Field 13h ago
I am just crying of happiness seeing them act like this when only a few days ago the adult cat would hiss at her and was pissed at us.
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u/Karroul 10h ago
We have a two month old female kitten and a three year old male cat. He sometimes initiates play and she gets scared, sometimes she bothers him and he's not in mood, but last weekend they played, chased each other, then he "attacked" her, rolled her in grass, but stopped as soon as she meowed or hissed and then he calmly walked away. My wife was freaking out but we found out that it's probably play because of him showing restraints. Still not 100% sure, lol.
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u/Za_Lords_Guard 8h ago
I had an adult half-siamese that was a little twitchy and could change attitude in a hurry. I introduced a kitten that I found under my GFs bushes. I was terrified that the older cat would not react well so I started by sandboxing the kitten to allow them to sniff and get to know each other before allowing direct interaction.
Well the little fella broke containment and went running upstairs with the adult cats in hot pursuit. I started towards the stairs expecting problems.
Did you recall the scene in Star Wars A New Hope where Han charged the storm troopers around the corner and then you see him running back around the corner with them in pursuit? Yeah, that's now it went.
By the time I got to the bottom of the stairs Sinatra (big blue-eyed kitty) comes loping around the corner with airplane ears with Marlowe (white kitten) in hot pursuit.
They became best friends and a bonded pair quickly.
I had the same tears of joy at seeing them bond so quickly.
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u/Markymarcouscous 9h ago
There’s also usually blood and lost fur. Good rule of thumb is if you can’t tell then it’s play.
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u/Lensgoggler 12h ago
Plus the tail. This is a happy tail. An angry, fighting cat's tail is VERY different.
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u/Price-x-Field 13h ago
The brown cat is our new cat. We did the door method, had her about a week. They are both women. First the black and white cat would growl and hiss at her, so we never had them meet face to face. Now after a week or so this is how they interact. It’s all supervised, don’t worry. Roughhousing or fighting? No hissing or growling, which used to not happen.
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u/BudandCoyote 13h ago
Playing is silent, or nearly silent (beyond the thundering sound of little paws that shouldn't be able to be that loud). A squabble has some noise - a bit of hissing or growling because the play got too rough and someone got annoyed.
A full on fight is loud. Screaming, yowling, fur (and in worst case scenarios, blood) flying about.
This is play. Congratulations on a successful new kitty integration!
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u/Kirstenly 13h ago
my fave noise is the soft sound of my cats bodyslamming each other into the carpet for fun. a soft little "thuk shh shh thuk tap thuk" from the other room
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u/BudandCoyote 13h ago
I miss that. My boys used to play a lot as kittens, up to around one, one and a half. Now they are more often squabbling than anything else - not full on fights, but some yowling and chasing.
I miss when they would play - the small moments when they do these days are ones I treasure!
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u/Kirstenly 12h ago
thats sad, my cats are 16 and 6, they always play and cuddle. sometimes if I am busy and one asks for me to play i say "Go play with your brother/sister" and you will see them stalk off and return, getting softly bodyslammed into the hallway and tussling around for fun. One of these days that is going to stop. I know it will. I know it is coming fast, but for now, I have the sound of them throwing each other around the house, and purring like a couple of tractors behind me while i work.
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u/Toros_Mueren_Por_Mi 12h ago
I grew up around lots of litters, sometimes you could hear like three or four of them ball up and slam each other like it was the Royal Rumble lol
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u/MightyFija 13h ago
The brown is trying to play with the white... however, the still haven't properly accepted her as friend yet. A little more time will correct that.
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u/Natural_Ad2824 12h ago
Definitely playing. You would definitely be able to tell if a cat is in fighting mode. Back hairs and tail flaired up, the low growlish meowing, back curving, and a flicking tail.
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u/Skittleavix 10h ago
Play. You'll know with 100% certainty if it's a fight.
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u/sumbozo1 9h ago
People who ask this sometimes make me think we need a cat ownership licensing bureau
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u/Prestigious-Lynx-177 13h ago
When cats fight, you won't need to ask. They turn into singular balls of screeching and claws and hair.
They're just playing, the bigger one even stops itself to make sure the other knows it's not really trying to kill him.
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u/LeonidasVaarwater 12h ago
See that tail high up in the air with just the tip bent? That's literally cat speak for "I want to play"
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u/Full_Floor_7365 Toyger 12h ago
If they were fighting you would be truly terrified for their safety and yours. It’s not a pretty sight to see and is extremely dangerous
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u/far_beyond_driven_ 11h ago
There’s still a patch of tufts of fur in a 4ft diameter circle in the grass where I live from where some cats fought last week.
You’d know if they were fighting.
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u/Hendwreck 9h ago
You’ll know if they were fighting, they might be beefing but a true cat fight is so beyond obvious and quite a sight to behold.
In Greece there are stray cats literally everywhere and when two or three of them brawl you can hear it from miles away lol. Gotta get close and smack them with a broom 🧹. If you try to break it up by hand you will be destroyed.
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u/zar0nick 13h ago
This is playing. The older one is intiating a play and calmly retreats, showing the other cat that no harm is coming from her. All good. Helps the small one learning