My Cat Growls So Much During Play!

I have two cats (at the same time) for the first time in my life. One is 13 and the other is about 1.5 years. It was a heck of a journey getting them good and introduced to each other (almost a year before I felt they were trustworthy to be alone together) but now we are finally at a place where we peacefully coexist. I don't have any delusions that they love each other, but they do play sometimes!

I did have a question about the growling though. The older cat had never lived with another cat, prior to bringing the younger one home. I don't think she really knows how to "Cat" and be social with other cats. When they play chase, the old lady makes an awful racket about it. I don't see any other signs of aggression when they do this, but I was wondering if anyone else had any experience with their cats being a noisy player? Could this be because she's only just learning how to play, or is it more likely that she's not enjoying the "play" as much as I thought? Should I discourage the play between them when she makes these noises, is it more like play-fighting??

Do you have a way to make a video with sound? If you can do that and post it here it would be easier for other members to tell what's going on.

GoldyCat said:

Do you have a way to make a video with sound? If you can do that and post it here it would be easier for other members to tell what's going on.

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I will try to catch a video of it next time they do it!

It is a big age difference. She may be playing or trying to play to placate the younger cat but grumbling about it at the same time . But some cats just naturally make a lot of noise, hissing or growling during play so I would worry as long as they do friend things like grooming one another and sleeping near one another.

My kitten boys (now teens) love to play kitten soccer. Where one boy grabs a toy mouse or toy fur ball and walks/runs away growling real loud. It is like they are saying ‘catch me if you can!’

One of the boys was a total growler and the other one learned it from him. Perhaps your girl learned this game as a kitten and has not had a buddy to play it with until now?