Aggressive cat “play”

Destinyp113

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
4
Purraise
1
I’ve been slowly introducing my cats ( one 3 YO and the other is a year and a half) for over a month and for less than a week I’ve been giving them longer intervals together but their play is pretty aggressive and kind of non stop. They are now together for about 30 minutes at a time and I would say 20-25 of those minutes they are aggressively playing. They do use claws and bite each other and I have found a couple of scratches on both cats but there is no hissing or growling so that’s the only reason that I assume it’s play but I’m not too sure. I do try to distract with toys but neither are amused. Is there anything I can do to make this go smoother or is this something that usually happens and gets better with time?
 

CatladyJan

<><
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Messages
2,132
Purraise
5,692
I’ve been slowly introducing my cats ( one 3 YO and the other is a year and a half) for over a month and for less than a week I’ve been giving them longer intervals together but their play is pretty aggressive and kind of non stop. They are now together for about 30 minutes at a time and I would say 20-25 of those minutes they are aggressively playing. They do use claws and bite each other and I have found a couple of scratches on both cats but there is no hissing or growling so that’s the only reason that I assume it’s play but I’m not too sure. I do try to distract with toys but neither are amused. Is there anything I can do to make this go smoother or is this something that usually happens and gets better with time?
If there is no hissing, growling or ears pinned back I would say they are just playing. If that is the only time allotment they spend together they may be making up for lost time.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

Destinyp113

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
4
Purraise
1
If there is no hissing, growling or ears pinned back I would say they are just playing. If that is the only time allotment they spend together they may be making up for lost time.
I’ve seen ears pinned back about once or twice since we’ve been doing this and usually that’s when I step in and separate. But I do try not to involve myself too much unless it’s trying to distract them with a toy.
 

ArtNJ

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 1, 2017
Messages
5,485
Purraise
6,957
Cats are predators, and like all predators, they practice hunting and fighting behaviors during play. If cats are seriously interested in play, it almost always looks very rough. Sure, there is some chasing, tag equivalent and random stuff that doesn't look too violent, but for the most part if they are enthused about playing with each other its highly aggressive looking wrestling, pouncing, play biting and using the back legs to rake from the defensive position. If you are correct that its play, and I assume you are since there is almost no chance cats could be engaged in hostilities for 20 minutes without growls and hisses, then there is no reason at all they shouldn't be together full time. If you let them be together permanently, they will eventually stop playing and chill out together. Accidental scratches do happen in roughhousing. If you are unsure, do a video for us and post it on youtube or similar and put a link in a post here, but without hostile noises, I don't see any real chance its not play.

About the only problem I see is that you *might* end up having to trim nails. Which can be very difficult and annoying. But the main news is very good -- these cats like each other and are getting great excercise. Let them do their thing.
 
Last edited:
Top