Are These Kittens Fighting Or Playing?

[gchris7]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forums and in the cat world in general. I have adopted 2 kittens from different litters and im trying to make it work between them.
Before i give you the full back story, i have uploaded 2 videos of them together in the same room.
What you see in the videos, basically happens constantly, although i only let them stay together for a few minutes and then split them up in fear they might get hurt, as i'm not really sure if they are fighting or just playing rough.

 

[di and bob]

Looks like normal play to me, but since they are fairly new to each other continue to monitor and keep them separated.One thing that struck me as normal is the swatting and tussling but then one pulling back and leaving and the other letting it go. In a true fight there would be no stopping. One thing to look for is deep scratches or bites, run your hands through their fur and feel for scabs. There will be some, but they should be shallow and infrequent. Is there yowling or growling going on? Is there large amounts of hair torn out? Kittens do play very rough, that is how they learn self control and limits, so it is very hard to decipher. One thing to do is to feed them close together to foster 'good' feelings of being together, and to play with them with wands etc. to have them together, but focused on something else. I would get two kickeroos on Amazon and throw the toys towards them when they seem to be getting too serious. These toys are wonderful to allow them to bunny kick some excess energy off. Keep us posted!

 

[abyeb]

The videos aren't working for me, but here's something that should help you out:

 

[susanm9006]

Playing, and actually seems to be pretty gentle play at that. They are just having some fun, breaking apart every few seconds and taking turns being the aggressor. No need to separate them.

 

[gchris7]

Thank you all for your replies.
The black one is a 3 month old female and the grey one is a 2 month old male.

We found the black one outside of our house abandoned by his mother at around 3 weeks old. She is a very energetic and playful kitten but she doesn't like to be petted at all. She would always bite (not too hard) when you try to pet her. She had never had any contact with other pets before we got the second one.

A week ago, we got the other kitten in order to keep her company and so that they play together when we are at work for 9+ hours every day. He was also found abandoned at the street at around 1 month of age by another lady and he lived with other pets for almost a month (small dogs and older cats). He is also energetic and playful but he also likes to be petted (on his own terms) and purr on you.

Even though we have read how to introduce cats before we got him, due to our excitement after seeing him being gentle and sweet we did the mistake to only let them smell each other for like 5 minutes before getting him out of his carrier.

From that point, we keep them separated and we only let them for a few minutes together under our supervision.
When they are together they would constantly play/fight like in the videos.
He very rarely makes a sound but he does seem to play(?) very rough. She on other hand would always hiss and growl at him while they fight. Both have their ears laid back and both seem to be using their nails and teeth.
I haven't seen any fur torn or any injuries yet.

They have plenty of toys, hiding places 2x litter trays and food bowls, etc.

 

[Blakeney Green]

General rule of thumb: If you have to ask, it's almost certainly play. Cats are very vocal and dramatic when they fight.

It's usually okay to let your kittens play a little rough as long as they aren't hurting each other. It's natural and is how they learn appropriate social boundaries with other cats.

Your kittens are very cute!

 

[di and bob]

Females are just naturally standoffish and little 'divas', although there is always the exception to the rule. She will try to put him in his place. Sounds like you have a good start, keep us posted!