Cat introduction - fighting or playing

[tiredaf]

I know this gets asked a lot and I’ve read many of the other threads and links on introductions, but I’m having a bit of trouble telling if my cats are fighting or playing.

Two months ago I adopted a ~1 year old female cat (Sandy) from a shelter. My roommate already had a ~3 year old male cat (Kio) that has been with us for ~1.5 years. We decided to do the slow introduction, having my bedroom be Sandy’s base camp. Kio wasn’t too thrilled with having a new cat around - there was some hissing and whatnot when he would get near her door but that all died off after about a week. We eventually moved on to letting them see each other through cracked doors and had been feeding them on either side of the door.

We are at a point now where there is normally just a baby gate barrier between them when they are playing or eating. Both of those go well, so long as one cat doesn’t think that it is still hungry after eating (one might paw in the direction of the other’s food if they don’t feel like they had enough to eat). I’m trying to give them more regular visual access to each other by not limiting their time at the baby gate as much each day. What I’m finding is that unless I’m there to mediate/watch/play with them, we will have almost nonstop instances of the linked videos. I can’t tell if this is aggression or play. There isn’t any hissing that I can hear and there (usually) isn’t any growling from either cat (I actually think Sandy may have let out a small growl in one of the videos). Sandy (the new cat) is on the opposite side of the baby gate as the camera. Kio (the resident) is on the camera side of the baby gate and hanging out in Sandy’s base camp.

Kio and Sandy 1 - 6/2/22
Kio and Sandy 2 - 6/2/22
Kio and Sandy 3 - 6/2/22
Kio and Sandy eating - 6/2/22

The fisticuffs are all within a 15-20 minute period. The eating is shortly thereafter. Both are their normal selves afterward. I just can’t tell if they are bored or trying to kill each other. Thanks in advance!

 

[verna davies]

That looks like playing to me, they seem to tolerate each other just fine.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I would tend to agree that it would seem to be play - the kind that means they are 'testing one another' or 'feeling each other out'. Have you reached the stage where you are swapping locations so that Sandy isn't always on the one side of the gate? Swapping allows Sandy to spread her scent throughout the house (and get used to the rest of the home too), so that Kio smells her everywhere - just part of the process to help possibly alleviate a territorial issue with Kio. That might also help you to decipher if Kio might tend to be a bit territorial about this new cat.
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles

 

[tiredaf]

Thank you for the responses! My gut feeling was that this is some sort of play since they will basically ignore each other when they are eating or if I have wand toys out for them to focus on.

Have you reached the stage where you are swapping locations so that Sandy isn't always on the one side of the gate? Swapping allows Sandy to spread her scent throughout the house (and get used to the rest of the home too), so that Kio smells her everywhere - just part of the process to help possibly alleviate a territorial issue with Kio. That might also help you to decipher if Kio might tend to be a bit territorial about this new cat.

Yep, we've been swapping their locations everyday. We have a 2 bedroom apartment with a large open living room and kitchen. So when Sandy isn't in her base camp, she will have full roam of the rest of the apartment while Kio hangs out in her base camp. When Sandy is roaming, she will often go lay in the bed that Kio sleeps in at night. Same thing with Kio when he is in Sandy's base camp - he will usually lay in one of the places that she sleeps. I'll usually come home for lunch at noon, feed them each a bit of kibble and swap them before going back to work. Then when I'm off (5 or 6pm) I'll feed them some wet food and swap them again before going to the gym. At night, we have been rotating who gets to roam around every few days. I also try to get some play sessions with wand toys at the baby gate a few times a day, usually before work, at lunch, before their wet food and then before bedtime. It's actually kind of cute when one of them wants to play - they will instinctively take whatever toy they want to play with to the baby gate. Sometimes it almost looks like they are dropping it for the other cat to have a turn.

Thank you for the article - it is actually what I've been basing the introduction around!