I found a stray kitten about two weeks ago. (This is the only cat that has ever actually come up to me when I've stood there going pst-pst-pst like an idiot. So either someone abandoned him or he is, literally, the smartest cat in the entire world--and I don't think that's the case.) After making sure he didn't have anything communicable, I introduced him to my cat--he is six years old. (First via a cage. Then the same room.)
After a couple of very stand-offish days, they now engage on a regular basis in fighting. It looks like fighting at least. They roll around, they smack at each other, clawing takes place, my cat clamps his mouth around the kitten's neck. They make cat noises. Then, suddenly, one of them will start grooming the other. The closest thing I can equate it to is a scene in a soap opera where the Himbo and the Bimbo start arguing, then start making out. Whenever the two cats get up to this, I feel like I should leave the room.
It can't be actual fighting because they'd both be scarred up really good by now. The kitten would probably be dead. And it's not like the kitten doesn't come out on top too.
Are they determining dominance? Or are they just playing? My cat used to have two other cats (they went off to grad school--their owner did) and has been by himself for about six months now. I'm glad the two are getting along because he seems to have been getting just a little too pipe-and-slippers. But I don't know if this is all a sign of a good match or just a low-level of conflict that will go on indefinitely.
After a couple of very stand-offish days, they now engage on a regular basis in fighting. It looks like fighting at least. They roll around, they smack at each other, clawing takes place, my cat clamps his mouth around the kitten's neck. They make cat noises. Then, suddenly, one of them will start grooming the other. The closest thing I can equate it to is a scene in a soap opera where the Himbo and the Bimbo start arguing, then start making out. Whenever the two cats get up to this, I feel like I should leave the room.
It can't be actual fighting because they'd both be scarred up really good by now. The kitten would probably be dead. And it's not like the kitten doesn't come out on top too.
Are they determining dominance? Or are they just playing? My cat used to have two other cats (they went off to grad school--their owner did) and has been by himself for about six months now. I'm glad the two are getting along because he seems to have been getting just a little too pipe-and-slippers. But I don't know if this is all a sign of a good match or just a low-level of conflict that will go on indefinitely.
