Hi, I recently adopted an 8 week old kitten about 6 weeks ago. I did the slow introductions but my resident 3 year old cat is still not a big fan of the new kitten. They usually play together everyday (chasing each other through a tunnel, jumping on each other etc. but it's usually completely quiet apart from an occasional hiss or 2 from my resident cat and they take turns). My resident cat sometimes gives mixed signals. In general apart from when playing my resident cat doesn't like the kitten to get too close and will still hiss and swat him sometimes and growl if there is food involved, but on the other hand sometimes he will go right up to the kitten, sniff him nose to nose and just walk away. Also, sometimes the kitten seems hesitant to walk past my adult cat, especially through doorways as my adult cat will still hiss and swat him sometimes. But they both initiate play a couple of times per day. Also, their relationship has been like this for a couple of weeks and doesn't seem to improve but maybe I'm just being a bit too impatient.
But today when they were playing my resident cat was making a strange meow like sound and wouldn't look away from the kitten even when I called him (he usually comes when called or at least looks away). It wasn't like a scream when I hear cats fighting outside, but still a bit concerning. It almost sounded like his normal meow that he would use to get my attention, but a bit longer with some trill like sounds in the middle. His eyes were not dilated and he wasn't puffed up, hissing or low growling but he was fixated on the kitten and lunging at him sidewards and biting and bunny kicking him but also not using his claws. The kitten was not acting scared at all and was biting and wrestling him as well but again no claws. This lasted for about 5 minutes and then they went to sleep about a foot away from each other. There are no marks or bleeding on the kitten, but there was 2 very small tufts of fur on the ground. I'm just a bit concerned that it was an actual fight rather than play. Any insight would be much appreciated.
But today when they were playing my resident cat was making a strange meow like sound and wouldn't look away from the kitten even when I called him (he usually comes when called or at least looks away). It wasn't like a scream when I hear cats fighting outside, but still a bit concerning. It almost sounded like his normal meow that he would use to get my attention, but a bit longer with some trill like sounds in the middle. His eyes were not dilated and he wasn't puffed up, hissing or low growling but he was fixated on the kitten and lunging at him sidewards and biting and bunny kicking him but also not using his claws. The kitten was not acting scared at all and was biting and wrestling him as well but again no claws. This lasted for about 5 minutes and then they went to sleep about a foot away from each other. There are no marks or bleeding on the kitten, but there was 2 very small tufts of fur on the ground. I'm just a bit concerned that it was an actual fight rather than play. Any insight would be much appreciated.
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