Kitten perceiving other cat playing as fighting

[aarond]

In short, my 4 m/o kitten has gone from playful to scared when it comes to playing with my older cat.

My older cat (1 yo) Rodger really likes Pierre. He sleeps outside of his room, meows when he can’t find him (he rarely meows), and grooms him very often. I’ve even caught the two cuddling in the pastInitially the two enjoyed their rough fights together. Each would take turns initiating and chasing, but Pierre would usually end up on the bottom due to him being much smaller.

However, now it’s evolved into Pierre actively being scared of Rodger’s play. He hisses like crazy and runs away, rarely engaging in actual play. When he does play, he still hisses. Overall, I’ve notice Pierre avoid Rodger and look visibly scared at times.

Rodger clearly doesn’t want to actually harm Pierre. He will let Pierre go and doesn’t ever hiss at him. I’ve only ever heard one growl from Rodger toward Pierre (stealing food).

Likewise, Pierre likes Rodger. He rubs is face against Rodger frequently, follows him from time-to-time, grooms him, and used to love playing with him. The two are generally calm around one another, except for this.

In the first video, Rodger initiates play by trying to bite Pierre’s leg. Pierre hisses immediately and Rodger keeps playing rather rough:


After this video the two separated about 8 feet apart, Pierre didn’t went mostly back to normal. He didn’t hide and sat upright. Rodger laid down to rest.

In the next video, you can see that Rodger is clearly trying to groom Pierre, but it turns into a wrestle with Pierre hissing. Sometimes he subdues Pierre in order to groom him, other times Pierre rubs against Rodger and he starts it.


Any comments, concerns, or solutions are appreciated. I’m mainly worried that Pierre is starting to perceive Rodger as a threat. The reintroduction process isn’t really an option given that Pierre can’t stand being in a room alone and will climb, dash, etc to leave. He will yowl until his voice is gone and scratch the door until his claws start bleeding, literally

 

[aarond]

Also, for more clarity. Rodger is completely silent in both of those clips. All of the growling and hissing is coming from Pierre.

 

[ArtNJ]

It is very normal for a smaller kitty to try to avoid play. What likely happened here is that the bigger cat accidentally hurt him a bit. They will get over it; will just take some time.

Very often a young barely adult cat will play a tad too rough with a kitten and cause frequent squeals. This is akin to a human big brother giving a little brother a head nuggie or wedgie -- uncomfortable, but not actually dangerous, and more uncomfortable than truly painful. It is of course also possible for a stray nail to accidentally cause actual pain. Certain young adult cats do cross lines and genuinely and consistently play way too rough -- well beyond the head noogie level -- but that is quite rare and I doubt that is what is going on here. The fact that the kitten generally likes the bigger cat and only has an issue during play tells us what we need to know -- this isn't a serious problem.

What I recommend is that you watch, and intervene if the younger kitten seems particularly uncomfortable and is not being allowed to disengage. In that case, just distract them. Otherwise let them be so they can work it out.

 

[ArtNJ]

You know what else is really interesting? In both videos, the kitten is making those noises while playing and not trying to disengage! It is known that some cats use growls and hisses to communicate a lot of different things. I suspect that this kitten's growls and hisses don't mean exactly what one might normally think.

 

[jen]

I really don't see any issues here. This is all normal. They need to work things through. 2 male cats can have some really rough play. Growling, hissing and everything are all part of this and it is all communication. They also groom and head butt each other.... that right there tells me everything is fine. I would not worry, they will just pick up on your stress and that might not help.

 

[Hanm3]

Mine are similar as in the cat will play with the kitten and the kitten gets scared but a lot worse than yours! Your kitten seems to enjoy the play for the most part. I wish mine would, my little girl absolutely hates it I think yours looks perfectly fine

 

[susanm9006]

Deleted.

 

[cataholic07]

I have two brother cats, both over a year old and an almost 5 month old kitten. She loves to play with Jethro and has a blast, they take turns chasing each other and tackling each other. However, if Fynn tries to play with her most times she will hiss and run away lol. But Fynn is bigger than his brother and is the boss type of cat while Jetty is more loves all type of cat. She will sleep with Fynn though and groom him. But she loves Jetty the most lol.They will learn to play together nicely just monitor them and burn off energy with wand toys

 

[She's a witch]

I first watched the video without the sound on and I was seeing two a bit rough but very playful cats, only when I turned the sound on I understood what you mean One theory might be that Pierre is simply over dramatically vocal when playing, there are cats like this. I agree that if Pierre were really scared, he would try to escape way sooner. But of course, I'd keep observing and see how the situation develops.
Is Pierre already neutered? I'm assuming Rodger is.