Hello, and thanks in advance for anyone who can give me any suggestions or feedback.
So firstly some informations on the cats. Guppy:
He is a two and a half years old grey tabby who weighs about 13 lb. He showed up at our doorstep about a year ago and was very sick at the time. We took very good care of him and he is now in perfect health, aside from having asthma. He is a typically extremely friendly and social cat. He does likes to play, but in recent months that need has waned. He is very compliant and friendly with vets. We have never heard him hiss or growl ever, when he's feeling chatty he'll meow around the house, and he likes to chirp a lot at things outside the window. Ultimately he's really nice, and on the occasion that he does draw his claws or nip at us when trying to play fight he's never broken skin.
Comet:
He is a 12 week old black kitten who weighs about 3 lb. We've had comet for almost 3 weeks now, and we have kept him and guppy separated his entire time. Comet came home with a really bad upper respiratory infection, but he is fully recovered and allowed to interact with Guppy now. He's also very compliant with vets. He's really playful, but clearly doesn't 100% conceptualize when to use his claws and when not to. My husband and I are pretty scratched up from him trying to climb us. But he is also really nice and we've never heard him hiss or growl either.
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The situation:
So today was the first day that the cats were able to interact. Up until today Comet has been in quarantine in our bathroom. Guppy has seemed pretty interested in the kitten and not very threatened, often when we left Comet alone he would cry and Guppy would rush up to the door separating them and paw at/chirp at the door. It came across like he was trying to communicate with Comet or comfort him at the time, but who can say for sure.
Me and my husband have been following all the guidelines, and being really slow about their introduction. However I'm a little confused by how they're interacting now. When they first noticed each other they immediately started playing, or what looked like playing. However I'm getting mixed signals from the two of them.
Typically Guppy is on top, which is making things hard to gauge since Guppy is so much larger then Comet- he pretty much covers the kitten entirely. They both have tried to sneak up on each other and pounce on each other, though it seems that Guppy is more often trying to pounce at Comet, while Comet is mostly just trying to explore.
Guppy's body language: Guppy seems to be playing for the most part, but since I have no clue what his experiences with other cat's is, I can't really tell if he knows how to play properly or safely. Guppy's ears are erect and he doesn't seem to be arching his back, but I have seen him flicking his tail kind of aggressively. overall his movements are typically slow, but he does seem to be consistently the dominant of the situation. He has not used his claws once, however he does seem to be trying to bite Comet a lot on the paws or around the neck. I can't tell how hard he's biting either. Whether he's just open mouth playing or is actually trying to bite comet with intent to injure, I have no idea. Guppy has not made a sound during play at all. He does chirp at Comet when they're looking at each other though. Another thing Guppy's doing is trying to groom Comet who at one point responded by purring, but it then turned into play fighting again. I read somewhere that grooming can be a way to show dominance so I can't say for sure whether this is a malicious action either.
Comet's body language:
Comet is the hard one for me to read, not only because I've only had him for a couple weeks but also because in my adult life I've never had a playful kitten, so I don't really know what to expect. He seems to be avoiding Guppy and also approaching him in equal measures. When he is pinned under Guppy in his 'play' he also seems to be constantly with his mouth open, and his claws are out. However he hasn't made much noise, we have heard him meow twice while playing, and while the meow sounded somewhat distressed it was not a growl or a hiss. I have noticed his ears down, but it was not the entire time.
That's about all the notes I have of their body language, right now they are separated again for the time being. I know that's just a mess of information, but I was hoping I could paint a picture of why this is a little confusing for me. They both seem to be giving positive and negative feedback as to whether or not they're enjoying what they're doing. They started playing immediately upon seeing each other, which seems to be all so unusual. People seem to be saying that it's playing as long as they're not hissing or growling, but it's a little hard for me to accept that when I have two cats that have never hissed growled in my presence ever. Part of me feels like Guppy doesn't even know how to hiss or growl.
My biggest concern is that Guppy is so much bigger than Comet, and that if Guppy is hurting him then I wouldn't be able to easily tell. Comet has black fur. I feel like it would be hard to find injuries in black fur. My eye sight is not great and he's so squirmy. I'm already nervous that he is hurt and I just haven't noticed.
Sorry for being long winded, any advise out there?
So firstly some informations on the cats. Guppy:
He is a two and a half years old grey tabby who weighs about 13 lb. He showed up at our doorstep about a year ago and was very sick at the time. We took very good care of him and he is now in perfect health, aside from having asthma. He is a typically extremely friendly and social cat. He does likes to play, but in recent months that need has waned. He is very compliant and friendly with vets. We have never heard him hiss or growl ever, when he's feeling chatty he'll meow around the house, and he likes to chirp a lot at things outside the window. Ultimately he's really nice, and on the occasion that he does draw his claws or nip at us when trying to play fight he's never broken skin.
Comet:
He is a 12 week old black kitten who weighs about 3 lb. We've had comet for almost 3 weeks now, and we have kept him and guppy separated his entire time. Comet came home with a really bad upper respiratory infection, but he is fully recovered and allowed to interact with Guppy now. He's also very compliant with vets. He's really playful, but clearly doesn't 100% conceptualize when to use his claws and when not to. My husband and I are pretty scratched up from him trying to climb us. But he is also really nice and we've never heard him hiss or growl either.
----
The situation:
So today was the first day that the cats were able to interact. Up until today Comet has been in quarantine in our bathroom. Guppy has seemed pretty interested in the kitten and not very threatened, often when we left Comet alone he would cry and Guppy would rush up to the door separating them and paw at/chirp at the door. It came across like he was trying to communicate with Comet or comfort him at the time, but who can say for sure.
Me and my husband have been following all the guidelines, and being really slow about their introduction. However I'm a little confused by how they're interacting now. When they first noticed each other they immediately started playing, or what looked like playing. However I'm getting mixed signals from the two of them.
Typically Guppy is on top, which is making things hard to gauge since Guppy is so much larger then Comet- he pretty much covers the kitten entirely. They both have tried to sneak up on each other and pounce on each other, though it seems that Guppy is more often trying to pounce at Comet, while Comet is mostly just trying to explore.
Guppy's body language: Guppy seems to be playing for the most part, but since I have no clue what his experiences with other cat's is, I can't really tell if he knows how to play properly or safely. Guppy's ears are erect and he doesn't seem to be arching his back, but I have seen him flicking his tail kind of aggressively. overall his movements are typically slow, but he does seem to be consistently the dominant of the situation. He has not used his claws once, however he does seem to be trying to bite Comet a lot on the paws or around the neck. I can't tell how hard he's biting either. Whether he's just open mouth playing or is actually trying to bite comet with intent to injure, I have no idea. Guppy has not made a sound during play at all. He does chirp at Comet when they're looking at each other though. Another thing Guppy's doing is trying to groom Comet who at one point responded by purring, but it then turned into play fighting again. I read somewhere that grooming can be a way to show dominance so I can't say for sure whether this is a malicious action either.
Comet's body language:
Comet is the hard one for me to read, not only because I've only had him for a couple weeks but also because in my adult life I've never had a playful kitten, so I don't really know what to expect. He seems to be avoiding Guppy and also approaching him in equal measures. When he is pinned under Guppy in his 'play' he also seems to be constantly with his mouth open, and his claws are out. However he hasn't made much noise, we have heard him meow twice while playing, and while the meow sounded somewhat distressed it was not a growl or a hiss. I have noticed his ears down, but it was not the entire time.
That's about all the notes I have of their body language, right now they are separated again for the time being. I know that's just a mess of information, but I was hoping I could paint a picture of why this is a little confusing for me. They both seem to be giving positive and negative feedback as to whether or not they're enjoying what they're doing. They started playing immediately upon seeing each other, which seems to be all so unusual. People seem to be saying that it's playing as long as they're not hissing or growling, but it's a little hard for me to accept that when I have two cats that have never hissed growled in my presence ever. Part of me feels like Guppy doesn't even know how to hiss or growl.
My biggest concern is that Guppy is so much bigger than Comet, and that if Guppy is hurting him then I wouldn't be able to easily tell. Comet has black fur. I feel like it would be hard to find injuries in black fur. My eye sight is not great and he's so squirmy. I'm already nervous that he is hurt and I just haven't noticed.
Sorry for being long winded, any advise out there?
