Older cat playing very rough with new kitten

[danielle07]

My fiance and I have just adopted a new kitten who is 5mo and is a playful and energetic kitten. We have a 5yo Siberian cat named Percy who has always been extremely social and playful as well. Percy, lately, has been playing VERY rough with the kitten. The kitten will even whine and cry out, but he never runs away in fear from Percy or hides from him. In fact he is constantly trying to nuzzle up and walk next to him. There is NO hissing or growling, no ears back and no one is getting all puffed up. Is this normal? Should I be concerned by how rough Percy is being?

 

[ArtNJ]

Yep, you can 100% trust the kitten's judgment. Your kitten thinks its fine, so its fine.

What is going on here is on the level of a head noogie, if you know what that is, a little bit of inconsequential discomfort. Little human brother cries out for mom, but isn't really hurt, and 5 minutes later he is bugging big brother to play again. With human kids, you can at least give behavior modification a go, but with cats, save yourself the needless headache and let them be. If you try too hard to modify behavior towards playing "nice' you might discourage them from playing. Cats typically work through these things, the kitten grows, and the play becomes more equal.

This really qualifies more as a success than a problem. They are on a reliable track to being friends, if they arent already. Now friend cats dont always have equal play. I've got a 12 pound and an 8 pound cat, and play remains unequal. The smaller cat sometimes makes protest noises and always ends play. But they are good friends, groom, and seek each other out to play. So it may not be equal, but it will at least head more in that direction.

 

[danielle07]

Thank you so much, that analogy put it into perspective for me 100%!!

 

[danteshuman]

Everything sounds fine!
Here are Nick & Jackie play fighting (wrestlemania) and the last one is of them cuddling together. Even though they play rough they love each other ...,.... and love to rough house!

 

[Alldara]

It's really normal for cats and kittens to rough house. If you're not noticing any high pitched eeps or squeeks, no one's getting hurt.

I watched a lot of videos to learn and you'll learn your cats' body language as they age.

Some things are not universal. For example, a cat who lives outside or is first generation indoor, may pin their ears during play for safety. A second example is that apparently Calcifer's feet are the perfect brush for Magnus, so he always takes floofs off of Magnus. His claws arent out. During shedding, Magnus might kick a few floofs off Cal too. They aren't tearing it out with their mouths or anything which is a big good sign. They play chomp at one, play bite, swat at, kick, chase and wrestle. They pause during play to look out a window or toward and interesting sound which is another big sign that it's play and no one's scared.