Play styles

[lucicat]

I'm curious about play styles. . .I have two cats (well kittens really and it's the first time I've raised cats as an adult). First cat "S" is 7 months old and second "A" is 5 months old.

S has always been high energy and loves wand toys and all toys really. She hilarious to play with and when she finally catches her prey she will strut around with her head held high--showing off her catch. At first she would just run and jump at every toy all the time, but started to develop more strategy and will hide now and figure her prey out before leaping out of hiding to catch.

A has always been more of a shy cat, but he loves toys too as any kitten would. I assumed since S was bold and A shy (and she's older) that she would dominate the play. .. but as it turns out she will hardly play at all if he's in the room. Now I don't know if this is because he is somehow the dominant cat (he's still smaller than her although wont be for long) or bc she's "letting" him since he's the younger, shyer cat? But it's weird and I feel like maybe I should also play with her alone so that he doesn't hog the whole play session? Also, he has very different behavior. . .he growls when he catches the "prey", not even at her, he just sort of crouches over the toy and growls once he's caught it. Still normal play behavior? Is this a male thing? Has this scared S off from playing too? (They otherwise get along great and sleep together and play together and groom each other etc.)

Mostly I find it fascinating. . . and I'm what have others have noticed about play styles?

 

[HoneyAndTheBean]

My big cat Honcho will sit and watch from the side when im playing with my kitten Rio. I think sometimes older cats do this when they see the babies playing. I may be wrong but I see that happen here too

 

[She's a witch]

I have read somewhere that it's because the cats are solitary hunters, it's natural for a cat to back off when another one is playing (=practicing hunting skills). My girl does that indeed, but my boy certainly didn't get the memo in his DNA about this as he will interrupt my girl's play without any hesitation. She literally never did that. But I have a feeling that my girl has more feral/wildcat blood in her, whereas my boy seems to me as if his family has been close with humans for many generations. Of course this is my speculation only as I don't know their history, both are rescues from the streets. In any way, this is hardly a problem, as my boy is becoming lazier and lazier and I'm actually super glad that he occasionally decides to move his behind to steal her playtime. He prefers playing with her than with humans. She likes both.

My girl almost never catches her play prey. She enjoys the process the most and if she happens to catch it, she releases it immediately and pretends she never caught it. Any toy must be in constant movement for her to find it interesting, and it must be in a difficult position, behind something for example, for her to start hunting; she's never interested in the toys that are easily accessible, we must make everything difficult for her. She also directs us when playing: if she's bored in one type of play after some time, she will lead us to another location or to another toy to get for her. Also, she has a very serious, focused look at her face when she's playing. My boy is goofy and looks like he's having lots of fun rather than practicing killing, as she does. He's also less sophisticated in playing, he would simply grab a toy firmly after the short hunt and try to destroy it or - in worst scenario - eat it. When he was little, he was hunting in a funny way, as he would approach a toy very, very quietly, and he would pounce on it only when he was like super super close. That didn't seem like a successful hunting strategy to me, but what do I know, I'm vegetarian.

They have different preferences when playing together, too: she loves to chase (but be chased, not so much) and he loves to wrestle. It isn't always easy but they found compromise on how much wrestling&chasing they are willing to allow and they have lots of fun each other. And we have even more fun watching them play

 

[lucicat]

I have read somewhere that it's because the cats are solitary hunters, it's natural for a cat to back off when another one is playing (=practicing hunting skills). My girl does that indeed, but my boy certainly didn't get the memo in his DNA about this as he will interrupt my girl's play without any hesitation. She literally never did that. But I have a feeling that my girl has more feral/wildcat blood in her, whereas my boy seems to me as if his family has been close with humans for many generations. Of course this is my speculation only as I don't know their history, both are rescues from the streets. In any way, this is hardly a problem, as my boy is becoming lazier and lazier and I'm actually super glad that he occasionally decides to move his behind to steal her playtime. He prefers playing with her than with humans. She likes both.

My girl almost never catches her play prey. She enjoys the process the most and if she happens to catch it, she releases it immediately and pretends she never caught it. Any toy must be in constant movement for her to find it interesting, and it must be in a difficult position, behind something for example, for her to start hunting; she's never interested in the toys that are easily accessible, we must make everything difficult for her. She also directs us when playing: if she's bored in one type of play after some time, she will lead us to another location or to another toy to get for her. Also, she has a very serious, focused look at her face when she's playing. My boy is goofy and looks like he's having lots of fun rather than practicing killing, as she does. He's also less sophisticated in playing, he would simply grab a toy firmly after the short hunt and try to destroy it or - in worst scenario - eat it. When he was little, he was hunting in a funny way, as he would approach a toy very, very quietly, and he would pounce on it only when he was like super super close. That didn't seem like a successful hunting strategy to me, but what do I know, I'm vegetarian.

They have different preferences when playing together, too: she loves to chase (but be chased, not so much) and he loves to wrestle. It isn't always easy but they found compromise on how much wrestling&chasing they are willing to allow and they have lots of fun each other. And we have even more fun watching them play

I love reading these things!! Sounds a lot like my two! We like to joke that our girl is the smart one and he's the pretty one. LOL. I honestly don't know how he'd survive as a feral cat. . .she is clever and has great hunting instincts. He tends to trip over his own feet. She will even go and pick out a toy she wants to play with and bring it to us. If toys get lost under the fridge she sits there till I fish them out. He is (as you described) way less sophisticated about it. But he's such a loveable goof-ball. The growling thing is really funny to me though, he's way less fierce than she, but he does love a good growl. Male posturing?

 

[She's a witch]

I love reading these things!! Sounds a lot like my two! We like to joke that our girl is the smart one and he's the pretty one. LOL. I honestly don't know how he'd survive as a feral cat. . .she is clever and has great hunting instincts. He tends to trip over his own feet. She will even go and pick out a toy she wants to play with and bring it to us. If toys get lost under the fridge she sits there till I fish them out. He is (as you described) way less sophisticated about it. But he's such a loveable goof-ball. The growling thing is really funny to me though, he's way less fierce than she, but he does love a good growl. Male posturing?

Actually, when I witnessed mine in anything sort of resembling the real action - fly hunting - my goof-ball boy was extremely successful. He would spot a fly far away from across the room and like there was some kind of a switch in his brain changing him into black panther, he suddenly was extremely fast and agile, and he got it with one paw stroke. My girl has always played with flies with extreme delicacy and never hurt it. I'm afraid that in the wild she could be over-complicating things. Luckily, we'll never know ;-)