Show me your cats rough playfights

[Alldara]

That's basically what happens anytime one young cat grooms another young cat who's not in the mood to be groomed. I'll see if I can get a video of it this evening. This is a daily occurrence here, though usually sans squeek. We did have a time where they were all learning to be more gentle and there was a squeek or two per day.

Magnus is always biting necks around here. It's because they are acting like a mother cat and trying to pin them into submission for grooming.

The squeek was Zaky saying, "too rough!"

If Baby didn't back off after the squeek (just by pausing for a second or moving her head back slightly), I would just do something to distract them momentarily, like toss a toy to the other side of the room.

 

[Valerian]

That's basically what happens anytime one young cat grooms another young cat who's not in the mood to be groomed.

Hehe so I've seen..
But the thing is, Baby was the one who started grooming Zacky, and also the one to start biting..Zack was just laying there (to my surprise xD)
So hmmm...she was in the mood to groom him, and then she wasn't anymore a few seconds later? what a weirdo x)

9 August 2023

happened again a few minutes later

 

[Valerian]

I'll see if I can get a video of it this evening.

Uu, this would be awesome btw, I would really appreciate it!
I'd be really nice to see other cats like this with my own eyes x)

 

[thefiresidecat]

things to watch for to see how cats are taking things is the ear and the tail. an angry cat will have their ears back and tail low. in those vids the tail never went down the ears never went back. they both look friendly thru out the entire thing. to me that looked entirely normal.

 

[thefiresidecat]

here is one I have from when tibby and drommie were young many years ago. their play fighting was more intense as tibby got older but they also slept together groomed each other and were very close up until her death this spring. drommie thought tibby was her immaculate conception. lol. they still played rough.

cats play like this for a number of reasons. all of which are normal to the way their establish ground limits and rules and what not. although in this end of this one the kitten wins. they instinctively don't want to hurt baby cats and I think she had no other recourse than to let him win in this situation. it's why one of his nicknames is lil bitch lol


t

 

[Valerian]

it's why one of his nicknames is lil bitch lol

Omg, thats also Baby's nickname and how I call her when she's being a bit too rough with Zack

Okay, I had to say this first, now to watch the video xD

 

[danteshuman]

Some of your play fights might also be dominance spats. I would give them 2 of everything so one cat can’t guard the bed of food or litter boxes. Also building up my victim cat’s confidence with daily 1 on 1 play helped a lot!

A catio with some bird feeders hung up near by can help a lot with hyper kitties.

I don’t how to say this but to say Dante was just a little a-hole to my other cat. He would groom the other cat then finish it with a nip between the shoulder blades ever time! Poor Salem was way to passive so he just took it. If my hyper bully was bored and stuck inside due to rain, he would pounce poor Salem and nip him between the shoulder blades. I loved Dante but he was a jerk to my other cat and he was a nightmare to my mom’s elderly declawed kitty. All the kitties have passed now. My hyper insecure bully would have been on Prozac if I had known about it, when I moved in with my mom (& her sweet little old lady cat….. who was so terrorized she started pooping on the counters!)

Here are Salem (peach) & Dante …. They were never bff but I did get my bully to quit bullying Salem 95% of the time. They seemed to have more of frenemies thing and rarely slept near each other. Which is why getting the right cat for your cat is so important. You know who Dante liked? Jackie the hyper twerp he passed the torch to.

 

[thefiresidecat]

Some of your play fights might also be dominance spats. I would give them 2 of everything so one cat can’t guard the bed of food or litter boxes. Also building up my victim cat’s confidence with daily 1 on 1 play helped a lot!

A catio with some bird feeders hung up near by can help a lot with hyper kitties.

I don’t how to say this but to say Dante was just a little a-hole to my other cat. He would groom the other cat then finish it with a nip between the shoulder blades ever time! Poor Salem was way to passive so he just took it. If my hyper bully was bored and stuck inside due to rain, he would pounce poor Salem and nip him between the shoulder blades. I loved Dante but he was a jerk to my other cat and he was a nightmare to my mom’s elderly declawed kitty. All the kitties have passed now. My hyper insecure bully would have been on Prozac if I had known about it, when I moved in with my mom (& her sweet little old lady cat….. who was so terrorized she started pooping on the counters!)

Here are Salem (peach) & Dante …. They were never bff but I did get my bully to quit bullying Salem 95% of the time. They seemed to have more of frenemies thing and rarely slept near each other. Which is why getting the right cat for your cat is so important. You know who Dante liked? Jackie the hyper twerp he passed the torch to.

thats funny. my dante is also a bit of a bully no one wanted to sleep next to him because he'd be fine for unspecified period of time but then in the middle of the nap he'd just start wacking ppl in the bottom and startling them out of deep sleep lol. in a house of big cats he is just the biggest and he was the youngest. he'd also do the grooming thing and then a bite. I think that's def a dominance thing. we def have many litterboxes and many food bowls down. everyone in our house but andromeda still liked him though they were just respectful of him. drommie gave him a wide berth. we have a very very large house so were never too worried about it. he didn't seek her out.

he's getting older now. I haven't seen that behavior from him in a long time. for the most part tibby still doesn't like to cuddle up with him but it happens now and again. the baby cats will cuddle with him. he doesn't treat them the way he did the older cats. he is like a guardian with them. he plays gently with them and for the most part tries to just watch them. they also do very exaggerated behaviors trying to teach the kittens things. its funny to watch because it's all bad behaviors. this is how we tump things on the counters. this is how we open doors. lol. we haven't got to turning on faucets yet but I think that's only because we have tried to keep the kittens out of any rooms with sinks.

not showing that behavior (the bottom wacking or neck biting) but this is tibby and dante. dante is the ninja cat ninja attack cat

 

[Alldara]

Hehe so I've seen..
But the thing is, Baby was the one who started grooming Zacky, and also the one to start biting..Zack was just laying there (to my surprise xD)
So hmmm...she was in the mood to groom him, and then she wasn't anymore a few seconds later? what a weirdo x)

9 August 2023

happened again a few minutes later

No she was in the mood to groom him, she's just making sure he stays pinned down for the grooming session. Same way a mother cat does.

They were too wild last night. Running around the whole house instead so I'll try again tonight.

 

[Valerian]

I haven't had time to reply to your posts yet, I've been meaning to.

Meanwhile I just wanted to share, because it's stressful for me one day I already start believing they're just having fun, but then today comes, and now I'm all worried again
Today Zack seems a bit too rough for Baby.
She's been hissing and meowed a bit longer meows too much this night....
Zack's been jumping on jer like mad. She's been running away while he's been chasing her all over the apartment while shes meowing and hissing and hiding but he just didn't stop and continued to jump on her back and bite her by the neck while she meowed I went over to them and clapped my hands, so Baby could break free from him. It took a while for me to stop zack from pursuing her again. But he finally stopped (for now).. Baby seemed a bit scared /worried right after but I hope she will be left alone now for the rest of the night...

11 August 2023

11 August 2023

I know the videos don't seem much, the meowing and hissing always happened when they were in some other room, I could hear them but sadly we cant see on the camera.... I don't know what to make of all this... why is he being so rough today? He wasn't yesterday - yesterday they also "fought" most of the night on my bed, but today wos really the worst it's been to this day..
I've played with both of them so not sure what to do about all the Zacks energy anymore....
I'm too worried to sleep.....

i don't think they enjoy these dessions..?...Seems like it's more about who's getting to stay on the bed than it is about playing.. What do you think?

 

[Alldara]

Valerian You know when human children rough-house how sometimes it gets a little too rough and one goes crying to the parents? Next day they start rough-housing all over again.

Well teenage cats are kind of like that too.

Zaky and Baby trust each other SO MUCH that when one stepped OVER the other the bottom cat doesn't even react. That's what I'm seeing in your videos. Take a moment to appreciate how much trust it takes an animal to let a human or other animal stand over top of them or walk over them.

What you're saying re: hissing and hiding a bit is that Baby was no longer in the mood to play and was using her resources to get Zaky to stop (hissing, hiding etc). I've had a few times, in recent months, where Calcifer forgets he's lbs bigger than Magnus and gets a bit rough. Magnus will hide under something and then I come and move Cal out of the room and get a wrestle toy out for him. The next day Magnus is right back to being the one jumping on Cal, biting his neck and initiating it all.

I find leaving a few tunnels and tents out helps to stop this from happening too much. Running or stopping in those to play feet-ys helps to break up the intense wrestling. It still happens sometimes though.

We had severe weather yesterday so I did not film.

 

[Valerian]

Zaky and Baby trust each other SO MUCH that when one stepped OVER the other the bottom cat doesn't even react.

Yup, my jaw was wide open when I first saw the footage xD it was a first for Baby (edit: and then there he goes betrayingher trust the next second xD). Usually Zacky has a lot less trust issues when Baby is around.
I didn'tsend all of the videos, because I doubt anyone would watch thru all of them xD but 2 nights ago, for the most of the night zacky would be laying on the bed and Baby would also jump onto the bed to wrestle him off. Then zack would return and it all repeated all over again...
But while the play was rough, it wasn't nealy as it was this night. They never wrestle like this during the day, only at night and mostly when one is on the bed while the other wants to join - like theres only room for one of them in their minds.

I find leaving a few tunnels and tents out helps to stop this from happening too much

That's exactly what I was thinking this morning - more tunnels. The one I got is no good for this because its not sturdy enough. It is tons of fun for zack tho, he likes the crunchy sounds it makes xD

Oh, I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, nore zack nore baby are interested in the kicking pillows (kickeroo). Baby used to bunny kick it when I forst got her, but she's stopped being interested in it for some time now.
Zackwill just sniff the pillow, even if I really "noggie" him with it xD he rather goes for baby lol....

You know when human children rough-house how sometimes it gets a little too rough and one goes crying to the parents? Next day they start rough-housing all over again.

They did seem better this morning again, back to normal...I just can't help but panic when they start screaming (tiny exaggeration, squealing now and then more so)in the middle of the night.
Maybe I'll get used to it with time ... if you REALLY think it's all alright and no one is hurting the other one.
Yesterday they made a mess of the apartment lol, turned over the cardbord box where I discard paper to be thrown in the recycle bin later - everything got scattered all over the kitchen and living room xD

We had severe weather yesterday so I did not film.

Oh no..we've had severe weather with floodings here in Slovenia also this week.. Hope you're all OK

 

[Alldara]

The biting is normal. It's not a betrayal.

Night time playing is pretty normal too. Cats see best in low-light conditions. Mine start up around 10 pm and will continue for a few hours, sleep with us and then start up again near dawn.

In my room I have my desk chair, which I put a blanket on at night, also at the end of the bed a chest which we put a cat bed on top of, and a small cat tree where they can sit while I work. So usually it's rotational cats..but at least they have some smaller places to nap.

Grooming also starts it up so one can be cuddled in bed and then another comes.to groom and then it's a wrestle match and then there's running everywhere I've had cats a long time so we sleep through it.

My tunnels are all soft ones, but they're still enough to interrupt what's happening usually. You can use boxes too.

 

[Alldara]

Whew! Flooding all over the place. Hope you're staying safe as well

We are okay. But we had some power outages.

 

[thefiresidecat]

Valerian You know when human children rough-house how sometimes it gets a little too rough and one goes crying to the parents? Next day they start rough-housing all over again.

Well teenage cats are kind of like that too.

Zaky and Baby trust each other SO MUCH that when one stepped OVER the other the bottom cat doesn't even react. That's what I'm seeing in your videos. Take a moment to appreciate how much trust it takes an animal to let a human or other animal stand over top of them or walk over them.

What you're saying re: hissing and hiding a bit is that Baby was no longer in the mood to play and was using her resources to get Zaky to stop (hissing, hiding etc). I've had a few times, in recent months, where Calcifer forgets he's lbs bigger than Magnus and gets a bit rough. Magnus will hide under something and then I come and move Cal out of the room and get a wrestle toy out for him. The next day Magnus is right back to being the one jumping on Cal, biting his neck and initiating it all.

I find leaving a few tunnels and tents out helps to stop this from happening too much. Running or stopping in those to play feet-ys helps to break up the intense wrestling. It still happens sometimes though.

We had severe weather yesterday so I did not film.

Please don't let it freak you out. cats do this. lol. like alldara said not only did the cats casually walk over each other but one of them did some grooming in the middle of it. I see two cats who like each other very much and are having middle of the night zoomies. they're teenagers. its what they do. growling hissing roshambo.. all totally normal for cats. and some cats are more vocal than others.

I think it's practice for any real fights to come along. that's what playing is all about. practicing hunting fighting killing. cause that's what they do as predators. to the casual observer it can look very frightening but it's their way of bonding. they're weird. just be sure to keep their toenails clipped so no one gets their feelings too hurt. I had a pair of kittens that were constantly in and out of the vet with abscesses from nail punctures. they are the two cats that taught me how to trim nails. lol. but seriously abscesses are serious business. if you don't already feel their body all over every day for any swellings or very tender spots. especially chest and neck start doing it. an abscess can be fatal if it's in the wrong spot

imo your cats seem close enough that I think they'd miss each other very much if parted. two of my cats used to lay next to each other and one would casually roll over and kick th eother one in the balls. then the other one would kick the one who started it in the balls. they would do that for awhile and then it would be an all over the house chase. it was pretty funny because they'd just sit there taking turns. lol basically NO U. NO U. I never had a camera on hand when it happened. makes me sad to this day because it was hilarious. (and no one seemed to really be hurt. just a tiny grimace lol) but they were definitely best buds. they slept together all the time.

 

[thefiresidecat]

Whew! Flooding all over the place. Hope you're staying safe as well

We are okay. But we had some power outages.

glad you're ok! stay safe!

 

[mama africa]

(Late) Lotje (mom) and (late) Ciske (daughter)

 

[thefiresidecat]

(Late) Lotje (mom) and (late) Ciske (daughter)

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what a great series of photos and what beautiful cats!

 

[thefiresidecat]

Is he a kitten or a ferret? WARRIOR DANCE!!! they'd been going at it for a long time when i got this so it's not as rough as it was. still a funny enough clip that I thought I'd share. claude is such a little wiggle worm.

 

[Alldara]

thefiresidecat Thank you!

mama africa That one full punch photo has me laughing so hard!