Wanting second opinions on two cat (both almost 2yrs old, m and f)'s behaviors?

[honeybutter]

Hi! I posted here in March about my and my partners' cats, Benny (1 yr 10mo female) and Sushi (1yr 11mo male). We adopted Sushi in February and introduced him over the course of about 2 months (letting them meet a couple times a few weeks in by our mistake of misinterpreting their readiness). We didn't move forward with face-to-face without a screen once we were set on going slow with introductions until about 1.5mo in, when they both could eat without the screen covered and didn't seem at all bothered by the other. When we did move forward, they were okay in the same room eating but would stalk/chase each other if we weren't playing with them. We separated them at night and had supervised sessions for another few weeks until they were able to hang out in the same room for a few consistent days w/o any major issues (had some hissing/growling, but nothing like fights, blood, etc.).

So it's only really been about 1 and a halfish months of them co-existing in a more "normal" setting. I know I need to be patient and that it will take many more months for them to really be able to be fully comfortable with each other, but there's just a few niggling behaviors that've either persisted or cropped up that I'm worried about...

One is that they both chase each other around. Sometimes one chases the other, and then the chased chases the other one back (usually down the hallway). I think this is a good sign, especially since Benny previously was only being chased. I've read that if it's reciprocal it's probably fine and considered play, but wanted to check in and see if this was something I need to keep an eye on? I genuinely can't tell if Benny's having fun, because in these chasing sessions when it's her "turn" to chase back she will often chase him "mrring" and then go dashing off in some other direction, leaving Sushi confused. This makes me worry it's more of her trying to chase him off than chase him as play

The other is that Benny's begun crying randomly quite loudly throughout the day. It might be in daytime or at night, the hour seems irrelevant, but they're these long yowls that don't stop for 10-15min. Sushi previously did this and I'd go in and check on him and pet him or play with him, but he hasn't done this in quite some time (weeks if not over a month). Meanwhile, Benny's taken this up. Usually if I go and check on her, she'll be in the kitchen or bathroom and turn mid-yowl only to prance off and lead me to the "treat area" of the office (where I sometimes spoiled her, admittedly, as a younger cat by giving her treats for being patient while I worked from home). I've tried to stop giving her treats there (or in general, unless to praise her for good behavior) in case she's become trained to beg for treats, but she's never really done that before. Granted, she's only just shy of a year old, so it's not like there's a ton of history to speak of. Is it possible she could have picked that up from him? Is there a way to curb this? Am I misreading it entirely?

Lastly, and most pressingly, I've noticed Sushi (more recently) beginning to jump on Benny sometimes while chasing her, usually from behind, and biting her neck. When I look closely, it seems to not be really biting, but more of a nuzzling action (it's hard to tell though, because they're both a bit floofy). I don't ever see blood or fur flying when this happens, but he is bigger than her and when he does this Benny makes these angry meows/growls (they're kind of a mix of both?) and usually rolls around trying to kick him away. She is consistently able to get away and he sometimes will do this 2-3 times before stopping and she'll run off to another corner of the house. I don't know if this is a sexual or dominance thing? They're both spayed/neutered but Benny was spayed closer to a young kitten age (the shelter told us roughly around 3-4mo) while Sushi was adopted as an older cat (he was about 1yr old when we adopted him) and was likely neutered at an older age than Benny — we're really not sure (the shelter didn't have much info on his background unfortunately, but I recall them verbally telling us that he had been spayed at the shelter and had been there only a month or so). Apparently that can have an effect on sexual behaviors for male cats according to some googling, but I don't really know if that's legit. I've been watching closely when it happens to make sure Benny's not getting hurt, but every time it happens and she gets away, she'll usually slap him with one paw (I believe no claws are out when it happens) and scurry away but come back to the general vicinity and even sniff him, or just flop near him, so we don't think she's scared of him/the situation. It's still frustrating to have that happen sometimes 6+ times in a day Should we be doing something else? I've begun trying to separate them when it happens and neither cat gets physically aggressive if I pick them up (i.e. no scratching, biting) but I don't know if this is something I need to let happen?

Any feedback's greatly appreciated, thank you so much!

 

[honeybutter]

Wanted to add, Sushi also doesn't really hiss or growl at all even when at the vet or doing things he doesn't like (like clipping nails), but Benny is pretty vocal in that sense and will hiss or growl at him if she's unhappy with something he's doing. She's begun getting territorial of her favorite scratcher (a pretty large one by the window) and will hiss/growl at him if she's on it and he tries to also climb on, sometimes even swiping at him if he keeps trying. We've bought more scratchers and she sometimes will claim certain ones (for whatever reason), to the extent that if she sees him using "her" scratcher from across the house she'll run at him and he'll usually skedaddle. Benny's begun meowing more at him, though, and I was curious as to if this was an attempt to communicate with him better or something? He only meows at her (and there's different types of meows, sometimes it's a surprised "mrow?" when she sniffs him when he sleeps or something), even when it's a situation I'd expect him to hiss or growl back at her. Both have had their physical recently and are perfectly healthy thankfully, Sushi even gained some weight and has had his paw pads soften ups since adoption

This isn't really a "worried" question but more of a curiosity one. I haven't really heard of cats that literally never hiss/growl, even at other cats or when they're scared/in pain/etc. The most we get out of him is very plaintive meows when we clip his nails. I know every cat owner thinks their kitty's the most unique one on the block (haha) but moreso curious if there's a reason for it, and if it might be affecting the way he interacts with her.

Thanks again in advance Sorry for the giant text wall!

 

[ArtNJ]

Sounds like normal playing with a not-completely equal desire/tolerance for rough stuff, which is normal too. Are My Cats Fighting Or Playing? – TheCatSite Articles Good article, but I think sometimes people that aren't that familiar get too hyper focused on trying to interpret body language when, as the article says, cat fights are loud and have fairly distinct vocalisatons. One cat not wanting to play rough looks and sounds different -- disengaging, maybe running off, even hiding, usuallys some hisses or growling and maybe a "get away from me" swat or three. If they come back soon and act like nothing happened, thats a clear sign that they aren't too stressed by the whole thing and just don't like being bugged by the more active player.

Yowling can be for attention, food, medical stuff or just because a cat is worked up. I have a cat now that will yowl when she has her favorite mouse in her mouth and run around energetically. And sometimes both of my current cats yowl for attention. If its for attention, best to ignore it and not reinforce the behavior.

 

[honeybutter]

Sounds like normal playing with a not-completely equal desire/tolerance for rough stuff, which is normal too. Are My Cats Fighting Or Playing? – TheCatSite Articles Good article, but I think sometimes people that aren't that familiar get too hyper focused on trying to interpret body language when, as the article says, cat fights are loud and have fairly distinct vocalisatons. One cat not wanting to play rough looks and sounds different -- disengaging, maybe running off, even hiding, usuallys some hisses or growling and maybe a "get away from me" swat or three. If they come back soon and act like nothing happened, thats a clear sign that they aren't too stressed by the whole thing and just don't like being bugged by the more active player.

Yowling can be for attention, food, medical stuff or just because a cat is worked up. I have a cat now that will yowl when she has her favorite mouse in her mouth and run around energetically. And sometimes both of my current cats yowl for attention. If its for attention, best to ignore it and not reinforce the behavior.

Thank you so much for the response! I'm going to read that article right now, but you're right, I think I'm getting hung up on trying to read the body language (and a worrywart in general) when it doesn't seem like any of the cat fights I've seen in videos/etc. while trying to research what a cat fight vs play looks like. I think not having had experience with two cats in one household before, it's hard not to get nervous about growls/hisses/swats...but just glancing cursorily at the article the video in it looks nothing like what they do when they're doing their thing. Our cats look like more like this, especially at this timestamp where the female cat looks like she's about had it:


The explanation that it's play that one cat isn't really interested in/not wanting to play makes so much sense and is honestly super relieving. And it helps a ton to know that she's not too stressed based on coming back round and chilling/etc. around him after it happens, I was beginning to worry that she was living a stressed out life lol...

That's so cute of your cat, but I can imagine it gets annoying...! I think it might be for attention/snacks/pets since she's definitely seen Sushi get those by yowling, and I might have inadvertently trained her to associate yowling with getting those "rewards" I'll try to ignore it from now on and spend some one-on-one time with her when she's not yowling, since she may be lonely from us splitting our attention in basically half now.

Cheers, I really appreciate it!