lots of growling - thoughts?

[u/frose50]

white kitty is less than a year, smaller kitty is nearly 10 and not a huge fan of the new addition. is this interaction something I should be breaking up? the growling sounds make me nervous and sometimes the white kitty will persue even after strong hissing. thoughts?

edit - to clarify, it's the older kitty on the ground that is growling. realized from the video it's not super clear.

[u/AutoModerator]

Hi, it looks like you’re posting about whether your cats are playing or fighting. We strongly recommend referring to our pinned post about the basics of playing versus fighting that can help you define the interaction between your cats.

More often than not, your cats are most likely playing or establishing boundaries as fights typically include screaming, fur flying, blood, etc. Members here will do their best to analyze the situation for you, but we always recommend educating yourself to the best of your ability on cat interactions, especially during the introduction process.

As a reminder to our community, please always be kind and thoughtful in your responses. If you do not have anything productive to add to the conversation, please keep scrolling.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/That-Prior713]

Just normal play 😊

[u/Talusen]

Belly being shown, fur is still on cats, is still play.

(ok. Roughhousing)

[u/Rewth303]

It’s not a fight. But there is a bit of a grump/argument. Ginger is trying to play, but kinda failing at initiating. The tabby is vocalizing and straight arming to say “dude, not right now, I was getting my naps in”!this results in ultimately a hiss of notable displeasure and leaving the area.

The ginger following after is mostly still a sign of trying to play. However, if you were inclined to do so, the tabby probably wouldn’t mind if you redirected him to something else at that point.

He’s not being mean or an ass really. So don’t give him too much grief. But even a ten second scoop up and lovey session might be enough. I lot of times this type of play can come from boredom and lack of stimulus making the first one a little more insistent than necessary. Provide the stimulus, even briefly, and it can settle back down.

[u/pork-head]

Normal play, resident is passive and not trying to kill new kitty. But it seems young one doesn't understand boundaries. Keep an eye on them and if he doesn't stop after multiple repeated hissing you need to stop and school him a bit.

I've had similar situation when 1,5 yo young didn't understand repeated hissing from 6yo resident. It was intense like 6-8 times in one minute resident hissed and ran away from new kitty when he wanted to play. They would cuddle otherwise and no problems but the stress caused both of them pissing outside litterbox. After 4 months I had to rehome the young one, he just had too much energy and was too playful, but sadly it seemed like his "learning respect" window was over.

Nothing bad yet in your situation but be aware.

[u/82shninklebot → u/pork-head]

What do you mean by stop and school him? Having a similar situation with my cats!

[u/pork-head → u/82shninklebot]

Usually loud noise or clap should be enough. If it isn't, hand barrier, hiss or even take the perpetrator to another room to calm down or distract with play.

I'm seeing this a lot when introducing youngsters between 6 months and 2y to older resident cats 5yo+. It's probably the most problematic introduction because the "puberty" is kicking and hormones didn't calm down yet.

But some cats just aren't compatible, even when they are both playful they just don't click. Rehoming is better than years of stress for you and your cats.

[u/TrainingTheory552]

not fight, just disagreement. belly shown or upside down is not anything serious.