How can you tell when the play is TOO rough.

[Sourek]

Is the F4 spayed or neutered? There might be some hormones emerging at play here with the older kitten over the younger one if he or she is not sp/n. Also, you say you got them both last week...from the same breeder? Were they kept together? They may not really "know" each other, even if from the same cattery. I think it sounds like normal kitten play; I've seen some pretty rough play amongst litter mates myself. You've got some good advice about monitoring the rough-housing. When you see blood, it's time to intervene.

In both of these pics, it was the smaller female kitten causing the "mommmmm, she's hurting me" reaction to the bigger boys

View attachment 6985 View attachment 6986

the Kittens were introduced to each other well before I received them. The F4 arrived neutered, the F2 is still intact. They sleep together and generally get along really well, but the past couple days, I've noticed that the F2 is really persistent about wrestling with the F4 even when the F4 goes off to the side to lay down, sometimes panting. I haven't seen blood or any injuries, I guess I just want to know so I can avoid any injuries that might happen.

Let me just say that these are my first cats, so I might just be acting a bit like an overprotective parent.

 

[Pam Flachs]

It's a probably a case of the younger one being more energetic than the older kitten then, as well as them working it out who will be the more dominant. You might have to create a safe area...another room perhaps, for the older kitten to escape to. Tall cat trees or shelves work well for this, too. I think your kittens will work it out with a minimum of bloodshed

I still act like the overprotective parent, even with my older cats who squabble from time to time....many times I feel like there is some showing off going on when they do this; sort of to see who Mom's favorite really is, lol.

 

[Xtine]

We have been slowly introducing our 2 F3 girls. Rose is 3.5 months old and Malia is 7.5 months old and spayed. Just to let you know this has been stressful on us, WHY? because we are humans!
We have gate separated them for a week now starting after the 2 week quarantine. Then we tried to introduced them. Well!!!!!!! Holy cat fight, but was it?
Malia was so rough and Rose was spitting, growling, hissing, ears back all the while Malia is totally silent except her funny nose huffs as she is on top of Rose and not letting go. After a few minutes we would break it up remove Malia and the humans would hug and try to reassure themselves that all will be ok.
So,we decided to go to our Vet (who we love) to show her and have her help us. That was yesterday. BEST thing ever, the girls went at it for over 20 min. That was like a million years of hell for the humans!!!!!!! Our Vet totally put us at ease and was able to explain to us what was happening. Her concern was Malia was not backing off when Rose was hissing or growling but Rose did a new 3rd sound which is a big meooowwwwwwwwwwwwch and Malia responded to that sound and stopped. Which told us that she is not trying to kill Rose! "Thank God!"


We now feel confident that a beautiful friendship is starting to bloom. This morning they got 3 hours of play and it was so nice to see them getting to know each other in their way and the humans were accepting and understanding of that. Rose was actually doing a lot of the surprise attacking today but Malia would get carried away at times and Rose would finally get away and hide under the bed only to reemerge and pounce on Malia. It is also good to know that if they really wanted too they could really hurt each other but they don't (meaning no blood) We are not letting them spend all their time together yet (on advice from Vet). When we move to the new house they will both start out equal in the same room (on March 9th). They both got to have a little snack together after all the rough housing.
1. yes, dominance is at work (Malia) 2. getting to know each other (their way) 3. growling, hissing normal 4.Humans, have a glass of wine or a cocktail its a wild ride and your nerves will thank you for it........................

 

[Pam Flachs]

Xtine, in the second pic, I see two cats rasselin' ....with tails relaxed, not poufed out like a raccoon. To me that's a sign it's just play, as rough as it might appear to us. Likewise, in the first pic I see the kitty lying down in a semi-relaxed position; tail relaxed. She is anticipating the pounce she is going to get, but not overly concerned. In the third pic of your girls, I clearly see the issue at hand. The girl on the left has a larger, prettier dish than the kitty on the right, lol.

 

[Sourek]

Xtine, in the second pic, I see two cats rasselin' ....with tails relaxed, not poufed out like a raccoon. To me that's a sign it's just play, as rough as it might appear to us. Likewise, in the first pic I see the kitty lying down in a semi-relaxed position; tail relaxed. She is anticipating the pounce she is going to get, but not overly concerned. In the third pic of your girls, I clearly see the issue at hand. The girl on the left has a larger, prettier dish than the kitty on the right, lol.

Nero (the F4) was moving towards senna sideways, his back arched. Also Senna wasn't stopping when Nero would make sounds at him. Does Rosetta stone make any cat language products.

 

[Xtine]

Xtine, in the second pic, I see two cats rasselin' ....with tails relaxed, not poufed out like a raccoon. To me that's a sign it's just play, as rough as it might appear to us. Likewise, in the first pic I see the kitty lying down in a semi-relaxed position; tail relaxed. She is anticipating the pounce she is going to get, but not overly concerned. In the third pic of your girls, I clearly see the issue at hand. The girl on the left has a larger, prettier dish than the kitty on the right, lol.

Ok I am still laughing really hard......these pictures are from today and it is showing how far they have come. Malia now feels she is the dominant Diva and comfortable with Rose as her play thing. Yup still laughing. thank you I needed it.....

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

When I got them last week, the older one was very much more dominate. But the past few days the younger smaller kitten has been becoming more daring with how he's acting around the older boy. Don't want them to hurt each other by accident, so was hoping to find out what I should look for in particular to stop them before it gets serious. I've seen some of the bad behavior Sunny mentioned up there, but most of the time they get along really well.

Children (human) playing together sometimes get hurt by accident, so be aware with kittens it can happen too...

If you think the play has become too rough then distract with a wand toy...usually with kittens that will work, and you can get them to expend all that energy leaping after flying feathers instead

 

[Jacq]

My cats play pretty rough. There's a lot of yelling and screaming and chasing and pinning going on. The only time I stop it is when the one being attacked acts really scared. Then it stops being fun.

 

[shelby]

Actually, watching the kittens at play will tell you all you need to know. This is actually how they learn to play nice. If one gets too rough..the one on the receiving end will yell, hiss and then walk away. If one is screaming as if in pain...yes ....the play might be getting out of hand. Sometimes there can be one that tries to bully(just because they can. I would suggest when you see any sign of play getting out of hand. Throw a couple of toys into the mix and their attention will be taken from each other. Like some humans...there can be bulllying...especially if one is trying to be dominant all the time. On the other hand most kitten play is normal and as I said..this is how they learn how to play without hurting one another. I am pretty sure they play while you are away. If both seem as though they are enjoying most of the play time...I would not worry at this time. Just remember to never allow either of them to bite or scratch you while you are playing with them. Remember we as humans can take more punishment than a young kitten can. Rough play with a kitten can bring on rough play with other animals in the home.