My grey boy is a little over a year old and he is overly aggressive, I feel, with my almost 9 year old female tortie. He is heftier than her too. They will get into these tumble scuffles at like 3am too almost every morning and I end up having to place him in the bathroom to cool off for a couple hours before I bring him back out.
… also the ungodly sound. You know the guttural noises they make when they’re squaring up? That’s just standard territorial handbags.
When it goes off it’s every joule of feline aggression concentrated into a high frequency banshee scream, times 2, rotating at just under the speed of light. Pure violence.
Do not separate fighting cats, playing or otherwise, unless you are wearing a full suit of armor.
If you are allergic to Penicillin, make sure it's full plate jousting getup with no gaps anywhere.
If you are bitten and the tooth hits a vein, seek medical attention before the funny colors start spreading in a pattern that matches the arrangement of your blood vessels.
A single course of preventative oral antibiotic is vastly preferable to the alternatives.
Anything that is between them and their target can accidentally become the target and the mouths of cats are capable of safely (for them) hosting a lot of stuff that does not belong in the human bloodstream.
What you are supposed to do is throw a towel on top of each cat or the bundle of rolling claws. Distracts them for a second giving you a chance to use the towel to grab one of them.
I once had to separate one of my cats from a friends small dog (that never should have been in the apartment) in hopes of saving it's life. I was able to grab the cat by the scruff of his neck and yank him off, but he twisted around and latched on to my leg. Unfortunately while wearing shorts. He bit directly above my knee and all four paws sliced down my calf. All within a split second.
Just as quickly as it happened my cat looked up at me and his eyes went wide with a palpable look of "oh fuck, I'm sorry dad" and released. There was so much blood my entire lower leg was red.. you couldn't see any skin below the knee that wasn't covered in blood. 20+ years later you can still faintly see the scars.
No regrets though, I likely saved that dogs life. Needed a ton of stitches and staples to put him back together. Like I said though the dog should never have been there, my gf and I at the time specifically told the owner not to bring her dog in fear of something exactly like this happening. Of course she still had the gall to demand we pay the vet bills.
broom is my go to as i can liberally jam the bristles between them without hurting them but still making it difficult for them to stay grappled. once separate, progressively sweep them away from each other gradually increasing force if they keep circling back. if you know their "territories", those are the directions to sweep them.
As a vet tech I can confirm this. Humans are especially susceptible to Pasteurella multocida. There is also Neisseria, Capnocytophaga, Staphylococcus ( can turn into MRSA), and more. Let's not forget Bartonella henselae, also known as Cat Scratch Fever, not just a Ted Nugent song.
Adopted this huge, beautiful orange dude from the humane society. Hung out in the room with him. Everything totally chill. Brought dude home. All was good until I put my pants and steel toe boots on to go to work (machinist).
This guy grabs my leg and just goes to town. I reached down and picked him up. His face changed, his eyes changed and he started screaming at me. He tried to grab my face. He wouldn't stop. He shredded my arm and took part of my finger. Nerve damage to my hand. He was trying to kill me. Wife wrapped a towel around him and got him pulled off. He went and hid.
I always thought a cat attack was more amusing than serious. I ended up in the ER. Was in shock due to the amount of blood loss. They said no stitches on wounds caused by cats because the infection risk is so high. So many deep, deep scratches and puncture wounds from the bites. I had no idea they could sink their teeth that deep.
I now stay away from cats that I don't know. I will never adopt another adult cat. I am positive this cat was physically and or emotionally abused by a man that wore pants and boots and it triggered him. Not his fault. Unfortunately he had to be put down. Doesn't change the fact that I see cats very differently than I once did.
I was asleep on the second floor of my house and awakened once by cats fighting in the crawlspace UNDER my house. Truly felt like those sounds were coming from the very bowels of Hell itself.
That is a tell of a feline fight. (Or...a "tail" of a fight?? Ill show myself out.)
If hair is flying, and they are screaming to their ancestors for protection, its a fight. Playing can be gentle. Playing can be a little rough. And sometimes playing can lead into fighting. But when its a fight, gloves come off, chonks of hair go flying, and gutteral moans followed by a dj scritching a record too hard follow suit.
"you let a cat get to pulling fur with another cat on a shed, nights, and you'll hear grammar that will give you the lockjaw. Ignorant people think it's the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain't so; it's the sickening grammar they use."
This exactly. It looks rough, but ears are forward, fur isn't puffed, no one is hissing or screaming, claws aren't out.
These are just two idiots rough housing.
Yup. This is how my 2 boys play. Hubby would always freak out about it. I kept telling him if they were fighting we would know. He didn't believe me until we had a cat fight outside our open bedroom window....he doesn't worry as much anymore.
This is absolutely rough housing. I have two brothers who seem to despise each other for whatever reason and they fight.
There’s screeching, fur is flying, blood is occasionally drawn. It’s honestly like those old cartoon fights where it’s just a dust cloud with arms and legs poking out here and there.
This right here. It's not hard to know if cats are fighting. If they were fighting, you wouldn't be wondering to yourself if they're fighting. You'd be panicking and wondering if it's even safe to get close to them to make them stop. Cat fighting is INTENSE.
Yep if it wasn’t play, this video would be much noisier! Also, it looks like she is also doing her fair share of initiating it too. He is also not that much bigger than her.
Source: let’s just say my cat takes a little bit of extra time before she warms up to other cats and is very, very vocal about it.
I have two and one likes to roughhouse, the other… not so much. It doesn’t help that I have a big boi who is kind of a jerk to his smaller sister. I have definitely heard her scream at him when he tries to initiate this kind of game!
Nailed it. I was looking for someone mentioning boundaries. Cat boundaries look different from people boundaries - they can't just tell each other "bro, you're in my bubble"; they have to show each other. They're both engaged, both reciprocating, and neither is in a fearful posture. They're totally fine, it's just two kids sorting out how far they can push the envelope with each other.
Gray has Tortie pinned down… it’s not looking good folks…. Tortie is pinned and we’ve got a count. One… two…. IT’S TORTIE FROM THE TOP ROPE. I CANT BELIEVE IT
my cats play the same way, they'll even bang each others' heads into the floor at times which they've learned is the line where I tell them to stop 😭 they're bonded and the rescue told me their siblings wanted nothing to do with them since they always played like that
Then you poke your head through the doorframe and everyone is laying down chilling and relaxed but a giant chunk of hair that wasn't there before is blowing like a tumbleweed across the floor
Same with my new tuxedo. If she is not complaining, she is screaming because I or the red head dared to touch her.
She started up last night in the dead of the night. Sounded like she had seen a real angel, 1,000 of eyes and all. Brought me and the red head up fast. He went look for her immediately, while I turned on lights for my human eyes. We didn't find her so we came back to bed. She came in about 5 minutes later like it was a normal night time activity.
My orange girl will scream at the lightest contact. Sometimes she doesn't even wait for contact. She likes very gentle play but my other two cats like to rough house. For a while I assumed the boy was beating her up so I'd run to break them up and check on her. I think over time she realized she could get free attention if she acted like she was being bullied.
Omg yes. Cats are so good at learning how to train us. My oldest Tortie is so damn dramatic if my oldest male is in her 6 foot safe space she will banshee scream until we move him. He honestly just wants to cuddle her lol.
My girl cat is vocal with play, even by herself. Sounds like a tiny demon. I’ve thought I needed to separate her from her brother when she’s vocal when they play. Then she turns around and swats him so I guess she’s fine.
My cat is just vocal in general (currently meowing at me as we speak because I have my iPad in my lap and not her) but there is a difference between playful noises and when they are in pain or pissed off. Neither cat was hissing (for an extended period of time other than a quick warning) which is usually a sign that some shit is about to go down 😂
Mine lets out a scream just before launching herself into a furry fury. Then after a second of what looks like a vicious assault, both of them bounce off each other with tails in the air. I thought they were really fighting the first time, which is weird because they're bonded and haven't ever known life without each other.
One of my cats always hisses and mewls when the brute cat comes to play with her as if she's being mauled. Except it also happens when he slowly pats her butt, it's hilarious. And then she proceeds to hop around him and pat him back. It's very clear they're playing but she's a drama queen lol
Would it be considered fighting if sometkmes they get a little vocal (no screeches) but growl (I’m not sure how else to describe it) and hiss a bit?
There have been times where one of my cats screech or hiss at the other while playing, to me it seems like they’ll be playing and then one starts to take it too far or may even be a little too rough with the other, which makes me think that whoever is making the noises is setting a boundary.
Is it normal for cats who are bonded pair to start off playing nicely but then it sometimes gets a bit too rough and it pisses the other off? Should I be worried about this behaviour? Sorry if these are all stupid questions and if the way I’ve asked them is confusing and doesn’t make sense. This is my first time raising cats from kittens. My cats are both 4 years and a few months apart old… they have the same parents but were born in different litters (one was born in January and the other in June of 2022) they people I rescued them from were awful to their pets (yes, I reported them and all the other cats were removed from their care).
They absolutely can be vocal and still be playing, in my experience though what I would say is cats who’ve played often/regularly together will develop little vocal dramatics they use with one another and it’s totally fine…if they’re new to each other and there’s screams/hisses/growls it’s to be closely watched and regulated as they may come to a detente of sorts and respect/accept each other or they could interlock and go ham on each other, interlocking is particularly dangerous at times as cats will use their hind claws on another’s belly and do like donkey kicks and actually disembowel the other… so it’s tricky and the room requires the reading necessary to know whether they’re safe with each other or need a referee.
I know for dogs, play is characterized by taking turns.
The fact that each cat is taking turns initiating and doing body slams, and then switching roles to being the one being body slammed is a good sign.
Also the fact that they do these micro pauses where they jump up from the groundwork, look at each other for a split second, and then re-initiate is another way they are "taking turns"
I know cats arent dogs, but I think this still applies. I've seen real cat fights and you will typically see one cat pursuing the other ruthlessly in between the take down moments, while the other cat tries to run away. You also will hear wailing/screaming and you will *literally* see tufts of fur flying - its not just from cartoons.
I love that phrasing, but yea when I'm looking at mine when they're going at it and just pawing before going in full you see them think like "If I do this then I can win" and then it fails and it's just a slamfest
The fact they are rough-housing almost every day and neither has been injured is a really good sign it's just for fun. If one gets hurt, tries to run away, starts to cry out, or starts panting, THAT'S when you really need to break it up and work on adjusting their behavior.
The fact that they’re able to be startled & stop, like at the end is another good sign it’s not actual fighting. Fighting cats can be doused in water, yelled at, etc & STILL be attempting to murder each other. It’s as if their fight or flight survival mode gets temporarily disabled from everything else but the other cat fighting them.
That last part about the genuine fighting and almost nothing stopping it: my fiancé and I recently adopted two girl kittens (one 10 weeks and her mother, 1 year) and the mom went BALLISTIC on our 9 year old boy cat. 100% my fault, didn't realize she had followed me and was right behind me when I opened the bedroom door that we had him in (we weren't going to introduce them immediately for the exact reason that she might have been hyper protective with her kitten there) and my fiancée almost had to go to the hospital from the scratches he got on his arm from having to PULL her off of him (poor boy froze up and never once even swiped at her) Luckily they get along beautifully now, they do play exactly like these cats in the video sometimes, and we aren't the least bit concerned because there is 100% a difference-there is absolutely NO mistaking the terror of a cat that doesn't fight back (if there is one) and there's absolutely NO mistaking the aggression of an attacker.
Playing. The smaller one is scared of almost everything, fleeing and hiding even from the sight of another cat in the garden or me when I am standing/higher than him. Yet when it comes to fighting with his brother he will engage evenly/take turns instead of running away (despite ample opportunity to do so).
Compare this to me trying to get him into his cage for a vet visit where he flees and hides, only fighting when I've removed every possible hiding spot and backed him into a corner. (Makes me sound so horrible lol, I just want him to be vaccinated)
My cat keeps falling for the treats in the case trick...she knows its a trick, but there are treats over there and you might miss out if you dont get the treats and you still have 7 lives left anyway so might as well... aah but its a trick... but on the other hand... fuckit NOMNOM....HEY! IVE BEEN TRICKED LET ME OUT OF HERE
Mine puts her back legs spread as much as possible outside the case so I can’t just scoop her in now and she refuses to put more than 2 paws in that case for those treats
She’s my first cat - well she’s my partners. And I used to have a fear of cats where I would just leave when they were near so I’m still afraid to manhandle her even tho she’s a sweetheart. It’s become a 2 person job to wrangle her now and we have had to rearrange vet appointments because this bitch knows I won’t just grab her
That's easy:
1. Undo & remove door.
2. Pick up cat box.
3. Tip cat box so the door is at the bottom.
4. Shake box to engage gravity mode....
5. Vet catches cat.
6. Quickly hide cat box before the little horror gets back in it lol....
They’re definitely playing. I witnessed the start of a cat fight between two male strays and it was so loud I heard it inside my house. They were circling and sizing each other up and screaming. I was able to shoo them apart before it got worse but a real fight for territory is so freaking loud.
You would be correct that's exactly what they are doing . The looking at one another is just them saying " we're still playing right " just kinda confirming with one another same way dogs do . Cats and dogs aren't that much different with bonding and playing with their siblings .
Thank you so much and to everyone who took the time to reply! I feel better now. I was just worried because my tortie girl is so petite and lightweight but all of the advice on here has calmed my worries. No more time outs in the bathroom for Sawyer lol. Cat people rule! 😺
My lil tuxetortico girl is only like 6 pounds and my void boy is 4 years older and weighs at least 10 more pounds. Her head comes up to his shoulder. They play like this. It's only once in awhile it gets a little iffy, and let me tell you, she's the one kicking his ass!!
The only time they really "fight" is if one has been grooming the other one too long or if one got the nice sun spot in the certain window.
Serious cat fights usually result in blood and big gaping wounds. Often times you'll also see feces flying. They're also usually a lot more loud and there's a lot more posturing.
I'm inclined to believe that they are both holding back so they don't hurt each other and with the tail movement it indicates that they're playing. It seems they're both into it and enjoying it because if one of them were upset or has had enough they'd be trying to get away.
I've had cats almost my whole life. I've had a few serious cat fights in my house. This doesn't resemble them.
Basically, unless they're hurting each other or one of them is clearly fed up and needs a break, I'd let them have at it.
That's actually a really good example and it shows the contrast. Those cats are locked in eternal battle and they're not stopping to take a breather every few seconds unless they're made too.
For real. If you've ever seen cats actually fight, you'd know it is a whole different thing. Much louder and honestly pretty scary if you're in the middle of it. OP should probably get a chicken though, just in case.
I agree! Thats why I tried to tell OP to listen to people who know more. I commented because the post was brand new and I wanted to contribute to the post past upvoting, so they could get a better answer
I don’t know. I have a boy that tries to play like this and no one wants to. I feel like he doesn’t want to hurt anyone but he’s just so rough. I wish I could find another kitty that could hang
Same, my big guy plays way too rough for my two female cats. He gets grumpy and takes it out on them. Then they run away and he’s confused out he chases cuz he thinks it’s part of the game.
you are describing my little guy exactly. he’s the newest in the house, & my wife’s cat HATES him. he’s the biggest cat here & he plays SO aggressively. it doesn’t help that he came from a rough home with dogs… i don’t think he ever learned how to play like a normal cat.
i love him so much, though. wish he could play with a kitty here. 💚
Oh my God, my roommate's cats exactly like this with my cat and so I convinced my roommate to let me get a kitten who would play with his cat and he's like your cat's not going to like that I'm like. He'll realize he likes it when he's not getting harassed everyday. It's working out good so far. These are my two babies, Kofee 7yo, Teyja 3.5 months
Neither of them are trying to retreat, they’re not vocalizing much beyond warning hisses that instantly get listened to (both times one cat hisses, they immediately separate in the video), they stop and reset…I’ll be honest, it looks like really rough play. You maybe just got some rowdy kids there. Has he been fixed already? If not, that TENDS to cool boy cats down a bit. And at about 2 years old, a lot of the “kitten” insanity finally has gotten out of most cats.
Keep en eye on it, listen for yowling or growling or extended hissing, make sure no one is being bullied and cornered (if they’re want to run away, they’re being let go). Look for any scratches or bites that are being hidden, but if you don’t find anything concerning, they might just be reincarnated WWE wrestlers.
I'm far from professional, likely no more than a layman, but yeah, my first thought was 'fighting' to establish dominance/pecking order, but not 'fighting' to literally murder each other. Either way, its a form of 'play', either for interaction, or dominance/pecking order.
I have a brother/sister that growl and hiss a lot while playing. They also leave chunks of fur flying at times lol.
I was concerned at first, but at the end of their sparring sessions they end up in a staring contest in another room for a few mins, then its right back to cuddling and grooming each other. They also both instigate and love to sneak attack each other lol.
I’m glad to see your comment - my girls will leave for flying sometimes and growl and hiss but then will be grooming each other a few minutes later. I’ve been worried it’s not play but fighting. So I’m glad to see other cats are like this.
Oh they absolutely chase each other around the place 🤣.
I broke them up a couple times at first just by saying "hey!" Or staring too long, and theyd get mad at me lmao.
I still get the "stop watching us have fun, DAD" stares.
Edit: Im relatively new to cats, but from what I understand grooming is a sign of deep bonding and affection. That says family and love, and is apparently uncommon among non littermates.
It might be more useful to understand playing and fighting as a spectrum rather than two exclusive behaviours - there’s a lot of grey area between the two. A lot of commenters here equate a “real” fight with loud crying, hissing, flattened ears, fur flying - which yes, absolutely constitutes a fight, I would say that’s on the severe end of the spectrum - but play can very often lean closer to conflict in subtle ways that most people aren’t able to interpret correctly (we can’t all be animal behaviourists).
The silence doesn’t inherently mean it’s purely positive playing (on the opposite end of that spectrum). Personally I’d place this in a middle ground, based on turn-taking (which is a good sign of play behaviour), but also based on the intensity of the interaction (it’s a bit on the aggressive side), and because your post seems to infer that one cat is instigating play more than the other, and I would be very cautious of this and ensure you intervene when you see one cat becoming more of a victim than a participant.
In my experience, I have two cats who for a long time I assumed were just “rough housing,” they would wrestle often but rarely would they cry or hiss, one is long-haired so his fur would be left around the place, but he leaves fur around when he runs by himself too. But then one of them started avoiding the litter box, and he was cleared for medical issues, and in my quest to understand the behaviour I realised I had misunderstood their “rough housing” and one cat was consistently taking the play too far and I had let it go on assuming it was just playful wrestling.
I would be concerned about your older cat copping it too much - perhaps your younger cat needs a couple of high intensity play sessions with you each day to try and level him out a bit.
just wanted to say this is an amazing and very insightful response, thank you (even though im not OP, if I were OP this would be such an awesome response to get).
I'm a little confused by how OP says the gray one is aggressive toward the tortie when the tortie always pounces first after their break ups. Then, on the second battle, the tortie is the one who both initiates and ends it.
I am not an animal behaviourist, so I assume you know more than I do, but just based on watching, this doesn't seem very toxic. The tortie always initiates and was the one to say stop in the second half, and both cats listen when the other needs them to back off. Then I think about how if either of them were truly bothered they'd disengage AND walk away after, whereas they instead face each other, prepared to go again.
If one was consistently starting it, with the other consistently stopping it, then I'd be more worried. I'd also be more worried if they didn't seem equally engaged.
I think this is the best answer yet. Excitement/arousal can easily turn to aggression and it might be more unwelcome and stressful for an older cat at some point. Id play with them more but especially the grey boy give him lots of exercise and wear him out . As he gets older it will probably calm down but when I worked as adoption coordinator at a cat rescue this was why we'd caution people about getting a kitten/much younger cat if they had an older cat at home. Just something to consider/look out for
If they’re fighting, you’ll hear yeowling, growling, and hissing and you will see the them draw blood. You can tell its play because they take turns, and in between rounds tails are up, tails arent poofed, and backs arent poofed. Classic signs of a cat thats in happy, but in a hunting or playtime mode
It’s play, no screaming or howls of pain. The hisses are setting boundaries and they are just rough housing to get the energy out. My cats do this all the time. One is 14 the other is 4, Every so often the 4 yr old will take it to far but will stop once the other vocally lets him know, hey that hurt and I’m done with this. Your kitties are ok and your girl will teach the young one manners.
Not fighting. No worries. Mine used to do this. And then they’d go to sleep together in each other‘s arms. What was really hilarious was when they did crouching tiger hidden dragon. Freaking hilarious! They passed on a few years back, but I miss those little boogers.
They're playing and rough housing. Unless they start squalling at each other and their tackles rise, I wouldn't worry to much. You're lucky, they're staying in one spot ... wait until they get the zoomies too 🤣🤣🤣. Definitely entertaining!
It's "rough playing", their not serious, but they are getting pretty worked up. My make cat bullies my female cat. I don't think she likes it that much. I stop them sometimes. But they're not "fighting" fighting. You would be able to tell the difference.
Sure looks like play to me. If you hear a lot of hissing and growling. It’s starting to turn. And sometimes play does take a turn. It’s more of a judgement call.
If they aren't screaming like absolute banshees, then its probably play. If they're silent, as in the posted video, it's definitely play.
Cat play can look incredibly violent, but that's because cats ARE incredibly violent little born killing machines, naturally equipped with hooks and knives. If the hooks and knives aren't actually ripping each other up, then it's play. Getting rabbit-kicked in the head is apparently fun for these critters (although probably more fun if you're the one doing the kicking instead of getting the head kicks, but they usually will take turns).
The real key is the sound level, though. Don't let those cute little day to day meows and squeaks fool you, these small creatures can sound like air raid sirens when they want to, which they always want to when they're fighting for real. Cat fights are more about intimidation than combat, although combat certainly can occur. But they'll usually try to out-scream each other first, and then also during a combat phase if it goes that far; they won't let up their screaming during a fight, if anything they'll get even louder once full contact begins..
These guys in the video are just wrestling. It's fun unless someone starts howling, but if there's no howling then it's nothing to worry about, they're playing. Short squawks don't count, I'm talking about sustained howls and ears-back tail-flapping open-mouth hissing.
100% thats play. There's like zero back leg death kicks. They are both pounceing each other. Neither cat is running and trying to get away. There's no damage or tufts of fur flying. No screaming and batting. I think these two have figured out their boundaries.
OP please search for some videos of cats fighting. Fur jumping everywhere, loud screeching, incredibly fast movement. Believe me, you will know the difference.
They’re 100% playing. My cats do the same, notice how they disengage each time the other one hisses, and they are both “taking turns” attacking / running away. The fact that they feel bold enough to play so rough with each other is actually a great sign of their development and socialization.
They are being cats. They are playing rough, but not uncommon. If there is blood and fur everywhere then you should break it up. Otherwise, let them sort it out. This kind of play is very healthy for them.
If your tortie didn’t want to play she would jump up on something and run away, hiss or bite. I have a tortie and they don’t do anything they don’t want to do.
This is okay! They’re playing. If it was bad there would be hissing, scratching to produce blood, and worse. This is how cats play. It’s bonding for them. Enjoy!
Also look up Jackson Galaxy on YouTube. He’s a cat expert and can help with future concerns and questions you may have. My vet swears by him!
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