Play fighting

So, I've never had cats that played together before, so I'm not sure if this is play or harrassment.

Puppy will walk up to Bunny while she's napping in the sun, and he attempts to lick her rear end. She looks rather offended and whacks him on the head (claws in). He whacks back. Eventually they both have their teeth showing, Puppy trying to nip at her hind legs, and Bunny snapping at his paws. Every few minutes, he brings both paws up and tries to pin her down. She bites his ears.

Puppy has a healing scab from her the first time he did this, now she keeps her claws in (he's a declaw). Most of the time, he instigates this. Most of the time, she ends up running away and he runs after. Sometimes she cries loudly if he actually bites her, but no blood has ever been drawn. She's also pounced on him on occasion.

So, is this just play? And what's with him and her rear end? He even tried to lick/sniff when she's walking through a room with her tail up, and she DEFINITELY does not like it.

It sounds like a little of both. I have found female cats to be.....let's put it nicely.....difficult. Sometimes my boys have picked at the girls just to get a rise out of them. Generally if noone is getting hurt it's their way of playing. One stalks and the other defends. It always seems that the moods don't quite match up sp one is a bit more defensive than the other. Generally kitty wrestling is any entertaining and enjoyable sport. It's fun to bet who'll run off first

I only have male cats, but it sounds as if they are just playing. I have a feeling if Bunny really did not want to "play" she'd let Puppy know real fast. And Puppy probably realizes that Bunny doesn't really like him licking her rear end, and does it on purpose because he gets the result he wants (playing and wrestling). Cats can be devious little things!

Tricia

Sometimes I can't tell with my own girls, but the biggest clue is whether or not someone hisses. If I hear a hiss (either a pissed-off hiss from Buffy, or a panicky hiss from Willow), then I know someone isn't playing fighting. But generally I look at whether either of the two cats is running away. Sometimes one of the two cats will take off running and you'd think that's because he wants nothing with the other cat, but pretty soon he comes back and starts up the fight again.

Over time you'll be able to better read your cats and figure out what they're doing. If you figure out if one cats wants to be left alone and runs, but the other cat chases her, you'll have to jump in and separate them. Buffy used to love chasing Willow when Buffy was still a kitten. Willow would be hissing as the two run past, so someone would have to step in and put one of the two in a separate room for a little while.

haha! i agree. in my experience there really is a general difference in temperments between female and male cats. females are much more "serious", but also much more "aloof" at the same time. male cats on the other hand are much more laid back, but total "terrorists" when they get bored. in the end, it'll be the female that wins. if she gets ticked off enough, she will in no uncertain terms let the male know she's had enough and the male will learn his lesson. this is not play-fighting, but it's not a real "cat fight" either. it really is somewhere in between. it's something that both cats understand and work out, so don't worry.