Mutual grooming then attacking?

I have two young felines who (to me) behave oddly at times and I'd like to know if their actions are normal:

Sunny (a 14-month-old spayed female) will approach Virga (a 10-month-old neutered male) and start to groom him around the face and ears, then she'll stop grooming him and go for his throat. Sometimes she'll then continue grooming him, and sometimes he'll do the same thing to her (first grooming her then going for her throat). This will often turn into a locked and and rolling episode in complete silence!

They do enjoy playing and chasing each other, and on rare instances will even sleep curled up together. But sometimes one cat (usually Sunny) will attack the other with ears laid back. I haven't been able to determine a hierarchy between them.

Is this a mothering/dominance confusion? Should I distract them when they're rolling around in a yin/yang ball, even if they're not making any noise?

Thanks!

Pat

my boys always do this. The groom real nice and they start fighting! I let them go until they start hisses and growling, when i think they might actually hurt one another they go in time out. Who ever is doing the chasing goes in a room. They normally start playing footies under the door with in a couple minutes and then i open the door and give them treats and they both seem to be happy. Idon't mind them play fighting but when there is hissing and growling involoved it makes me nervous!

Rocky and Fluffy do this and I do believe it is totally normal behaviour....at first when we brought Fluffy home, Rocky did this after her being here for a few hours and it had me worried, but like I said, i believe it is normal...

hehe, yea, I've seen that quite a bit. Mischief will start grooming Niko and then bite her right on the throat, or go for her ears. Niko will do the same. It's like they get each other nice and calm and unsuspecting and then pounce! Actually it works better for them then actually pouncing each other.

Sam and Bailey do the same thing. Sam starts grooming Bailey, then she tries to groom him, but he gets her in a headlock, and the next thing they are gripping each other around the neck and kicking each other in the head. And if one breaks the hold, they stop and look at each other for a minute or two, then they just go at it again. Never and hissing or growling, though, so I don't intervene. Its pretty funny to watch.

Thanks for the replys!

This is the first time I've had two cats at the same time and I wanted them to keep each other company, not kill each other!

Pat

Originally posted by tanamarn
Thanks for the replys!

This is the first time I've had two cats at the same time and I wanted them to keep each other company, not kill each other!

Pat

Click to expand...

You have some cute kitties there! Is that them in the picture you attached?

Yes, those are my two.

They're opposites in both personalty and color!

Pat

Cute!! Ebony and Ivory.. I love that picture!