are they fighting or playing???

nourhany1

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A close friend of mine had to travel somewhere for about 6 days, so she gave me her 6 months old male kitten(oreo) to care for till shes back

But I already have a kitten, almost 5 months old also male(yuki),

so when I first brought oreo he was in his box, and yuki went to smell him, he was really curious and he didnt hiss or meow at all, just exploring and he even put his paw in the box :D .
Oreo on the other hand hissed a little at first then he stopped and just kept batting at the box, but he keeps meowing(like a chirping sound)

So I've let oreo out of the box, closed the door on him and let him explore the room(yuki wasn't in the room)

he's very social, and not scared, but he reeeeally wants to get out of the room

Then I opened the door just a little, and the two kittens smelled each other, then kept batting their paws at each other through the door,
I'm not sure if they were playing or fighting , but no one was running away, we did this a couple of times.
Now its the second day, so I thought to try letting him out,
and he went and bit yuki at the neck and pushed him down, yuki's ears went back and he was starting to meow a bit loud, so i got worried and seperated them again :( again yuki didn't run away after this, but I felt he was a bit surprised

So I'm not sure wether they were actually playing, or fighting, should I let oreo out or just leave him in the room????
Oreo is quite bigger than yuki by the way (he's a bit fat)
 

Ms. Freya

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It sounds like it may still be play, but also a bit of dominance. I suspect Oreo wants Yuki to know, in no uncertain terms, that he's in charge. If otherwise they seem okay, you can try letting them be together for short periods of time, with you supervising. You can also try some of the introduction steps found here: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats when they're not together to help get them used to one another. For 5 days, though, I would just keep an eye on them when you can and keep them separate otherwise. It's likely that what you saw is it for dominance - if Yuki doesn't decide to challenge Oreo, they'll probably be good now.
 

helsic

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I think Oreo is more like an little alpha who wants to show who is the boss. But I don't think they're seriously fighting. Kittens play very rough, biting and scratching. That's normal behavior. Plus their skin is very thick and they don't get cuts easily as us. So keep monitoring them and allow them to play for short periods of time until you feel more confident.
 
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