Fighting or playing?

How can you tell whether two cats are fighting or just play fighting?

Real fighting is heavy no holds barred, cats locked together, in a roll, hard to seperate.

Mock fighting is when they are posturing, circling each other, ears laid back, tails switching, quick swipe of hit and then apart. This is their survival hunting instincts kicking in and how they interact with each other. If you have two cats locked in battle, don't get between them yourself, throw water on them, turn the vacuum on startle them somehow, but don't get in between such a fierce confrontation. Anything from a long sheet of tin foil flapped at them to cans full of rocks to startle them should get them apart.

real fighting is very scary...the cats will most likely be making either screatching sounds or low, deep howling sounds.
if they're playing, they may chase each other around and swat at each other (this is what mine do). what works very well for me is a squirt bottle...i don't even have to squirt anymore...just shaking it makes them stop whatever they're doing that isn't what they're supposed to be doing.

steph, delph and josie