What in the world does this mean?? (confused)

OK
In the beginning of December we adopted Sakuras sister. We introduced them slowly over a week and things went smoothly with minor hissing when they went nose to nose. This week its a different story. I beleive there working out whos alpha cat but the way sakura shows this is wierd and I have never heard of it before.

If sakura wants something from D'ann (her sister) she will starts grooming her and D'ann seems to enjoy. But all of the sudden Sakura will turn the licking into biting and pawing. D'ann will get mad and attack back and usually hiss then storm off and hide.

I dont inturupt this behavior and let them work it out but what is with the nice gently grooming before hand??? Its like..."i love you but get out of my way!!"

Whats your thoughts on this? Anyone else's cats do the same thing??

Yep, this is typical behavior for two cats just recently introduced. The grooming if it is mutual can overstimulate one and provoke an attack. They will learn in time what they can tolerate and will learn to accept each other. If there is no blood, and no bite wounds you are ahead of the game.

Thank you for the quick reply hissy!

There hasnt been any injuries yet. One usually gets fed up with the other and leaves before things get out of hand. They have been so good to eachother until now so i got a bit confused. But that does make sence. Thanx

My babies do it too!!

Diesel starts to groom Portia and then she starts batting his face with her paws and the next thing you now, there is a ball of cats rolling around the carpet!!! Silly babies!

It is typical behavior even for cats who have lived together since time began!! *grin* It's funny because it is almost as if they are telling each other "I will give you some sugar now because in just a few short moments, I am gonna try to rip you to shreds!"

Thanks for your replys.
I guess ill take all this as a good thing then. They never groomed eachother until this whole thing started. I guess it will take some getting used to for all of us.

Doofus just loves to groom...Poppy, Emmet and ecspecially Mabby...He would groom Mabby for hours if he could...and sometimes she lets him.....

Better than grooming yourself I suppose....

Whenever Sunday tries to groom Sashka she gets a swipe for her troubles. Man that is one bad-tempered little cat! But I love her just the same...

Emily and Cubby are sisters and they do that quite often!

A friend of mine refers to it as "agressive grooming" My two do it all the time - it starts out as "Awww, how cute, Billy and Chay are getting cuddly" and ends up with "No fighting on the bed - get off get off get off!!"

Originally Posted by Sandtigress

A friend of mine refers to it as "agressive grooming"

My two do it all the time - it starts out as "Awww, how cute, Billy and Chay are getting cuddly" and ends up with "No fighting on the bed - get off get off get off!!"

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We have the same thing! Reno would start to bath Rocky on the bed, and at first Rocky would enjoy it, but the bathing would just become so ferociously instense that he would literally bathe Rocky off the bed! For the first six months we had Rocky, we had to put a chair next to the bed for him to sleep on. We called it the "Rocky Annex."

Reno's benign alpha rule is sort of backfiring on him now, though, because our newest kitty, Samantha, has a huge crush on Reno, so she regularly walks up to him and puts her head under his chin for him to bathe. Problem is, she likes it and she doesn't want him to stop, so he's the one who has to pull back and walk away!

Don't know if there's a connection, but in pet rats, it's called "power grooming," and it's done to establish dominance. In other words, "I'm going to groom you whether you like it or not!" It often ends up in a paw swipe or a play session!