Is this play or something else?

Yesterday I decided to let April Joy and Christopher Cody meet face to face, since it seemed like the intro phase was successful. April Joy wanted to play but he didn't. She kept following him around trying to get him to play. Later last night she was getting more aggressive. She kept jumping on his back and biting the back of his neck. He let out a few meows that sounded like "leave me alone". I separated them overnight so he could get some rest.

It seems like she was picking on him but I'm not sure. What does it mean when a girl kitty jumps on a boy kitty's back and bites the back of his neck. They are both speutered.

It's playing - they just need time to adjust to each other.

dominance, shes showing him that this is her house, her rules and shes in charge!

as long as they are not doing each other damage, they are doing fine

That's funny - my kittens take turns jumping on each other like that. I never would have thought of it as dominance.

its the biting of the neck that makes me think that

The biting of the neck is a dominating thing. Like how cats mate. Just showing whos the boss in your case.

When we put our two cats together, there was some aggressive playing going on...but it soon came to an end. They just need a little bit more time.

Hope all goes well.

My kittens do play well together most of the time, but sometimes it looks like they are trying to kill each other. I don't know if I should stop this when I see them attacking their necks or trying to bite each other. It does look more than just playing which worries me. I do try to stop it when I see this behavior, but am I wrong in doing that? Is this what cats need to do sometimes?
Thank you

We've got to wear the referee shirts around here every now and then, but cats do have a way of sorting things out sooner or later. It's never on your schedule, however. At first, cats display dominance / submissive behavior in spades, which scares owners silly. Rarely does any real damage occur (except probably their egos).

If the play turns serious and destructive, believe me, you'll know it.

Hissy always says that its fine unless there is any actual bloodshed

I'm really releaved to see this thread and read what people have said about the neck thing, and to know its not just my cats...
I know from experience it takes time for new cats to get used to each other, when mine first met they fought so bad and I just couldnt stop intervening, but now they still fight like that but the next minutes they are tangled up in knots together sleeping and its adorable.
Nismo (our 11 week old, newest cat) is actually the fiesty one. Sleeves can just be lying there minding his own when she just pounces on him from nowhere and sinks her teeth into his neck. This used to horrify me, but he seems to enjoy fighting with her and chasing her around. When I want to step in I just remind myself of how me and my sister were as kids....
Im sure your 2 will be fine once they get to know each other, and establish whos boss, just cover your eyes when they fight, I find this helps
Lauren

My Oliver has been an issue lately. He is constantly biting Charlie in the neck. I always think it's a dominance thing. He even "mounts" Charlie at times. Charlie cries and Oliver won't let go. What's worse, is the other day he bit Charlie on the neck, then started dragging him out of the room. I had to push Oliver off of him. Poor Charlie. It's usually first thing in the morning when I shower, they both love being in the bathroom. *sigh*, cats.

I am worried that Oliver is going to become more aggressive. Oliver is 4 and Charlie is about 2. Oliver was starting to show signs of separation anxiety about a year or so ago, so we got Charlie. Now I wonder if this was a good thing. He's beat up Charlie since day one. I feel like he's Oliver's punching bag.

Advise?

Just to chime in that I agree with the dominance thing...My little boy does this to my big boy and its the oddest thing to see when a small cat is on top of a big cat ..especially since the smaller boy is nowhere near a dominant cat to humans (he is a snuggly fraidy cat with us)

Mine used to be far more aggressive in the dominance play game but over time have settled into themselves and their roles more peacably and with only the occasional row ending in someone crying, they are the best of friends.

I tend to let them work it out themselves unless (as someone mentioned) there is fear of bloodshed...Then I let out a loud "guys" and they tend to stop in their tracks and look at me wide-eyed and then regroup. I find that actually if I separate them, the behaviour sometimes worsens. I think that when we interfere, the cats get mixed messages and try to prove themselves even further...