playing alpha vs. alpha?

Hi! I'm Mike and I'm new.

Anyway, I have a question about what my American Shorthair, Vala does sometimes when she's being playful. When she's some distance away from me, I can see her looking at me and I know she's being playful and I'll playfully raise my arms and make kind of a compressed hiss with the back of my mouth. She'll arch her back, the tail goes straight up in the air, she gets up on her tiptoes and starts hoping sideways toward me while her head his cocked to one side. She appears as though she's trying to avoid eye contact with me.

I'm very certain that she's being playful with me but I just want to make sure she's not trying to challenge me for dominance of the house or anything. You know how if you're in Italy, if you flick your head, you could be challenging someones manhood? I might be challenging her perceived dominance of the house.

I dunno. Any help would be appreciated!

Welcome Mike!
In cat language, a "hiss" is not translated as a friendly. Try her name or any endearing sound she reacts positive to. And how about using cat toys instead of your arms during her playful moods.

Definitely not playful. She's all ready to defend herself and is probably scared of you. Cats don't have the same kind of sense of humor we do.

WOW! I totally disagree!! My Booger does the same thing when I'm outside with her. Like you said,Mike....she gets the "look" on her face and I know what she's wanting! She'll arch her back,stick that tail straght up, and run sideways straight at me. Then it's my turn....I hunch my shoulders and walk sideways at her,and it starts again! With us it's totally a game that we both enjoy...tho it it can be embarassing when the neighbors happen to be watching!! Good thing they know me!!

Guess I'll have to take a video of it or something. It definitely seems playful to me. I mean, if cats are as smart as people say, they would have a sense or real "play" like peek-a-boo or hide and seek for a 2 or 3 y.o. child. Hell, she ambushes me from around corners all the time. She jumps out reminiscent of a flying squirrel at me when I approach the door threshold.

I just wonder if they have a sense of humor and know what's playfully funny.

i agree, she is just playing. my male cats play hide and seek with paper bags, they jump from behind corners and "attack" you when you walk by, and i have even seen them play tag with each other. my kitten knows when my older cat has had enough and leaves him alone. if your cat was not playing, chances are she would be staring at you, and run and hide.

Thanks, everyone! I figured it out. She was just playing. It's common among kittens as young as 3 months to a year to play like that.

Thanks, though!