Aggression vs Playing...which is which?

[faganfamily1]

So Ive been posting about my new kitten Maggie and my resident female bella. They have been doing alright- we have just let them work it out after keeling them seperated for awhile and unfortunately the introduction was messed up because of the cheekiness of maggie.

So Bella and maggie have been tolerating each other, but bella has been doing better some days and then somedays she is either playing of being aggressive. She chases her under the bed and her tail is all bristled and she will wait for her to come out. She will also swat and hiss at maggie. It is getting to the point where maggie sees her and she will either crouch low like she is hiding or stay very still. I also noticed a scratch near her mouth...Im not sure where it came from. It could either be from her playing with our other cat and they play very rough. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[cheylink]

How old are they? It does sound pretty normal to me. Bella is demanding respect of her space, and Maggie is giving it to her. Keep an eye, as long as there is a reaction/show of respect to one another, all is good

 

[nekochan]

If she is hissing and her tail is bristled it is probably not play.

The usual way I can tell with my cats is the position of their ears and tails. If their ears are back or flat or their tails are whipping a lot I know they are irritated, not being playful.

 

[faganfamily1]

So...does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[icklemiss21]

I would try separating and re-introducing, but taking it slowly