Are my kittens fighting, playing, or trying to mate?

[doughnutouchme]

I've recently rescued two kittens in November, presumably 2 months old then and they've had shots, etc.

One male ( Jinx ) and one female ( Shrimp ) litter mates.

Jinx has always been a lovebug and very affectionate, it's taken Shrimp longer and we finally introduced her out of her own room into the house today.

Ever since she's been in the house today, he will not leave her alone. Biting her neck and all over, bunny kicking her and jumping on her over and over. She fights back and yowls/hisses some but is obviously irritated, kicking and swatting back as much as she can.

Are they playing? Fighting? Are they hitting puberty?

It's been nonstop most of the day.

 

[di and bob]

Kittens are obscessed with playing. Jinx is most likely playing or trying to show dominance. Males are more playful, she is growing up and not likeing all this 'nonsence'. Females are the manners teachers, the rulers of the household. She will eventually put him in his place but he is dominationg her right now, and is very annoying. Thus the hisses, growls and swats, all normal. Two boys woudl be roughhousing all day. It is time to have them spayed and neutered, she may have to be separated from him for a few days so he doesn't open her incision. The smells from the vet may make them foreign to each other for a while, so watch that, carefully monitor them when you bring one back. females can come into heat as soon as 4 months so do it right away. Neutering him will remove some of his aggression too. it takes 30 days for the hormones to completely leave the body though. you don't want him old enough to start spraying either.
For now I would get a kickeroo, a long catnip filled cat toy on Amazon or some other site and throw it towards him when he is too intent on her. They LOVE bunny kicking it! Try to give her some high places to escape to, she may need a break once in a while. All the luck getting through kittenhood!

 

[KittyCat_chitchat]

If they were two months old in November, they will be hitting cat puberty now, so you're going to have some rambunctious teenage cats on your hands! You should definitely get them spay/neutered as soon as possible. As di and bob has said, that will not only prevent unwanted kittens, but should also help with some of Jinx's behaviour. However, I would say it's unlikely to be aggression unless there is meowing, growling, and fur flying.

 

[ArtNJ]

Kittens are play crazy, and it can look very rough. Protests noises are normal too, if one is a little bigger or more enthusiastic. But you never need to do anything about it. Kittens dont hurt each other (although accident scratchers are possible), and essentially always end up good friends no matter what you do.

Some places, some vets, you still have to wait. But most places in the US, the learning is to spay/neuter much earlier than the advice of years ago. So the advice above is good, although depending on where you are the vets could want you to wait a while.

 

[danteshuman]

I don’t know around 2 months old is when Nick and Jackie hurt each other the most! For a couple weeks the idiots kept nipping each other in the balls while they were wrestling. The injured party would do a high pitch meow scream then ignore the other one for a half hour or so. Then in a day or two they were back to playing to rough. Luckily it only lasted a couple of weeks.