Does Noise Always Mean Bad Fighting?

[MrsFox]

Groot (14m old neutered male) and TARS (9m old neutered male) have lived together for two weeks now. By and large, their relationship is alright, TARS chirrups lots at Groot which I take to mean that he wants to be friends. There is no territorial behaviour over food/space/litter trays etc. They play fight together lovely but sometimes it turns into what seems to be a real fight. Groot is yowling and there’s some kicking. It seems like TARS doesn’t know his own strength; he’s a lot bigger than Groot, and I feel like this is where the fight is starting. It’s like he’s unintentionally hurting Groot, or he’s not listening when Groot is saying “I’ve had enough”. Do cats ever make noises while they’re playing, when should I get involved? Sometimes I think Groot is being a bit of a drama queen so I think it’s not necessarily a “real” fight, but I don’t want to damage their relationship by letting it get out of hand.

 

[mrpickles]

Cats are known to be silent players - the opposite of dogs who make noises to let their play mate know the game is still on. From my experience, yowling and growling and other noises like this should be taken as a "I'm over this, you're getting on my nerves" and you should immediately try to distract the cats with treats or toys, or a loud (not scary!) noise that will snap them back into reality such as a firm "ah ah!" (Our cats have learned well that when "ah ah" gets spoken, it means they should stop doing whatever they're doing). Chirrups and the occasional mew are positive noises that some cats make when playing - but the general consensus is that cats are silent players, and noises are a sign of playing gone wrong.

It's an easy enough problem to fix in theory, but if you have stubborn kitties it will take time and patience before they learn each others boundaries. The odd smack on the nose and a growl from one cat to another cat is a common way they tell eachother they're not enjoying what's happening.

Hope this helped! There's some great articles available online about how to train cats to live with eachother peacefully. Good luck in your cat journey!!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

mrpickles is right in general, but occasionally things get very loud in the cat world. This is the point when play becomes an argument, and things might get out of hand. Even yowling and kicking have their place, and sometimes a cat's gotta say what a cat's gotta say (and BOY do I say that a lot). It's a fight when there is fur in the air and blood on the floor. The trick to it is to learn when to step in. You want your cats to be able to work out their own differences, but not allow it to go too far. I'd give it a yowl or two and the odd kick before stepping in, but not much more than that.

 

[MrsFox]

There’s occasionally a bit of fur, I’ve never seen blood. I’d been using a water spray but can see now that that’s a no-no, so I’ve stopped. I’m more experienced in bonding rabbits than cats, I wish I could understand them!!! Much of the time they get on well so it’s really frustrating when it starts going tits up! There’s three litter trays, they’re both using the same one, and they’ve both just been clamouring for my crumpet plate to lick the butter so I know they *can* share and get along

 

[MrsFox]

 

[Mamanyt1953]

If they are willilng to eat off of the same plate, this is just a "tempest in a teapot," and not real fighting! You're going to be fine, and so are your cats! You may all end up a little crazy, but in Cat World, that's entirely expected!

 

[MrsFox]

I gave them breakfast and dinner side by side today.....they ate together happily and at one point, shared the same dish! These sods are driving me mad

 

[Lalka]

Water spray is a bad idea...cats dont learn from this, they ll only learn to be scared of you. Cats dont understand punishments. Give them room to play and play with them with wands to spend their energy. I would not feed them in the same plate...and maybe feed them in a different room. They ll decide when its ok.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

If they are sharing the same dish, you are fine. And all the noise is a tempest in a teapot, indeed!