- Joined
- Sep 14, 2003
- Messages
- 460
- Purraise
- 4
Hello,
We have two cats that have been fighting - it looks like play wrestling to start but graduates into loud meows and kicking.
The background: we rescued a 4-week-old feral female kitten who is now 10 weeks, very sweet and socialized. We already had a 4-year-old male [neutered] cat. The two cats coexist fairly well, but at least three times a day they have "fights."
The kitten is partial to me: she rubs my face with her head at least 3-4 times a day and purrs loudly to greet me. She wants to sleep where I sleep, sit where I sit, etc... She was very sick when we got her with a corneal ulcer and she's been nursed back to good health. The older cat is partial to my girlfriend, and other than rare cases of getting aggressive from being annoyed, is a sweet cat.
The cats will sit next to each other; they'll sleep on the same bed. Eventually the kitten will jump on the cat or vice-versa, and they'll start wrestling. It starts OK, but eventually gets out-of-hand into face biting and kicking. We won't leave them alone together as a result.
We've tried spray bottles, a loud "No," and even time-out, but they still go at it. No one ever seems to get hurt, which makes me question their seriousness, though it can be pretty intense.
Any ideas? Is the kitten being loving or marking me as her territory (or both)? Is this play-wrestling? Territorial battles? Jealousy? Will it get better?
By themselves, they can both be sweet cats. They'll even preen each other on occasion, though it eventually goes from licking to wrestling.
?????
We have two cats that have been fighting - it looks like play wrestling to start but graduates into loud meows and kicking.
The background: we rescued a 4-week-old feral female kitten who is now 10 weeks, very sweet and socialized. We already had a 4-year-old male [neutered] cat. The two cats coexist fairly well, but at least three times a day they have "fights."
The kitten is partial to me: she rubs my face with her head at least 3-4 times a day and purrs loudly to greet me. She wants to sleep where I sleep, sit where I sit, etc... She was very sick when we got her with a corneal ulcer and she's been nursed back to good health. The older cat is partial to my girlfriend, and other than rare cases of getting aggressive from being annoyed, is a sweet cat.
The cats will sit next to each other; they'll sleep on the same bed. Eventually the kitten will jump on the cat or vice-versa, and they'll start wrestling. It starts OK, but eventually gets out-of-hand into face biting and kicking. We won't leave them alone together as a result.
We've tried spray bottles, a loud "No," and even time-out, but they still go at it. No one ever seems to get hurt, which makes me question their seriousness, though it can be pretty intense.
Any ideas? Is the kitten being loving or marking me as her territory (or both)? Is this play-wrestling? Territorial battles? Jealousy? Will it get better?
By themselves, they can both be sweet cats. They'll even preen each other on occasion, though it eventually goes from licking to wrestling.
?????