Fighting, Playing Or Both?

[Oldcatnewtricks]

Hi Everyone,

I am new here and i need some advice. I have three cats. A brother and sister who are 7 years old and we just added a new cat who is 11 years old. We have slowly been introducing them over the past 3 weeks and there are times when i cant tell if the new cat is playing or fighting. When he starts to play with our other two cats he will paw or chase one of them. I dont think he is trying to fight them he never hisses and he has always been a friendly cat. The other two have never had much interaction with other cats besides each other and when he tries to play they start to hiss more than a couple of times. I am just not sure how to help the situation. I dont wany to "punish" the new cat if he is just trying to play but i dont want the other cats to feel corneres or threatened. Does anyone have some advice?

 

[duckpond]

Hopefully they are playing, the brother and sister may not be quite ready to accept the friendship and play of the new cat yet. Just go slow, don't punish the new cat, thats never good to do to a cat. But if the original two seem stressed, or threatened separate them some more and continue the slow introduction? I have 4 adult cats that have been together about 2 years, they all get along, but occasionally one will want to play, the others do not, and you can tell they are not happy with each other. As long as there is no major growling, hissing, or fighting i leave them to work it out. As long as there is space for everyone to retreat to their own room or area it is normally ok. Cats do need to have a bit of alone time and a safe space to go to when stressed.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Playing. This is how you tell the difference: No matter how loud or scary the sounds might get, if there is no fur in the air, and no blood on the floor, it is NOT a "real" fight. Now, there may be a certain amount of squabbling as the new pecking order gets established, but it isn't a real fight, and sometimes a cat's gotta say what a cat's gotta say!