Introducing A New Cat (are They Fighting Or Playing?)

[K&NCatCrazy]

Hey there!

I'm totally new to the forum and have recently introduced a new kitten into our family. A Little history...My boyfriend and I have a 1 and a half-year-old to 2-year-old kitten(shelter didn't really know). He's been with us for a year now. He loooves attention and loves to play (seriously he never runs out of energy!). We joke that he isn't really a cat because he enjoys long walks and car rides like a dog haha! He also is very friendly and wants to make friends with other cats even though sometimes other cats have hissed at him (seriously, he thinks they're playing when they hiss and tries to play woth them lol!!). Anyway, whenever my boyfriend and I leave the house he starts meowing. So we thought he'd like a companion to keep him company while we aren't there.
So on Monday we went out to our local shelter and adopted an 8-month old kitten. We asked the shelter if he was good with other cats and he was. So we brought him home and did what they suggested and had put them in separate rooms and gave our resident cat a blanket that had the new kitten's scent on it. We put their food bowls in the same spot separated by the wall. We let the new kitten adjust to everything and let me tell you he adapted quick!! He was very shy and hid for most of the first day but by night he was chatty and playful. The second day we saw our resident cat playing with the new kitty under the door. No hissing or anything so we decided to open the door so they could have a look at each other. They sniffed each other and both seemed like they wanted to explore so we thought that'd be ok and just monitor them. They batted at each other (not aggressively it seemed, more like slow motion batter so we think it's play) but did not hiss or noises, ears were not pinned back, fur was not puffy, claws didn't look out, a couple times the new kitten would go on his belly even. At night we keep them separate while we are asleep and during the day we give them time together but supervised. For the most part my boyfriend and I think they are playing but there are a couple things we are confused about and would like some help knowing if this is normal or maybe they're fighting/bullying. So for the most part when they get together they bat at each other, most of the time this turns into a chase. I heard chasing is normal as long as they're taking turns. But here it always seems to be our resident cat chasing the new cat. At first when this happened we would separate them back into their rooms for a bit but eventually after a while we'd let them chase just to see and try to get a btter idea of what is going on. The new cat has established his 'safe place' which is under a recliner chair. Our resident cat seems to chase him into there. After that our resident cat will lay down a few meters away from the recliner chair watching/stalking (not ready to pounce, just laying there watching). Then after a few minutes, he will leave the new cat alone. Then, the new cat will come out after a bit and walk around (sometimes our resident cat will see him and just carry on with his normal routine unbothered). There also has been a couple times where the new cat will go to use the scratching post, or the litterbox and the resident cat will come over and bat at him then walk away. They also eat other's food and drink each other's water with no issues which i know can usually be an issues with cats who are first meeting and fighting. We are just confused on if these things are normal, what we can do to help them, etc.

 

[K&NCatCrazy]

PS:this morning our resident cat brought a toy over to the new cat. They played for a minute or so and then our resident cat batted and chased him into his "safe place" again

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. I've never had more than one cat at a time, so I'm not a good judge of when cats are fighting or "mock fighting".

Here's an article on How To Safely Break Up A Cat Fight which mentions the body language to watch for to determine mock fighting versus real fighting.

One thing I'd watch for is bullying around the litter box. That could quickly turn into litter box avoidance issues, so if you only have 1 litter box right now, I would suggest getting another one. And probably putting it in a different room, so your older cat can't be "guarding" both litter boxes at the same time.

How Many Litterboxes Should You Have?

In case you decide to re-do the introductions, here's the article on How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

Plus one more that may be helpful:
The Multi-cat Household

 

[ArtNJ]

Sounds fine. If there are no bad noises, no fur pulled out, if the new cat doesn't avoid the other generally, then its play. Play can definitely include whapping each other. 20 years ago, when I was in college and my stuff was in milk crates, my two cats would each stand on a different stack of milk crates several inches apart, and just whack each other on the head like a bizarro boxing match.

Thing is, play is not always equal. Many times one likes it more than the other, and the one that is quieter, less physical, whatever, will disengage, run, hide, maybe throwing in some hiss, growl and defensive swatting. Its totally fine as long as the cat comes back out in a few minutes and acts like nothing happened. Basically, think big brother little brother. Big brother can be a right bastard with indian sunburns and the like, little bro calls for mom and runs to his room, but 5 minutes later he wants big bro to play. Now if little brother was *always* running or hiding, or immediately crying for mom on seeing big brother? Then you'd have a problem.

Things can change, you need to keep an eye out when you can. But right now it sounds fine.