Two weeks ago I adopted a 1 year old male (domestic shorthair) named Diego to join me and Memphis, my 11 month old tortie/calico. I went through all the proper introductions steps (scent swapping, feeding across the door, etc) and Diego was in the bathroom for the first few days, and then he switched to the living room (which has a door that closes). He and Memphis have had supervised playtime, in which they’ve shared food and water dishes (even though they have their own), used each other’s litter boxes, and generally seem to be getting along. However… they play wrestle/fight a lot. Almost constantly until they get too tired and usually lay down next to each other and chill.
No one is hissing, ears are in friendly positions 95% of the time, they take breaks (they'll literally stop in the middle of wrestling to groom themselves), claws are not out. They run around the house, chase each other under the bed, where sometimes they'll wrestle or sometimes they just lie there, hanging out together.
Sometimes tails get fluffy but there are no angry noises, just murmuring meows (think Gizmo from Gremlins noise).
There is biting although not actual biting, just play biting like kittens do. Memphis has also licked Diego to get his attention They sniff each others noses and behinds a lot too. When it starts to get too aggressive I’ll walk in the room and say HEY and they just stop and look at me with big eyes like "Oops, we were caught".
They seem to be enjoying themselves, but Memphis appears to be the instigator most of the time. She loves to be chased so she seems to be doing things to Diego to egg him on (pouncing, licking, tapping, etc)
Should I let them sort this out on their own? I’m thinking one of them might be trying to establish dominance. Memphis is the queen bee (she’s a sassy tortie) but she’s also only 6lbs whereas Diego is closer to 11lbs.
I have a Feliway diffuser and I’ve been using Spirit Essences in their water. I have a cat tree in the living room and various other vertical places (Kitty Cot, etc).
I’ve been letting them spend time together while I’m home but have been keeping them separated while I’m at work. They seem to miss each other while they’re separated and Diego usually tries to escape to be with Memphis when I enter the living room, however I don’t know if this is because he wants playtime or he just wants to explore the rest of the house.
I’ve heard that cats shouldn’t be playing like this once they’re out of the kitten stage and it can lead to serious aggression later - it could make it harder for them to get along down the road if they’re having play aggression now.
No one is hissing, ears are in friendly positions 95% of the time, they take breaks (they'll literally stop in the middle of wrestling to groom themselves), claws are not out. They run around the house, chase each other under the bed, where sometimes they'll wrestle or sometimes they just lie there, hanging out together.
Sometimes tails get fluffy but there are no angry noises, just murmuring meows (think Gizmo from Gremlins noise).
There is biting although not actual biting, just play biting like kittens do. Memphis has also licked Diego to get his attention They sniff each others noses and behinds a lot too. When it starts to get too aggressive I’ll walk in the room and say HEY and they just stop and look at me with big eyes like "Oops, we were caught".
They seem to be enjoying themselves, but Memphis appears to be the instigator most of the time. She loves to be chased so she seems to be doing things to Diego to egg him on (pouncing, licking, tapping, etc)
Should I let them sort this out on their own? I’m thinking one of them might be trying to establish dominance. Memphis is the queen bee (she’s a sassy tortie) but she’s also only 6lbs whereas Diego is closer to 11lbs.
I have a Feliway diffuser and I’ve been using Spirit Essences in their water. I have a cat tree in the living room and various other vertical places (Kitty Cot, etc).
I’ve been letting them spend time together while I’m home but have been keeping them separated while I’m at work. They seem to miss each other while they’re separated and Diego usually tries to escape to be with Memphis when I enter the living room, however I don’t know if this is because he wants playtime or he just wants to explore the rest of the house.
I’ve heard that cats shouldn’t be playing like this once they’re out of the kitten stage and it can lead to serious aggression later - it could make it harder for them to get along down the road if they’re having play aggression now.