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- Nov 9, 2021
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We've had our youngest cat Annie for over a year now, it was a year in October. We'll have had our second older cat April in, well, April, so the two cats haven't been together for a year yet. From the beginning, this was a problem but I let time run its course. Thankfully things did get better, they eat within close proximity, they sleep very close to each other sometimes (but not cuddling), they'll sit touching each other side by side to watch out of the window and VERY rarely will there be mutual grooming (Annie is mostly the one that grooms, and it only lasts until April swats her away. April hardly grooms Annie).
The main issue is when they play. They don't play often, but when they wrestle, it can get a bit nasty. There's never any hissing or blood drawn but a majority of the time, it ends with me having to break them up because April will physically pin Annie to the floor and bite her until Annie starts to make noises (not sure how to describe them but it's obvious April is hurting her). The worst I've seen really is sometimes a small amount of fur in April's mouth from Annie, but she's never missing clumps of fur or anything. I always separate them after this and Annie never really seems scared of April but still, April never listens to Annie's cries/noises when she bites too hard and it worries me for when we're out of the house if it happens then. I've read in places that cats make these noises to tell the other cat when they're being "too much" to get them to stop, but I'm not sure how right this is and maybe I'm overthinking it. Also when they play, it's 90% wrestling and not the friendly kind, the kind where they are literally attached to each other and they have to fight back and fourth rather than letting the other play nicely (at least from what I've seen in videos of play wrestling).
The age gap is only a few months, so I'm not sure if the age gap matters. I believe April will be 2 years old in March and Annie turned 1 year old in August. We don't know much about April's past other than she was found on the street, then in a foster home with other cats and dogs for at least a few months before we adopted her. We were told she was good with other cats and she actually was good when we introduced them, whereas Annie was the one to hiss and growl (which she of course worked through in the end). Annie on the other hand we have had since she was only a few weeks/months old so she had no interactions with other cats until we adopted April and we had no idea how she'd react, but she seems to be the more tame one when they're playing.
I know I've made a post like this before but it still happens and today it happened for maybe a bit too long because I couldn't intervene quick enough, and the noises that Annie was making actually upset me. Again, no blood was drawn and I don't think any fur was missing and she didn't really seem scared but it scares me. Is this something I just have to wait out for longer, or is there a way I can help the two of them play better? As stated previously, they're absolutely fine in every other way. It's just when April gets too rough or walks up to Annie and provokes her while she's relaxing, that it scares me that one of them might get seriously injured one day.
The main issue is when they play. They don't play often, but when they wrestle, it can get a bit nasty. There's never any hissing or blood drawn but a majority of the time, it ends with me having to break them up because April will physically pin Annie to the floor and bite her until Annie starts to make noises (not sure how to describe them but it's obvious April is hurting her). The worst I've seen really is sometimes a small amount of fur in April's mouth from Annie, but she's never missing clumps of fur or anything. I always separate them after this and Annie never really seems scared of April but still, April never listens to Annie's cries/noises when she bites too hard and it worries me for when we're out of the house if it happens then. I've read in places that cats make these noises to tell the other cat when they're being "too much" to get them to stop, but I'm not sure how right this is and maybe I'm overthinking it. Also when they play, it's 90% wrestling and not the friendly kind, the kind where they are literally attached to each other and they have to fight back and fourth rather than letting the other play nicely (at least from what I've seen in videos of play wrestling).
The age gap is only a few months, so I'm not sure if the age gap matters. I believe April will be 2 years old in March and Annie turned 1 year old in August. We don't know much about April's past other than she was found on the street, then in a foster home with other cats and dogs for at least a few months before we adopted her. We were told she was good with other cats and she actually was good when we introduced them, whereas Annie was the one to hiss and growl (which she of course worked through in the end). Annie on the other hand we have had since she was only a few weeks/months old so she had no interactions with other cats until we adopted April and we had no idea how she'd react, but she seems to be the more tame one when they're playing.
I know I've made a post like this before but it still happens and today it happened for maybe a bit too long because I couldn't intervene quick enough, and the noises that Annie was making actually upset me. Again, no blood was drawn and I don't think any fur was missing and she didn't really seem scared but it scares me. Is this something I just have to wait out for longer, or is there a way I can help the two of them play better? As stated previously, they're absolutely fine in every other way. It's just when April gets too rough or walks up to Annie and provokes her while she's relaxing, that it scares me that one of them might get seriously injured one day.
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