How far is to far?

[Saphire_1975]

I know that everyone is probably tired of the whole cat introduction thing, but, it seems to be a hot topic. My question is Sammy and Cassy will be very good together, Sammy even share's his food but, other times they will chase each other, jump on to furniture and do a surprise swat, which I guess is Ok. But were does it stop being playing and start being fighting? I've heard that hissng, growling, chasing and swatting are OK, and I know that biting isn't, but what is the difference between play fighting and real fighting? In other words when should I seperate them?


Saphire

[MA]

Hissing and growling and swatting is pretty normal as they find their way with each other. I would watch for rabbit kicking, locking together and drawing blood- that is when it is to soon and too much.

[Jen]

Definitely drawing blood. Or terror from one of the participants. EX) fear of the other cat, trying to avoid contact with the other cat, hiding excessively, soiling themselves.
I have found a short bout of the rabbit kicking or the head locks does not NECESSARILY mean nasty behavior. When Biddy and Kim play, she is vocal (like he's killing her) but she ALWAYS goes back for more, which tells me she likes it.

[Saphire_1975]

Thank all of you for your answers, although it hasn't gotten as bad as biting or even claws and no-one has been hurt. I get the feeling that Sammy is bullying Cassy. She will take on a submissive posture (like rolling onto her back) and Sammy will hit her, then just stand there watching her, and if she moves he'll hit her again. They start off realy good and the good lasts longer each time. They will be playing and then Sammy just turns into a bully. When this happens I pick up Sammy and put him in time out. Right now they are getting 2 sessions a day for introductions. I am thinking of moving introduction times to right after Sammy and my play time in hopes that he''ll be to tired to pick on her Should I just scrap the intro's and go back to them only seeing eachother through the bars? BTW this never happens when she's in the cage only when they are out in the open.


Thanks again
Saphire

[Jen]

Sammy is telling her that he is the boss. Her postition shows that she accepts his dominance. They NEED to have this "discussion" and as long as it is supervised until you are comfortable with them being together, it is perfectly normal.

[Saphire_1975]

Well, Cassy has decided that she doesn't want to submit all of the time any more. She now even starts with him. Today I gave them both the same toy to play with and of course they both had to have the same one They are far from sleeping together or even trusting eachother enough to sleep in front of eachother, but, they are doing good. Whenever they do something that I don't aprove of I throw my keys, which quickly breaks them up. They played for 3 hours today without me even having to throw them. I just broke them up because they were both getting tired and I needed to do stuff.


Saphire

[Lucybelle]

I am a newcomer to the board. I know this is a late answer, but I thought I would do it anyway.

When my Tonks chased around the house and play fought, there was growling, occasional hissing, and gentle rabbit kicks. I never worried about this. The female, who was very sassy, would sometimes get mad during the fight, and would speed off. You could tell when the game was no longer fun. The male would stop then -- he knew when he had gone to far -- but I swear he was laughing when she ran off. He was a real tease and drove her nuts. He would spend an hour sitting hidden around the stairs, where she would walk by, so he could pop out and pounce her.

A real fight is in high-speed and loud. Simply put! No question about it. They may puff up and circle around slowly, but when they come out swinging, it is in high gear.

When my female passed in a freak accident (tornado hit and she broke her neck), the male missed teasing her sooo much. He would zoom for a second like he was chasing her to the cat tree. Then he would let out the saddest meow. Don't deprive the kitties of their play fighting! It really makes their day.

Linda