Are My Cats Playing or Fighting? How to Tell the Difference
One of the top two reasons people hire a cat behavior professional is to resolve conflict between their cats. While some cats don't get along from day one, most cats who end up seeing a professional for fighting gradually developed a problem after tolerating each other for a long time. There are a lot of reasons conflict can exist, but it's not uncommon that it began as unhealthy play that went uninterrupted for too long.
If you're worried that your cats aren't actually enjoying their interactions with each other, this post is for you. Today, we're breaking down the difference between playing and fighting and we'll also talk about what to do if you determine your cats are having conflict.
Conflict Versus Play
First off, it's really important to pay attention to each cat's body language not just during their interactions with each other, but also before and after. Often caregivers will have the impression that their cats fight "out of nowhere" but in reality if we could replay the footage, we'd see multiple signs that conflict was building. Cat communication can be incredibly subtle, so every caregiver should spend time learning about cat body language and then studying their own cats'.
Once you know can tell if your cat is feeling friendly, standoffish, afraid, or overstimulated, you can better-appreciate the signs of a cat who is initiating play versus a fight because you also recognized the context that came before the questionable interaction.
Now, let's talk about signs of conflict versus play initiation.
Signs of Conflict
Vocalizations: Cat play is almost always very quiet, so if you hear any yowling, shrieking, hissing, or growling it is very unlikely your cats are playing.
Staring & body-blocking: The interaction is broken up with intense eye contact or preventing the other cat from moving away.
Injuries or chunks of fur appear during the interaction
Signs of Play Initiation
The social roll (the cat rolls back and forth on their back, exposing their belly)
Predatory behaviors like stalking, the "butt wiggle," and pouncing are all behaviors used in catching prey, playing with toys, and playing with other animals.
The Blurry In-Between: One-Sided Play
Now, recognizing a cat who is initiating play compared to conflict is not the whole story. Just because you see one cat initiating play doesn't mean the other cat will receive it well. It's quite common to see this kind of one-sided play where one cat is having a great time while the other is very uncomfortable or afraid.
If you see one cat doing all of the initiating while the other cat frequently freezes, hides, or vocalizes, it's very likely one-sided play. So, it's important to understand what healthy play looks like, and not just the signs of play initiation.
Signs of Healthy Play
Can include intense (but quiet) wrestling or chasing
Role reversal: Cats take turns being the one who chases/runs and the one on top/bottom
Taking breaks: Cats separate and pause for several seconds during the interaction (pausing while the other cat is still pinned down or hiding does not count)
Respecting attempts to end play: When one cat walks away, hides, or vocalizes the other cat will back off and wait for the cat to initiate again or go away.
Addressing Conflict
If you do determine that your cats either fighting or experiencing one-sided play, know that there is a lot you can do about it.
Make sure you are reducing sources of tension in the environment by distributing resources appropriately and filling the needs every cat has. Read more here. Especially important for one-sided play, you'll need to make sure the cat initiating get lots of interactive play with a human every day so they don't seek out the other cat as much.
If your cats are having significant conflict multiple times per day or are constantly having to be separated, you may need to do a reintroduction. Learn how to introduce cats here. The steps for reintroduction are typically the same.
If one cat is playing but the other is not, teach some skills to the cat that is initiating the play to help shape some respect for the other's boundaries. Teaching name recognition and recall skills can be really helpful for calling your cat away when your second cat says "no thanks" to the play initiation. Never leave cats to just "work it out." While this may seem successful for street cats, your cats who are stuck inside the house together will not appreciate this approach and it will most likely make things worse.
In some cases, especially those that have gone on for a really long time or seen serious injuries, working with a cat behavior professional is the best choice. If that is the case for you, we'd love to work with you at Purrfect Paws University through our full-service consultations. We can also help even if you just want to double-check that your cats are playing and not fighting. You can use our advanced phone consult service and provide us with videos of your cats interacting.
Comments