HELP!!! Is this normal behavior???

[Kirsten]

Just witnessed something that scares me: :eek:

Luna was resting on her pillow when the Lily girl literally flew around her neck. Then they wrestled a bit and it ended with Lily lying on her back and Luna above her. Luna started licking the baby, and till that point, everything looked quite peaceful and nice.

Then Lily started pawing into Luna's face, it more looked like she wanted to keep her face away from her with outstreched arms, but she used her claws. Next thing was that Luna started biting Lily, into her legs and even into her belly, and Lily made some squeaking sounds, so it WAS probably painful. They wresled for a while, but Luna always had the upper part. She had her eyes closed while Lily's paws where in her face, and when she was able to get rid of Lily's claws, she bit her again. Eventually, Lily escaped from that situation, but now they chase each other. BTW, none of them has growled or hissed while doing that.

However, the entire thing did not look like fun to me. I'm a bit concerned because it was looking like they're becoming good friends, and now this!

Do you think I have to worry to leave them alone now and that they now start to hate each other, or was it just a disagreement between friends?

What can the multicat household experts say about this?

Kirsten

Edited to say: Now, not even ten minutes later, they're eating together from Luna's bowl, and Luna doesn't seem to mind sharing her food with the baby. I'm confused...

[catlover4ever]

Well, it's normal behavior in my house. Abner is constantly going after Tigger, and Smokey used to wrestle Tigger to the floor, bite her, fur would fly everywhere. The sounds that were made were horrible, I bet the neighbors thought I was killing the cats (just think, I live in the woods, but I swear the noise could be heard for miles around).

Meg

[2kitties]

It's normal at my house too. Sometimes they're playing so rough I have to leave the room- especially when Rocky was a kitten. Taz wanted to bite his ears off, I think.

They have a strange definition of fun, but, that's just how cats are.

[catland]

The fact that they are good buddies again means that everything is OK. I've had situations in my house where the kitties even take turns at being the aggressor.

Think of it this way, Luna is Lily's teacher. They don't know that they are housecats so Luna thinks that she has to prepare Lily for confrontations with other kitties. If they were outdoor kitties then Lily would need these skills.

Also, I think we humans tend to take these things much more personally than cats do.

So its ok, :)

[kimlovescats]

Perfectly normal cat games!!! Sit back and enjoy!!! ;) :D

[Tonya]

I think it's normal. My cats have a love hate relationship. Sometimes they are buddies and sometimes they get into tiffs. It usually starts when one of them is sleeping and the other decides to attack out of the blue. I think they love eachother to much to get into a full blown cat fight.

[Lerah021399]

Perfectly normal behavior. Jack and Ali do this all the time. It still makes me nervous sometimes though. When ever I'm around them I always stop them from doing it and tell them to behave themselves:D I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Kirsten]

Ahhh, good to hear it's a common thing in other households as well! :)

I was already worrying the friendship between Luna and Lily would break apart!

Kirsten

[Barbara]

Cats are like children in more than one point: Many wrestling games of T+F start with a body language dialogue like that:

T: I wash your ears!
F: Oh, that's nice. Purr.
F: Oh that's too much. Stop!
T: Your ears still need it
F: Swat. I'll bite your ears!
T: I'm stronger!
F: Meeeeeeooowwwwmiiiiieee he's kiiiiiiillllinnng me.

Five minutes later all is quiet.

[feeling frisky]

What you are seeing is totally normal.My Corbyn and Chloe act like a married couple!One minute they love each other and sleep together and the next Chloe is trying to get away from him(Corbyn is always the aggressor). She can only take so much of him that after a minute or two she "tries" to get even. Then Corbyn will start in with his whinning (you can tell he is a male).Next thing you know Corbyn is running through the house like his tail is on fire and "howling". Chloe and I just look at each other thinking "there goes that crazy Corbyn again" You can tell he is his fathers cat always whinning and going stir crazy.They make a perfect pair! But I luv them both!!

[ScantyNebula]

Originally posted by Barbara
Cats are like children in more than one point: Many wrestling games of T+F start with a body language dialogue like that:

T: I wash your ears!
F: Oh, that's nice. Purr.
F: Oh that's too much. Stop!
T: Your ears still need it
F: Swat. I'll bite your ears!
T: I'm stronger!
F: Meeeeeeooowwwwmiiiiieee he's kiiiiiiillllinnng me.

Five minutes later all is quiet.

ROFL Toby and Lily do this ALL the time! I was worried too, at first, now I just go "Awwww...they're trying to claw each other's eyes out again" lol

Nah, don't worry, they're tough kids.

[rosethecopycat]

Snowy has been jumping on top of Bella (kitten) and holding her by the nape.

My mentor says it's a dominance thing. He's trying to show his dominace over her.
Well, I thought, O.K. but then I glance over another time and Bella's doing the same thing to him!:eek:

last night, I slept in the foster room, with the aliens. Snowy cried his song outside, then I heard Bella (she is starting to sound like a velociraptor) and Snowy, obviously upset, was starting to take it out on Bella. They know they're mad, but can't discern who to be mad at. I got worried for Bella, but it calmed down.

This whole pattern is becoming apparent every time I open the foster room for business.

Everyone's upset, but thankfully, everyone calms down eventually (even the fosters).

I think you have normal cat politics on your hands, unless you hear shreaking.

[Kirsten]

LOL; Luna and Lily were doing it again today, but it almost looked like fun for them today because they started playing after that!


Snowy has been jumping on top of Bella (kitten) and holding her by the nape.

Funny thing is that Lily is doing that with Luna, so could it be that little kitten of three months already tries to dominate Luna?

Kirsten

[rosethecopycat]

I do think it's possible, if she's holding her really still and not squirming, like it's a game.

[krazyaboutkatz]

This is just rough play and it happens in my household every day. :) Sky loves to chase Sunny and he'll bite him and Sunny squeals like he's being killed. Then Sunny will run away but later he comes back for more. :)

[Barbara]

With Lily it is more a kind of play as she used to play with her brother. She is testing her potential now:)

Later it may be possible that Lily is the dominant cat. But I can't tell here really how it works. If Tigris plays it hard, Filou looses -he's half the weight. But Filou attacks Tigris quite often and if Tigris isn't in the mood he runs:D

Don't worry, Inka & Maya are doing this all the time; and they are the best of buddies!!!