# Is he bullying her?



## Bonnie82 (May 4, 2011)

When we first brought our two kittens home on Thursday, they spent most of their time snuggled up together and looking really cute. Since then I've noticed some aggressive behaviour, but it may just be play? I've never had cats before, and have never seen cats in a multi-cat household interact before (most friends and relatives have only ever had one cat). So I am not really sure what normal behaviour is.

I made a video of them this morning. It seemed like Dinah really did not want to play and Monty kept trying to provoke her. I am guessing that her "tail behaviour" (lifting it up and swatting it down again repeatedly) indicates her annoyance - is that right? She can get quite vocal sometimes when he is playing with her and he is fairly dominant.

When they play with "prey catching" toys such as "Da Bird" (which Monty goes crazy for!) Dinah will often hang back and let Monty catch it, so I tend to swoop it down closer to her sometimes and she will place her paws on it but not really "attack" it as such - then her brother will come diving in and snatch it away. Whereas if he catches it, she will just sit back and watch him growl at it and gnaw on it for ages. Monty will do backflips to catch it and she will just sit quietly and watch it fly, sometimes trying to chase it if he isn't in the way.

Is it just that Monty is more interested in being a predator, and Dinah is chilled out? Or does she feel threatened, do you think? When she DOES catch "prey" (Da Bird or Da Fur!) she drags it away behind the sofa, growling at it (can be quite tricky as she trots off quickly and it's on a stick, so have to follow her!) and he follows her and tries to get in on the action. Whereas if he catches it, she leaves him to it.

Is all of this totally normal and it's just the individual kittens' personalities coming out? Or is it something to worry about?

I've uploaded a video to YouTube of him teasing her this morning while she was sunbathing.

Click to view video on YouTube - is this normal?

Does this all look "normal"?

Also, when will I stop worrying?


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## Pheebs (Jun 8, 2011)

It looks like play to me, but I'm no expert - I think Monty seems to be seeing how far he can go and Dinah tells him when he's going too far?

They are gorgeous and it's actually lovely seeing them play together.

PS- my kitten is 15 weeks old and I worry about EVERYTHING!


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## Myanimalmadhouse (Mar 6, 2011)

Thats actually quite gentle playfighting! Usually they are chasing all round the house here and for some reason always end up one either side of my leg so I end up getting a bit of stick too :lol:

They squeak to let the other know that its too rough for them and too calm down - you will probably find your girl will do it back to him when she's more in the mood than he is - I find girls tend to wake up from sleepy time first and go wake the boys up by jumping straight on them and start biting their ears :hand:

And yep the worrying is all normal too - we'd be more worried if you wasn't worried


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## MissyMV6 (Aug 5, 2010)

That looks totally normal to me too..

Angie x


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## Bonnie82 (May 4, 2011)

Good to hear! I'll stop worrying about that now.  That's one less thing to worry about, eh?!! 

Oh and yep, they were sleepy when I made that video, whereas at 2am this morning the play-fighting was quite dramatic!  Lots of hiding and pouncing, growling, biting (no blood though)... glad to hear it's all normal.


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## K337 (May 20, 2011)

My boys do the exact same. Bloo is the dominant cat and as a kitten used to instigate a lot of the play. Freckle would (and still does) lash his tail and drum it against the floor whilst playing. They are big boys now at 15 months and will surprise attack each other, often falling down the stairs or doing other worrying things whilst playing. Freckle also prefers to drag any new toys under the bed (he doesn't fit under the couch anymore) to give it a proper 'killing' while Bloo will happily kill in front of us.

We had a close call on their second weekend at home with Bloo managing to scratch Freckles eye... :cryin: It started bleeding and I was terrified that he had done permanent damage. Quick trip to the vets and everything turns out to be fine, although I did try to tell them off when they were fighting :nono: Now when I hear them thumping about I can just call out 'boys! i hope you are not fighting' :hand: They spring apart and pretend that they are all innocent, even when it's being done in clear view...

You will never stop worrying. Mine delight in keeping me stressed out (especially while I'm at work) but they more than make up for it in other ways :blush:

Also, both of your kittens are so adorable I'm not sure how you cope


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## broccoli (Jul 1, 2011)

looks normal to me, i had to same with my two!

I bought 2 dangley toys and had one in each arm. boss got to choose when they swapped, but meant the other got a play too! calmed down after a month or so, with no injuries to either - think they like the pecking order sorted


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## Lumboo (Mar 31, 2011)

This looks perfectly normal to me. Oscar and Wilbur are always play fighting and you will find your two will take turns at being the dominant one.

I now find the pitiful meoows quite funny, but initially I did wonder if they were really asking me to break it up/help. It gets even more rough and tumbly as they get older and then start chasing each other and backing into corners/on top of boxes, falling off chairs etc. I only object when they play around my head when I am sitting on the sofa.

The joys of two kitties


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## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

Aww why did I not spot this thread before? 

Yeah perfectly normal, and I agree quite tame :lol:

You witnessed any full on bunny kicking yet? Yep that's normal too! The only time to intervene is if one is making the other squeal and they don't back off.


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## Bonnie82 (May 4, 2011)

Hehe since posting this thread over a week ago I am definitely reassured that their behaviour is TOTALLY normal... having witnessed many "fights" followed by cuddles on the sofa. 

Dinah does the bunny-kicking thing to him all the time!


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## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

I know it is only play, but to avoid any accidents that might need vet treatment it's a good idea to keep their claws trimmed so they aren't so sharp ... front and back. Plus it will be good for you if they get used to a trim at this age, it's much harder to trim an adult cats claws if they aren't used to it  You probably already know that though as you seem to have done your research


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## Bonnie82 (May 4, 2011)

They had their claws trimmed on the day we picked them up (the breeder did it and showed us how) and by yesterday they were sharp again... so I had a fun afternoon clipping claws.  It was getting to the point where they were drawing blood when climbing our legs so I thought it was time!


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## rescuecatsrule (Jun 25, 2008)

Yep ............... play fighting


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## charliesmam (Oct 27, 2010)

Ive no experience of kittens at all as ive never had any..but after watching your video, omg i wish i could have some lol. They are absoloutely adorable and id imagine a lot of fun to watch. Im sooo jealous lol xxx


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## Bonnie82 (May 4, 2011)

charliesmam said:


> Ive no experience of kittens at all as ive never had any..but after watching your video, omg i wish i could have some lol. They are absoloutely adorable and id imagine a lot of fun to watch. Im sooo jealous lol xxx


They are very entertaining! We've hardly watched any telly since having them.  Did you see my video of them playing with the ball track thingy? Link:


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## rescuecatsrule (Jun 25, 2008)

I used to volunteer in cat rescue so got to see a lot of cats and kittens playing.


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## charliesmam (Oct 27, 2010)

Bonnie82 said:


> They are very entertaining! We've hardly watched any telly since having them.  Did you see my video of them playing with the ball track thingy? Link: YouTube - ‪Dinah and Monty (14 week old Siberian kittens) playing‬‏


Just had a look now, i was smiling the whole way through the video, its almost infectious lol x


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