How to tell if your cats are playing or fighting—and whether it’s a problem

Anyone who has more than one cat in the house knows that occasional spats and outright cat fights occur. It can be difficult to tell if a child is playing or just playing rough. It’s even more difficult to tell if a fight is just an argument or a sign that the cats just can’t get along. As a result, you have to make tough decisions about how to separate the cat. question.

In 2021, co-author Noema Gajdoš‑Kmecová, a veterinarian at the University of Veterinary Pharmacy, Kosice, Slovakia, and several colleagues, reviewed the development of common terminology and suggested a more ‘psychobiological’ approach. Published a paper. Research on cat behavior, especially play behavior. Previous research has focused on cat play activities, such as whether a cat is playing with a toy or playing with another cat. However, such observations provide little insight into the function of such play and, in turn, the motivations and emotional states of cats.

“When one cat treats another as an object or prey, such activity is related to the previous cat’s attempt to learn about its own skills in relation to manipulating its physical environment. (Prey is not considered part of the complex social relationships and therefore part of the social environment of the individual),” they wrote in their paper. “However, when the interaction between cats is reciprocal, it may function to facilitate social learning and may best be described as mutual social play.” Because interactions are dynamic, they argued, a functional classification system must be flexible enough to account for such nuances.

This new paper focuses on classifying distinct cat behaviors related to play and fights to better distinguish between the two. I looked for videos with cats, videos of cats fighting, videos of cats fighting, and similar search terms. They also advertised on her Facebook, asking users to post videos of cats playing, fighting, or a combination. The authors emphasize that this is just a pilot study and they have not collected any additional information about the cats that appear in the videos or the humans that filmed them. I was asked not to provoke or play hostile towards the camera.

After reviewing and screening the videos based on various exclusion criteria, the authors determined that 105 videos of 210 cats interacting were suitable for further analysis. Behaviors fell into her six broad categories familiar to cat owners everywhere. Combat “harmless” nips, rakes and kicks. One cat chasing and/or running away from the chasing cat as if the other cat were prey. Other interactions (grooming each other, presenting bellies, sniffing, stalking, pouncing, etc.). For example, self-grooming, playing alone with cat toys, drinking alcohol, or non-interactive activities such as “zoomies.” Vocalization (growl, hiss, grunt, spit, bark, bark).

Once the analysis is complete, Gajdoš‑Kmecová othersidentified three distinctive types of cat interactions. A middle category that mixes playful, “agonist”, and other her two categories of behavior. ran away. More than half of the cats (56.2%) engaged in playful interactions, in contrast to her 28.6% of cats who were overtly hostile. Another 15.2% engaged in mixed behavior.

The authors noted that the playful category had an unusually high proportion of kittens exhibiting wrestling behavior (a common way kittens play). Wrestling is less common, as hostile adult cats tend to avoid direct contact. In this study, there were several adult cats who engaged in prolonged wrestling that was considered playful in nature, mainly because the behavior was reciprocal. Unless there was a reciprocal element to interact with, especially in the absence of vocalizations or hostile ear or tail movements, it tended to be classified as hostile behavior.

Intermediate is Gaidsh Kumekova othersIt suggests that this sort of mixed behavior likely represents a temporary disagreement rather than a true breakdown in relationships between cats. For example, a cat initially initiates playful interactions, but then she wants to stop playing with one, and she doesn’t stop playing with another. It’s common in our house. Without human intervention, the situation could escalate to truly hostile behavior on the part of the cat (Ariel). The cat (Ariel) grunts, hisses, and runs away in hot pursuit of the other cat (Caliban), unable to continue playing thinking that’s all there is to it. still part of their game. The worst brawls end in a defensive foot swipe that can hurt your nose.

If these occasional quarrels are offset by mutual affectionate behavior, the overall long-term relationship between cats is probably still healthy, according to the authors. All signs that ears stand up and see each other as part of the same social group or “tribe”.(Sometimes Ariel just needs her space. Let go of a cat or two for.”

DOI: Scientific Reports, 2023. 10.1038/s41598-022-26121-1 (About DOI).