Kitten's play fighting. Normal?

[McBounty]

It's in the title really.

We adopted 2 beautiful little 7 week old kitties yesterday.

You're probably going to think I'm mental for asking, but I just needed my mind putting at ease.

Since they arrived yesterday, they play fight a lot. It causes one of them to yelp at times and it worries me a little.

This is normal, right?

Also our make growls at his sister if she tries to eat her food when he's eating his. I have a double bowl and put wet food in both sides. Our male is quite over protective.

Any tips?

Thanks.

our male *

It's normal. It's how they learn to defend themselves. I think it also helps them to learn to hunt.

Yes their play fights can look brutal at times. Is how they learn how far they can go. Mine haven't really been territorial over food

Maybe get separate bowls so you can split them up while eating. I have individual bowls for wet and dry food and water

I have these ones in cream and black

www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/cat-bowls-and-accessories/cat-bowls/non-slip-plastic-cat-bowl-cream?orderBy=3

They are far too young to be adopted at 7 weeks unless there was a problem with the mother. Play fighting is quite normal though. They would be better with completely separate food bowls.

chemenger Yes, I know. We was told they were 8 weeks old. 8 weeks I still believe is early, but they said that it was either we wake them now, or they go to a rescue. We chose to take them home now and in to a forever home.

We got ours at 8 weeks too. They are now 9 months old

I can't advise until I've seen a photo. It's the law.

I am sorry, my phone doesn't allow me to add a photo. I will get around to it ASAP.

We have 2 sisters who are now 14 months, most of the time the are gentle things now, sweetly sleeping on the beds or gentle washing one another. Then all of a sudden we get a crazy 5 minutes of fighting.

It used to be lot more fighting, and destroying the house.

Pictures please

I'll be waiting!

(BTW play fighting totally normal)

Our male kitty vomited tonight. Poor baby. I'm super worried.

What food is he having? Is it the same as they had at the other house? Have they been vet checked already?

he's maybe just eaten too much. I'd take them to get checked over tomorrow and find out about worming and vaccinations

My boy kittens are now 14 weeks, I've had them since they were 8 weeks and yes, playfighting is common. Our old tom cat sometimes joins in too! I wouldn't worry about the vomiting, most cats do sometimes, either furballs or food they've eaten too fast.

Don't use plastic bowls. They can teint the food and water. Stainless steel or stoneware are better. Mason Cash are good.

Re the fighting, sounds normal. You need to supervise though as the mother cat should still be around to do this.

Re the vomit, what did it look like? What's their diet? Have they had any vaccinations yet?

Well my two don't have issues with their plastic bowls and they are washed regularly

Yes knocking seven bells out of each other is normal. They will start galloping round the house, climbing the curtains and ambushing your feet soon too.

I'm glad mine have stopped climbing my legs when I'm dishing their food. It was bad enough with jeans on but much worse with bare legs!

That's why I said 'can', not will. Some cats don't mind. Some do.

Pot bowls are nice & heavy & easy to keep clean. I have several so there are always clean ones (they go in the dishwasher but I don't run it every day)

I wouldn't worry too much atm about the vomiting, as others said they often do it, but keep an eye on it. I get brown puddles, with bits of plant in, & also regurgitated meat and/or biscuits (from eating too fast I assume), probably from different cats. It never smells like our vomit.

We got two kittens together and they fought each other a lot. When we previously had just one, he scratched us more.

The same male kitten was very greedy and would sometimes eat until he made himself sick.

Keep an eye on your male cat. If he is protective of his food he is maybe eating too much too fast. Feed them separately.

I am feeding them different food to what they had at their old home. Our girl seems fine with it, but our boy seems to just eat the jelly and a few nibbles of meat. They also have some biscuits left out all of the time.

I have them booked in to see the vet next week. The previous owner said they had been wormed and flead, but I can never know that for definite, eh?

Yes it's perfectly normal. I have two brothers whom I have had since they were 4 months old. They still play fight but unfortunately it's a bit like kids, it starts out as play fighting but then one does something that really hurts and it turns into full on war.

So far I have had a very expensive leg injury (£795 !!) caused by an infected bite and two visits to the vet for eye injuries, the last one being about a month ago when one of them scratched the other really badly leaving puncture wounds on the eyelid. Luckily it didn't scratch the surface of his eye but was really painful. Luckily I'm insured!

I know it sounds like they should be separated but they really are really close when they are not killing each other 😀