Is my kitten growling?!

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

We've had our kittens for a while now and they're almost 4 months old. I bought a packet of those plastic springs and they both LOVE them! But recently Fynn has taken to carrying two of them around in his mouth while making this weird sort of rumbling noise. It's definitely not purring, it's a completely different sort of almost high pitched rumble. His brother Chester just sits and looks at him when he's doing this, or he wanders off and does his own thing.

Fynn has no problem with Chester playing with springs, and they play with them together all the time. Is he actually growling or is it just a happy noise?

Tobias makes growling noises when he's playing happily either on his own or with Girlcat. They are similar but definitely different to the growls he used to make before he had settled in & was happy with me or Girlcat close to him. Boycat also used to make a similar noise when he was "killing" his favorite toy mouse (and the couple of times he killed an actual mouse).

I think it's a prey and hunting thing. The springs are "prey" and he's telling them & you he's caught them.

He's just singing the song of his people. Perfectly normal catting.

My kitten growls if she has a toy she is really keen on. She is big fierce hunter 😂they also tend to growl when they are eating if anyone tries to take their food. Sometimes they grow out of it. Sometimes not.

My young cats also do this, especially if they have caught a small rodent and the other cats are interested, l think it's kind of a warning signifying they don't want to share. Mine also tend to do it if they have a nice treat, they become possessive over it.
I would imagine it's quite common in multi cat households, one of my mine does it more than the others. It does sound like a low rumbling growl and it's never resulted in anything further.

Our cat does it when he steals some food he isn’t meant to be eating, then backs into a corner, growling, if you try and get it back. He once did it with a massive frozen prawn and hunched, growling, as it defrosted in his mouth.

Does nobody pay dcat tax anymore...?

He is carrying and protecting his prey - normal.

But yes, as above - you didn't pay the tax

One of my kittens was a growler. Almost put me off when we chose them! She seemed so fierce. But she is the cuddliest and most affectionate cat. Just very possessive of her toys in kitten hood.

It's Cat for THIS IS MINE, BACK OFF, I CAUGHT IT AND IT'S MINE ALL MINE.

Perfectly normal and reasonable - and quite funny when it's a tiny kitten acting all big apex predator underneath the table with his prawny (or springy) trophy.

Of course, we'd need the photos to be absolutely certain, though...

It's resource guarding and is the equivalent of dogs growling when you come near their food or their beds.

It's normal (as in, it's a natural instinct for cats to behave this way) but it can be quite unnerving and has the potential to be quite dangerous. If my cats behaved that way over a toy it would be taken off them.

My main issue is - what's cute and "amusing" in a kitten can be quite scary and potentially even dangerous in an adult cat. If an adult cat displays this behaviour and has hold of something that could do them harm, you could end up getting badly hurt.

Fynn is the mainly white one, fearsome hunter of plastic springs. And Chester is the thumby one, lives in permanent befuddlement.

One of our cats does this with feathery toys - good job they're an indoor cat, or the local avian population would be decimated!