Hi! I few weeks ago I started fostering a male kitten (my mom found him and the foster place she took him to was very busy so my mom volunteered to help foster him but I’ve voluntarily taken over for her). I’ve never taken care of kittens/owned any cats so I really am just learning as I’m going / through YouTube videos/online articles.
Anyways... I have a 7yo Yorkie Chihuahua mix and shes pretty small (~ 1 foot tall) and she’s taken interest in the kitty (~5 inches tall) and has started trying to play with her and she tries to like bop/tap/swipe the kitty with her paw and sometimes nips him and he doesn’t cry or show signs of being hurt so I let them play and when he starts to try to hide I usually stop them in case he’s getting to scared. Recently he’s not only been more comfortable around my dog when they’re not playing but also been (or what I’ve thought to be) playing back. He kind of does the same bop/tap/swiping his hand motion my dog does (but the kitty shows a little bit of his claws) and they kind of circle/run around each other. The kitty also does this thing where he jumps towards my dog (his jump looks like him doing the pose someone does when they do a jumping jack) and then he also tumbles a lot and shows his belly. He also sometimes does that look cats do when they walk on their tippy toes and their back arches and their tail is straight up (well to be honest his tail is almost always straight and up, I don’t know if that means anything)
Does this mean he is playing? I’ve watched some videos on cats playing vs fighting and looked at different cat body language meanings and that both playing with claws or doing that arched back pose/walk (according to google) is negative but I’m confused because he also shows his belly which I thought means he trusts my dog... also I can’t find anything about that jumping jack-like jump...
Can an experienced cat owner please explain if he is playing rough or fighting back? I want them to get along and I of course don’t want the kitty to be stressed/anxious so I just want to know so I can know if I need to put a stop to it or not.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/gr89cm/kitty_playing_or_acting_in_selfdefense/
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