We’ve all seen it: Kitty playtime turns into a fight. Researchers in Slovakia theorized that it could be one cat telling the other she’s finished playing for now or just increased rough-and-tumble play or an agonistic conflict, basically a disagreement. How do we know?
The researchers devised a study using 105 YouTube videos that showed face-to-face interactions between cats and assessed the cats for the frequency of the interaction and duration of six behavior elements:
- Inactive body posture
- Wrestling
- Chasing
- Other interactive activities
- Non-interactive activities
- Vocalization
The interactions were labeled by four cat behavior experts as “playful,” “intermediate,” or “agonistic.”
The results showed reciprocal wrestling was most closely associated with a group of playfully interacting cats, while vocalization and chasing were associated with the agonistic group.
The intermediate group, while having characteristics of both, was more closely related to the playful group than the agonistic group, with prolonged exchanges of interactive behaviors being a predominant feature.
These results suggest that cats have an intermediate category between mutual social play and agonism. This level might escalate into a fully agonistic encounter and does not necessarily reflect a breakdown in their social relationship. It’s more of a short-term disagreement in social priorities.ν
Gajdoš-Kmecová, N., et al. An ethological analysis of close-contact inter-cat interactions determining if cats are playing, fighting, or something in between. Sci Rep 13, 92 (2023).
