Karen Brunerbaffight, noun: a hybrid bath/fight, which occurs when two cats both want to groom the other so badly, they come to blows over who goes first.
Volume up to hear Fred's (the grey and white) vocalizations.
FishercatThe baffights *are* cute.
Just making sure you know grooming is a dominance behavior for cats.. in case that makes a difference in how you react to it when caring for them. Groomer is dominant over groomee.
@Fishercat yes, I did know that. Fred is definitely the alpha cat here, mostly by virtue of his size and stubbornness. But he's generally a benevolent dictator.
Friends of mine have pet rabbits. The grooming dominance is opposite with them: getting groomed is dominant behavior. Apparently this is why cats and bunnies can be good friends. Cat licking bun's head thinks they're in charge. Bun getting licked by cat thinks they're in charge.
@fuzzykb Cool! I didn't know that about buns. Rats' grooming hierarchy is the same as buns, and they, too, get on surprisingly well with cats.
I'm glad Fred's benevolent; real cat fights are distressing.
@Fishercat oh yeah, I'm lucky that mine all get along, even if none of them are fully bonded.