Why do two cats
go from licking
to fighting?

The full narration of the video.

Two cats finish licking each other, and a second later they're fighting. You watch from the sofa, unsure whether to step in. Two cats tangled up, biting and kicking. Plenty of owners tense up: these two can't stand each other.

Most of the time, though, they're just playing. Kittens grow up play-fighting with their littermates. Grown cats sharing a home just keep at it. So is it play, or a real fight? Someone actually set out to check.

Researchers went through more than a hundred videos of cats tussling, noting what each cat did, and whether it made a sound. The pattern was clear. Quiet wrestling, bodies locked together, was mostly play. One cat chasing, the other fleeing, with hissing and growling: that looked much more like a real fight.

Think of two wrestling sparring partners. No shouting. You pin me, I pin you, and every so often you both stop for a breath. Playing cats do the same. The one on top keeps switching, and they pause now and then, as if asking: still having fun? A real fight looks different. One only chases, one only runs, no switching, no pauses.

Sparring partners have a coach to call time. Cats don't. They use that pause to check: if the other is still keen, they carry on; if not, they split up. Experts call the first kind play fighting. Only the second is real fighting. Next time, listen for hissing, then watch whether the cat on top changes. So what about all that licking?

When a cat grooms another, it mostly licks the head and the back of the neck, exactly the spots it can't reach itself. It's called allogrooming, and it mostly happens between cats that get along. Friendly cats also rub faces and sleep side by side. If you see all of these, the two are on the same team. But grooming isn't always gentle. In one count, about one grooming session in three ended with a swipe of the paw.

The groomer is often the bossier cat. Licking may be a way to let off some tension slowly. If the tension isn't gone, out comes the paw. So a fight right after grooming doesn't mean they've fallen out. For these two, licking and wrestling say the same thing: we're close. But if one cat always chases and the other always hides, too scared to eat or use the litter box, then they really aren't getting along.

Then put out extra food bowls, litter boxes and high perches, spread apart, so no cat has to squeeze past the other to get what it needs. If the fights keep going or a cat gets hurt, take them to a vet. Rivals and best friends at once: that's these two cats. In your home, which cat does most of the grooming?