Is Maisie playing??

[maherwoman]

Hey guys...got a question for ya.

This morning, I witnessed what I believe was Hobbes (our boy kitty) andMaisie playing through the bars, but I want to make sure what Maisiewas doing was indeed playing.

This is how it happened:

Maisie noticed Hobbes, and as she usually does, came over and shovedher nose through the bars to sniff noses with him. Hisreaction was a bit of shock, but then softly pawing her nose in play,and then she would back up and softly hit the bars with her front pawsin reaction. But then she would stick her nose back throughso he would play again. Is this her playing, or being angryin response to him pawing at her nose?

Oh, also...they did this back and forth about three times. Itold Hobbes he was a good boy for being so gentle, so he came over andwanted attention from me. She's now running all around thecage trying to get his attention again. I think she liked thegame they were doing.

I guess my basic question is: what was she doing? Was sheplaying? She certainly seemed like she was having fun, butI'm not totally confident with bunny language quite yet, so I want tobe sure. Thanks, guys!

 

[manda]

i honestly dont know.

depends of lots of things. did she make any growling noises? was shelow to the ground with her ears back? was she on her back feetstanding? was she lunging her paws and nose through the bars?

 

[bunnydude]

Her body language makes a big difference. How was she holding her ears, and how was she standing?

 

[maherwoman]

Ok, to answer your questions:

No, she wasn't making any sort of noises at all.

As far as her stance, she was basically just sitting normally, earsrather relaxed, not standing at all, just got up a little to push herpaws through the bars. It reminded me of when cats pounce onthings...how it's not angry, but playful.

I don't know if what she did would exactly qualify as lunging...shelooked like she was trying to imitate his play. Another thingthat I think makes a difference, she kept repeating the sequence, whichwas: she pushed her nose through, sniffed toward him, he pawed alittle, then she would push her paws through (a bit lunge-ish, I guess,with just a bit of force), and afterward put her nose through again,sniffing toward him.

From what I gathered about her body language, and what I've learnedabout bun language so far, it looked like she was playing...I just wantto be sure she wasn't angry, or anything. The two of themhave played just a tad before, so it might be her trying to imitate howthey play with their paws. Do buns do that?

I hope that clarifies things a little...

manda wrote:

i honestly dont know.

depends of lots of things. did she make any growling noises? was shelow to the ground with her ears back? was she on her back feetstanding? was she lunging her paws and nose through the bars?

 

[Mr. Stee]

Its hard to say what this really was withoutseeing it first hand, so I will disclaimer what I am about to writewith "I don't know really."

With that aside, the actions you were describing sound like a lazierversion of what our mocha does. She does this, but looks likeshe is on caffeine when she does (alot of things are like that, hencethe name mocha mocha/coffee/caffeine youget the picture). What Mocha is doing though is telling theothers that this is my territory and that they should stay out.

I would still be careful with those two and continue to watch them. Maybe a future sign will help clear this up.