same litter fighting

Question
2 weeks ago I adopted a 5 month old kitten named chalupa. she was very attached to her sister chi and the people at the shelter were concerned about separating the 2 of them. I ended up checking with my landlord and boyfriend and we decided to adopt chi, so that chalupa would not get lonely. its only been 2 weeks since i adopted chalupa and got chi, but when i first brought chi into the house chalupa hissed. i ended up seperating them and have tried supervised visits since the hissing stopped. typically chalupa will end up stalking chi and swipe at her... then chi gets aggressive and goes after chalupa. is this normal? are they playing? should i keep them seperated longer?

Answer
Laura,

I have a Chalupa too! Animals do not recognize family. Chalupa doesn't know Chi is her sister. Animals go by smell and do not recognize other animals by sight (except for color), Humans they recognize by voice and not by sight. When you brought Chi home she had a different smell to her so Chalupa didn't recognize her at first. A tried and true method (that I've heard about, but not tried) is to put a tiny drop of vanilla on each of their noses or foreheads so that they both smell the same.

The swipes and chasing are perfectly normal kitty games. What looks rough to us is not to cats. 2 of my cats who are sisters still do the swipe and chase (and reverse) play every morning and they are almost a year old. As long as there isn't any SERIOUS fur flying or blood being shed then they are playing.

Another way for them to play together and interact is to get a pet laser light (at PetSmart or similar store). It tires them out (after a few hours (smile)), satisfies their hunting instinct and lets them play safely
together. And it is funny to watch them try to get the little 'red bug' on the walls and floor. Just don't ever shine the light into their eyes.

It's great that you got both kittens. It helps the adjustment process greatly and avoids the seperation anxiety that a lot of kittens get when they are taken away from the comfort and companionship that littermates provide.  And it keeps them from being lonely and destructive when they are left by themselves.