Difference between playing and fighting?

I'm sure many of you have heard variations of this question repeatedly but I'd appreciate your help. A little over a week ago, I adopted a 2nd kitten named Maya. She is 12 weeks old and full of energy...not spayed yet but she will be in about a month. My older cat, Brady, is just over 6 months old and neutered.

I kept the kittens separated at first, don't leave them alone unsupervised, and things seem to be going fairly well. They are both cuddled together right now and I've seen him grooming her a bit. These 2 kittens are both extremely crazy and energetic and I'm wondering about the fine line between playing and fighting. Earlier today, they were chasing each other around and doing a bit of rolling around on the floor. There was no hissing or growling.

The problem is that later on, I noticed a spot of blood on her leg. It was clearly visible because she has white fur. It is not an open wound and it looks more like a scratch. Is this a sign that things aren't going as well as I had thought? Should I be concerned? I separate them whenever I'm concerned that their play is getting too rough, but she always chases after him again. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Things seemed to be going so well that I hope this isn't a bad sign...

I think everything is fine. Kittens play rough sometimes, especially when you have two kittens playing together. You would know it if there was real fighting going on and they probably wouldn't be loving each other one minute and fighting the next. Plus one will have to claim alpha cat status of the house so you may notice some realy rougher play then. Good think the male is neutered and the female is getting done soon. I think everything is going well.

I agree with Jen. Zoey tends to get some scratches now and then from Saki when they play a little too rough but trust me you would know if they were fighting. Cats fighting is not a pretty sight! You could just make sure you are keeping both of their nails trimmed to avoid scratches.

Thanks for your advice. Today they seem a bit calmer and continue to nap together a lot. I trimmed their claws again to help prevent future scratches. I also noticed this morning that there is a bit of a nail or a staple sticking out of the top of the cat tree, which they play on sometimes. I'm not sure whether the scratch was from Brady or the cat tree, but I'm going to call the pet supply store where I bought it to let them know. When you can pay so much for those things, it's sad that they can be of such bad quality.

Carlie