Puncturing each other in play?

I've only posted here once or twice, thank goodness, as for me to post means there is a problem! I rescued three cats, a mom and two male kittens around a year and a half ago. The kittens were both neutered at 6 months, Mom was spayed at an estimated year, year and a half old.

Within the past few weeks all three cats have become rather violent towards each other. It appears to start in play but it always ends with one meowing in pain. Little puncture holes and scabs that don't appear to be too big of a deal are the result. I don't know anything about cat behaviour, but it would appear that they're all just sick of each other! Often one of the kittens will just walk by Mom and she'll whack the crap out of them for no apparent reason! This is no new thing, but before the kittens would cringe or cower, now they've decided to fight back. You can hear their claws slicing through the air sometimes! I'm afraid one of them is going to lose an eye!

What should I do if anything? Is this normal? I verbally correct Mom sometimes, not yelling, but speak to her firmly and I swear if she could talk it would be a sentence full of four letter words!! lol. Are they sick of each other? Is this some type of battle for control?

It sounds like she is trying to reinforce her space, "leave me alone". The boys are challenging it instead of respecting her warnings. I would try to keep the boys from engaging rough play. She is only asking for some respect so it's not her that should be disciplined.
Puncture wounds can be bad, so you want to avoid rough house play. Years ago my kitty Cleo had a puncture wound in her back that we had no idea was there. It turned into an abscess that burst and almost killed her! It was a $1,500 dollar surgery to save her...........

How exactly do we avoid rough houseplay? It's not so easy here! The boys love to play rough together and while my dog usually calms them down if one is clearly getting upset they do it all hours of the night when the police dog has gone to sleep! LOL. I've gotten used to the sound of their thundering paws down the hallway and through the house.

Verbal doesn't really help with them when their in rough play mode. Usually one of them will take off if I tell them to stop and the other will chase them into another room and they'll resume there!

So what exactly do I do to deter them?

Is the momma cat the one that breaks the skin? She might enjoy her own space at night away from the rambunctious boys. Do you have an extra room that she could have at night for awhile? That way maybe the dog can help with "guard duty" in the daytime.

When my males were going through those rowdy stages I just let them play it out. That is provided no one was getting hurt. They teach each other when to stop or where the line is drawn crossing from play into painful.

They should calm down more when they get through the "teenage" stage.

I would say the worst ones are from Mom, but the boys do give each other little nicks here and there. Sometime's I don't find them until the scabs come off with the hair! I've tried to lock them just out of the bedroom a few times and they really can't stand it, they scratch the door and meow all through the night and I open the door to a pile of cat toys in the morning (Mom brings us a nightly gift and leaves it at our bed side, apparently she thought she was in trouble and brought every toy!). I don't have the heart to close any doors to them, they seem to enjoy roaming the house at night. Now I dont' think any of these squabbles happen at night time with Mom. It's always during the day when we're around. The boys chase each other throughout the house but Mom's always busy "catching" her mouse toys. Maybe it has something to do with us? The people? Embarassingly enough it usually happens in the bathroom. For some reason they all feel the need to accompany to the bathroom and it's when one of the boys nears her that she swats at them and basically punches them in the head. Could it be me? She wants them away from me?

When exactly is the teenage stage over? LOL! They'll be around two this summer we figure?!?!

Kittens in a wild/natural environment are normally looked after and tolerated by mum to some extent up until 6 months of age during which time she will wean them early on and then teach them hunting skills so they can be self sufficient, then between 6-18 months they develop towards social maturity and nature dictates that they go out and secure their own territory away from their mother.

It can be a tricky situation to deal with, as you are keeping mum and kittens in a state that goes against their natural instinct. Some cat mums and kittens are OK with this sort of situation for the rest of their natural lives, and others aren't OK with having their offspring hang around indefinitely. Have you tried using Feliway plugins - a 'happy cat' pheremone that mimics the natural scent that their glands give off when they are relaxed and happy? It's worth a go if you haven't tried it.

Yep, Im a big believer in Feliway and catnip.

Maybe seperate them in different rooms once in awhile. You can rotate visiting them. absence makes the heart grow fonder

Are you trimming nails? start now while their kinda young, cause it wont get any easier it makes a big difference