Is my cat trying to kill my kitten?

The past few days, my 6 year old, temperate cat has taken to taking a hold of our 4 month old kitten's skin around his throat, then dragging him (or trying to). The kitten lies there, limp, with his eyes half closed. They've always fought playfully, but this just seems a little too viscious for my liking. They both are male, so it could be a dominance thing. Or is he just playing?

Any thoughts?

Frogsy; Normally I would say that this is much the way a Momma kitty moves her babies and that it was just instinct. . . . . BUT since they are both male; perhaps it is a "Dominence" thing. If the younger kitten were being injured or in pain due to this; he would protest loudly or fight back, but since you did not mention either of those things; I think they are just "playing" or "getting aquainted" in their own way. . . . I guess time will tell.


TLK

Sometimes a male cat (usually not neutered) will take a kitten in it's mouth that way and shake it till it dies. Harsh, but true, and the reason behind it is so the mom cat will go back in heat and he can breed her. I am unsure if a neutered male would do this, but I thought I should say something. I would bow to the experts on this one.

At 4 months, I would think the kitten is too large to trigger that kind of instinct. Though his reaction does sound strange and so does the game (you say he is holding him by the throat, not by the scruff of the neck, right?). Does he shake the kitten? Does the kitten seem to be in pain? Are there other forms of playing that they share?

By the way, I'm moving this to the behavior forum.

Ours are going through the same thing. Blackie is about 4 years old and Sparky is about 2 months. Sparky however is very vocal and complains about everything, so I can't tell if he is being hurt or not. Sparky will sleep with Blackie and try to nurse from him, and Blackie grooms him, so they usually get along.

I have noticed that Sparky is going through a particularly annoying playful/aggressive stage. All the kittens I've known have gone through this so I just wait it out until they settle down, and so far they all have. But Sparky will initiate wrestling matches wih Blackie, who is much bigger, or pounce on him, or lay on his back with his throat and belly exposed to entice Blackie to play. I used to catch them in the middle of this and move Blackie to another room. Nowadays I shut Sparky in the bedroom when the play becomes rough, because he just goes back for more. Plus he is the instigator so it seemed unfair to Blackie.

I know they will have to work it out but I would rather see them do it when they are not such different sizes . . .

Maybe he is just playing? I noticed when I was getting Scooter from the breeder's house, her older Siamese cat would take Scooter by the scruff and carry him off!! But, I don't think he was doing it to hurt Scooter.....
Threeleggedkat has a good theory.... could be a dominance thing or just getting to know each other! I would just watch them closely to make sure he isn't hurting the kitten. Could it be that he thinks that he is the kitten's mom?? I notice that Gizmo grooms Scooter.... kind of funny to watch! Very cute, though!