Is this aggression or play?

I just got 2 kittens that are about 14 weeks old. They came into my home on August 1^st. I have a resident cat, Mikey, who is 2 years old.

To my surprise, Mikey and the kittens are getting along great. The kittens hissed for about 5 days or so, and I kept them separated. But now they all run and play together, and Mikey, who is normally a very sweet cat, seems to like them quite a bit.

Mikey is almost 13 pounds. The kittens are both around 4 pounds, maybe a little less. When Mikey plays with them, he runs and pounces on the kittens and puts his mouth around their neck, and straddles them. He does it gently, and the kittens are usually purring the whole time. There is no hissing. A few minutes ago Mikey had his mouth around the kitten’s neck, exactly where the mother cat bites the kittens to carry them. The kitten yelped, and I immediately yelled at Mikey to stop, which he did.

It seems like they are playing. But I want to be sure it really is playing and not actual aggression.

Mikey has a very good temperament. In fact, I have never even heard him hiss the whole time I have had him. He is super gentle, but I am not sure if the neck biting is normal play or not.

Is anyone familiar with this behavior and what it means?

Is Mikey neutered?

Yep. Mikey, as well as the 2 kittens are fixed.

 I believe Mikey could be mimicking mating behaviour, even though he's been neutered.  Male cats will do this with other cats just as an extension of play, or it could be a dominance thing.  And whether the other cat is male of female doesn't seen to bother them in the least.

It probably best to keep an eye on them.  It's pretty common practice with male cats and it's fine, especially when they are doing it with cats of a similar size.

Mikey sounds like a darling, but he's a lot bigger and may not know his own strength.!!

I had two foster kittens who were siblings and would make the most awful noises when they played, and they did the neck biting too, but it was all play. Like Mani said, maybe Mikey just doesn't know his own strength? I think it's probably just play, and unless you start seeing any of the cats draw blood or if there's hissing, growling, hair raising, or one of the cats that seems consistently bullied, since they're all young cats my guess would be that they're just playing.

How's it going @MikeyKitteh ?  Any more antics from the boy?

@JennaNiccole they aren't all kittens.  Mikey is 2 years old and three times their size..

It is going really good! Thank you! I agree. I think he is playing but I do also think he is at times, trying to get the kittens to calm down. They have a lot more energy than him and I think sometimes he is tired and they still jump on him. They are so cute together!