Play Fighting Or Dominating?

[KeveT]

So me and my partner got a new kitten to join our cat we've had for 4months, she's a big girl and her name is Khaless.
The reason we got another kitten is because we felt khaless would be lonely as shes alone most of the time so we decided to get a kitten.
We also looked after my grandma's cat and noticed they played together alot and showed 0 aggression to my grandma's cat staying with us for 3 days, they just played and chilled.
The kitten is very loving to us (mostly my fiance) but she shows a lot of love to the both of us and meows to come to our bed etc etc.
So we named her Ari and introduced her to Khaless and they were very playful and khaless would even clean Ari (maybe some type of motherly instinct?).
Anyway when Ari is minding her own business and playing all alone but then Khaless will come storming towards her throw her on the floor bite her and kick her multiple times.
Now I thought hey its just playing around (as my fiance had a lot of cats in his life and he said it was fine) but then he realised that Ari starts growling, screaming really loud and running away along with hiding.
So is this way beyond play fighting and turning into dominance?
Maybe I'm overreacting but I'd rather be safe than sorry, thank you in advance for any replies.

 

[jen]

I think most people overreact in these type of situations so don't feel bad. How are they other times. Do they sleep together or near each other and eat together and are calm with each other most of the time, except for these episodes? To older cats, kittens can be loud, annoying and need to learn. So they will play and dominate and teach them boundaries and there will be some growling and hissing, this is HOW THEY COMMUNICATE. Being vocal is ok.

The time to really worry is if they are always stressed around each other, if one hides all day in fear and won't eat or has bad litterbox habits, and lastly bloodshed.

So supervise and if it gets any worse then you can start with Feliway, calming collars, things like that. I have a feeling its just a combination of the older cat being dominant, teaching the younger and the younger protesting. This could change in the future even when the younger one grows up. But if it never escalates to the extreme mentioned above, it is important not to intervene too much and let them work it out.

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. I've never had 2 cats at the same time, so I can't offer advice based on personal experience.

The following TCS article may be helpful, as it mentions "mock battles" and the body language signs to watch for.
How To Safely Break Up A Cat Fight

 

[ThreeCatsAreBetterThanTwo]

I wouldn't worry about it unless the kitten starts actively avoiding your bigger cat. I have two sister cats and you should hear the sounds that come out of them when they play. I think its just learning how to play with each other. Your big cat wants to play rough and she will have to learn to be more gentle if she wants any play time. But be careful, cats can be bullies. I had a neighbor who's cat used to terrorize my cats. He knew they were afraid of him and every time he saw them he would chase them. He even would chase them inside the house (we have a little kitty door). So they couldn't feel safe anywhere. It was pretty bad. But then one got pregnant and kicked his butt and he hasn't been back since. Girl power!