Playing too rough with the new kittens

[kirk]

Recently I took in two 8 week old kittens and my 13 week old kitten, Kirk, is playing too rough with them (I think). He pins them down and sort of chews on them the kittens, Tojo and Penny, make noises that clearly show they aren't having fun, put their ears back and hiss. Kirk usually doesn't get off of them. After he stops (or is forced to stop) Tojo and Penny go back for more. When Tojo and Penny play they usually chase each other and wrestle a little bit. Will Kirk learn how to play properly or will Tojo and Penny learn that he's not trying to hurt them? It's getting so frustrating having to keep them separated all the time or constantly go pull Kirk off of them. He's not trying to hurt them though, he's just playing. What do I do? Kirk is about 2-3 times the size of Tojo and Penny, so obviously pinning them down isn't that fun for them. Other than the playing issue they get along great... 

Photo on 2013-08-08 at 8.39 PM #3.jpg

• kirk
• Aug 12, 2013

 

[mservant]

Is there any sign of the kittens being hurt or is it more like the sibling play but more scary for you because Tojo is bigger?

I don't know your cats and can't see how Tojo is playing but I have a (long so not suitable to post) movie of my boy playing with his mum when he was a similar age. He was an only kitten with no siblings to rough and tumble with. He was big for his age and very playful: size-wise his mum would be much bigger but probably more controlled as a comparison to Tojo and your younger kits. His poor mum had to do it all, feeding, cleaning, teaching and playing, then getting him to sleep. She would tolerate his jumping up and biting at her, pawing her face and generally being a pest for a few minutes and then she'd deftly paste him down with her full body weight and play bite at his neck and lock jaws with him. Then, just like you say, he'd start up and go back for more!  There were no sounds as mum didn't teach him to hiss, spit or growl  He still likes to play like crazy and then end with me rolling him on to his back to rub his belly and neck... 

I'm sure some of the many multi cat households that have introduced new cats will he able to advise on similar situations for different ages of kittens being introduced.