Hi
This is my first post so please bear with me. I have two Bengal kittens, Maddie is six months and Leo my new addition is ten weeks. All in all Maddie has accepted him being here and as I speak Leo is sleeping on my knee and she is beside me sleeping. My question is how rough is too rough when they are fighting/playing? She seems to be attacking him a lot and biting at his neck, he is not wet by her bites if you know what I mean and either toddles off and plays with something or takes a run at her from his hiding place.

I really don't want him to end up getting severely hurt by her, I know it's natural for this kind of play but he is just sooo tiny in comparison to her (for now) and he squeals when she is attacking him.

Any advice or reassurance I'd be so great full.

We're experiencing this right now with our two kittens. When I start hearing cries, I tend to go in and separate them, but they just run back to each other. My logic is that they'll figure it out themselves, and one will find a way to get away from the other, if necessary.

Though your situation is a bit different with the age differences, and likely size differences. I, personally, would separate them any time it appears to be too rough.

I honestly think 10 weeks is a little young to be "let loose" and playing with a 6 month old cat, unless it is really heavily supervised. That's a very young kitten, many breeders feel that is even too young to go to their forever home.

That said, when he is a little older, yea, it is often difficult to sort that out. I struggled with that too. Since part of the game is going through all the behaviors like puffing up tails, growling, whining, yeowling, biting necks etc. I think really all I can say is to watch the younger cat closely and use your best judgement. One small tipoff is to watch what their hind legs are doing. Those are actually their most damaging weapons, so if they are being very gentle with those, you know it hasn't gotten anywhere near "serious". But of course a much bigger cat is capable of hurting, or bullying or scaring a smaller cat even if he isn't trying to hurt him, so it can still be tough.

I think in general I tended to break up rough play sooner than I needed to. I'd break it up, and then the younger cat would want to go right back to playing, telling me that I needn't have done what I did. But oh well, erring on the side of caution is probably a good thing. So you have to kind of learn and adjust through careful observation.

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The little monsters 3

If she stops when he squeals I would let them keep playing. If she keeps going and his squeals get louder I would distract her with a toy to give him a chance to move away if he wants to.

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Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

This is common cat behavior! Yes, they will sort it out, but you've got to supervise their time together for a while until it is. You've got a very young kitten versus an older cat. They will play rough -- but usually one will cry out when they have been hurt and have had enough. Separate them if you think they are going at it too rough. Your Leo will grow bigger and eventually be larger than your female. They will settle in together. The best thing to do is when they get going it rough, grab a wand toy and divert their attention to the toy. Hang in there ... it will get better.