Playing between two cats with age, weight imbalance

Question

As a follow-up to my previous question, our family was able to secure a feline friend for my 1 year old (male) part-Siamese cat. She is almost a 5 month old (female) kitten, and they seem to get along very well.

The only problem we face is that our 1 year old cat is much bigger and heavier than our small kitten, and while there is no blood shed or cuts/scratches after playing sessions between the two, we worry that our 1 year old is being too rough with her. Sometimes we think it's because he simply doesn't know better, and sometimes we think he is genuinely annoyed with her and lashes out in a semi-aggressive way.

Most playing sessions involve either both of them rolling around nipping at each others' bellies or our 1 year old poking our kitten's belly with his head.

All indicators seem to show that the two are playing: the ears aren't back, there's no howling or cries of pain, there's usually no hissing (sometimes the kitten hisses but it's been happening less and less as the two have gotten acquainted), and the two will generally come back for more after briefly rolling around on the floor.

We know that we should be letting them bond through playing, but it's difficult to see our kitten pinned down by our larger cat, seemingly struggling to free herself, without intervening to break it up. What advice do you have for our situation?

Answer 1

Honestly, the only thing I can say is "don't worry".

Playing between young animals often consists of play fighting. Often it's hard for us humans to tell whether it's still play or maybe too rough or turning into aggression, but as long as both seem to like each other and there are no actual attacks involved, it should be fine.

When our dog was younger (around 10 kg at that time), our cat was still a kitten (maybe 1 kg?). The dog often played with her like another dog: play chasing and sometimes pawing at her. At first the dog must have been too rough for her and we sometimes heard her cry, but she never had any injuries or shied away from the dog. They became very good friends.

Knowing that and reading your description, I see nothing at all to worry about. Your cats seem to like each other and have healthy, natural interactions with each other. These interactions don't have to be all lovely and cuddly, having a bad mood is part of life and knowing how to deal with someone else's bad mood is important as well. I wouldn't intervene as long as I was sure they weren't actively hissing and fighting.