Kitten Finding His Place In Our Little Pride?

[UrbanInsanity]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and hope I am posting this in the right area. Anyway, we have three cats Toulouse, Figaro, and Ezio. Ezio is our newest and he is about four months old whereas our other two cats are about four years. When we brought Ezio home there was the usual hissing and growling that we expected, but Ezio responded well and kept his distance until my other two got used to him. Honestly it went a lot better than I expected and really it was only about three weeks before they were all sleeping together. Lately though we have noticed Ezio has really come out of his shell and has been far more energetic and playful, which can be a bit much for my other two cats sometimes. When he gets too rough Toulouse will smack him in the head (without claws) and then ignore him, the problem is my other cat Figaro is far more introverted and won't fight back at all.

Figaro and Toulouse have been together since birth and Toulouse has always been the dominant kitty. I think the kitten knows this and has made himself dominant over Figaro. He has never hurt him, but when he plays he always goes for Figaro's throat. I don't think it hurts him, but it scares him and he will only run away and never fight back and of course Ezio will chase him all throughout the house until he is distracted by something else. So, to the question. I have been letting them play fight in hopes that Figaro will fight back a little and feel more comfortable again, but I am wondering if I am doing the right thing. Should I seperate the kitten from Figaro, or stop the play fighting as soon as it starts? Or should I let them work it out?
Sorry this was such a long post, any info you guys can give me would be great! I have never had a kitten before so this is all really new. Thank you in advance!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

To some extent, so long as no one is bleeding, they are going to have to work this out for themselves. You can help Figaro by making sure there are places for him to retreat to, cat trees and such. I'm going to give you the links to a couple of articles on dealing with shy and timid cats. I hope that they help!

10 Must-know Tips For Happy Living With A Shy Cat
16 Top Cat Experts Share Tips For Dealing With Timid Cats

You know, quite a bit of this is going to take care of itself as Ezio gets older and settles down a bit. It will take time, but it will happen!

 

[ArtNJ]

By the way, it has nothing to do with dominance. Going for the throat is a normal play thing, and 4 month old kittens love to play and try to jump on older cats, and they routinely ignore whether or not the older cat wants to play. There are literally at least 3 new posts on this site every day regarding this exact issue. Its always the older cat that is stressed in these situations, because if the older cat wanted to play, everyone would be happy, and if the older cat was assertive, as one of yours is, everything would also be fine. Here, your older cat is not very likely to start fighting back...he is viewing the kitten as a source of stress, not a playmate -- the normal situation for this type of problem. You cannot fix any of this, but you can help manage your older cat's stress by helping him have alone time now and then, maybe at night, petting him separately behind a door at times. As Mamany states, it should improve with time.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

And in addition, here are some articles on dealing with stress!

Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats
Potential Stressors In Cats - The Ultimate Checklist
Is Your Cat Stressed Out?

LOL, why, yes, we do have a lot of very helpful articles! I learn new stuff daily.

 

[UrbanInsanity]

Thank you for your responses everyone! I will check out the other posts as well!