Cats play sesion are getting a little rough.

Back story: I have two cats. Big cat (BC) and Little cat (LC). Little cat was introduced to the family about two years ago. After he grew out of his kitty stage, he’s pretty much been a bully to BC. He’s not particularly vicious, he just wants to engage in play when BC clearly isn’t interested.

Usually, what happens is, LC will bite BC on the back of the neck, BC will let out a few cries and then go hide under the bed.

Lately though, BC has discovered he has the ability to kick LC’s ass. Not only has he figured this out, he’s also figured out he can do this with relative ease. Unfortunately, LC hasn’t learned yet that BC isn’t going to put up with his bullying anymore. So what happens is, LC will try to prod BC into play when he clearly doesn’t want to. BC eventually gets pissed off. He then proceeds to pin LC down on the floor and bite the crap out of him. He’s drawn blood on two occasions.
I’m wondering if I should do something about this or let the new balance of power work itself out?

maybe you have BDSM cats.

if you don’t want to physically isolate them then let them work it out.

I’d do something, after giving BC the chance to get a little revenge. Loud hand claps after the first couple of bites?

This is a good idea. My parents trained the dog to break up cat fights and to chase the offending cat underneath the bed. It was incredible; the dog knew that he was always not allowed to chase cats except when BC was beating up on LC. At the first sound of a fight, the dog would bolt off to break it up. However, if you don’t already have a dog trying to get involved, this may not help.