aggression in cat toward other cats

Question
Dear Mr. Auspitz,
You have helped me with cat problems quite a few times in the past, and your advice has always been helpful.  Here is my latest problem:
I have three cats: Kimchi (female) 14 years old, 10 pounds; Sasha (male) almost 5 years old, 16 pounds, and Daniel (male) also almost 5 years old, 23.5 pounds.  I have asked you in the past what to do about Daniel's eating problems.  You suggested feeding him alone.  Sasha lost three pounds and underwent $750 worth of test until I realized that he wasn't eating because Daniel was chasing him away from his food.  First he ate his, and then the food of the other two.  They do nothing to stop him.  Sasha just walks away, and Kimchi actually licks him on the head!  Lately, Daniel has become aggressive to both other cats once or twice a day. (At least this is what I see when I am home.  I imagine they sleep when I'm not home.)  He looks exactly like a lion chasing a gazelle across the savannah and tackling her and knocking her down.  Since he weighs so much, it must hurt, and I don't know if he's biting or not.  All I know is that they scream.  Kimchi hides from him if she can get away.  Sasha and Daniel always chased each other when they were kittens, and I don't know when this turned from a game into a real fight.  I realize that Daniel is proving that he is top cat (over and over again, I guess) but nobody seems to be challenging him on this point.  I just can't stand around letting him terrorize the other two.  I yell and shake a can of marbles because he is afraid of the sound.  Today when I did that he stopped picking on Kimchi but immediately did the same to Sasha.  I am trying to tell myself that this is normal behavior.  Also, I know you have said that humans should never interefere, but on the other hand, I don't want the other two to get hurt.  I get really angry at Daniel and I don't want to feel that way about him.  He is always very sweet to me, but I hate the way he is treating the others. Short of medication, which you have said you don't believe in because it alters their personalities (and most of the time his personality is fine - he's playful, fetches, and all kinds of cute things) is there anything I can do to stop him?  Am I making it worse by interfering?  I've had twelve cats, and I have never had a problem like this before.  I hope you can help.
Sincerely,
Joan Gross

Answer
Joan,

As you may recall, I have two rules in dealing with cat interactions.  (1)  No human interference and (2)  Humans do not understand how cats interrelate to each other.

My experience has been that when cats chase each other, they are playing even if it ends up in a mock fight at the end.  No matter how much noixe there may be or what it may look like, there is no real fight, it is play!!!!!

Also, when Daniel tackles Kimchi, she is not getting hurt.  Cats are not built like people.  There skeletal systems are extremely flexible and like springs, so they can absorb lots of force.  If Kimchi or Sasha did not want to be part of the chase games, they would not let Daniel anywhere near them.

All in all, the best thing to do is to ignore any of it.  If they are playing chase, no matter how it seems to end, they are getting along!!!!!  If there were real problems in the relationships, there would probably be some litter pan issues!!!!!

As to the feeding, clearly Daniel must be fed by himself until Sasha and Kimchi are finished.  Cats have different pecking orders, territory, feeding, litter pans, and etc.  It seems as if Daniel is asserting himself at feeding and in territory.

Good luck and best regards... Norm.