Aggressive play between cats

Question
I have a 1yo m neutered cat and a 4yo f spayed cat.  They generally get along well - are not terribly cuddly together but share litter boxes and food without issue.  1yo male will occasionally groom the female which she will appear to like for a period of time and then she will swat at him which will start a fight.  Sometimes he will just attack her in a playful manner as well which will start a fight.  The male, while fighting, will sometimes go for her throat and bite her which has resulted in wounds.  She does not appear to be fearful of him but that he bites hard enough to make her bleed is concerning.  Any advice?

Answer
Jennifer,

What looks like rough play to us is really not to a cat. But he shouldn't make her bleed! When he gets wound up like that try to distract him. Get a pet laser light (at Petco/PetSmart/etc) so they both can play interactively, pull a shoe string around, throw a stuffed mouse, etc. Anything to burn up some of his excess energy and distract him from playing too rough with the female. Don't use food to distract him because he may start fights just to get you to feed him!

If he gets too wound up put him in a room by himself for about 4 hours without contact to calm him down.

Tabbi