Yes, once Zev gets a bit upset, then the kitten being carried by mum bit doesn't really work. It worked better when she was younger, but doesn't work as well now. I've never done it that often, and generally only when she's decided to go into exploding cat, paws and claws everywhere mode, but it doesn't really do much now. Luckily she's small enough that I can just grab all four paws and stop her struggling, although you can't really do anything else at that point, having run out of hands!
She's currently definitely not as relaxed as either Kai is, or Talisker was.