In my opinion, this topic is controversial because some people say cats kill their kittens while others may not accept this notion. So I can formulate a long debate on this topic. Based on my prior experience, I’m going to write article on why do cats kill their kittens. If you are also confused about why cats kill their young ones, then this article will surely benefit you.
In the animal world, it is a common practice for males to kill their young ones and the same applies to male feral cats. Male tom kill kittens for many reasons. He may feel insecure about his dominance, his status and territory.
Generally female cats are very loving, caring and calm by nature. In very rare cases, female cats kill their kittens and there is always a strong reason behind it, for instance her insecurities, immaturity or even hormonal imbalance.
So let’s understand the reasons in details why cats kill their kittens can help us how to prevent this tragedy. I can explain these reasons in depth for your batter understanding so you can save you young kitten by knowing these scenarios.
Key Takeaways of Why Do Cats Kill Their Kittens:
- Female cats are very loving, caring and calm by nature. In very rare cases, female cats kill their kittens.
- There is always a strong reason behind it like, insecurities, immaturity or even hormonal imbalance.
- A mother may reject her own kitten when she feels one of her kitten is not well and has lesser chances of survival. Then she separates this kitten from others.
- If a cat rejects one of her kittens, make sure you care for it by feeding it through a syringe.
- The male cats do kill kittens especially when the kittens are not their own.
- The most common reason is to kill the competitor’s kitten, is to get the opportunity to mate with the female cat.
- And If the male cat feels his territory is in danger, he may kill the kittens.
- If you want to stop male cats from killing kittens the best solution is to neutered your male cat.
Why do mom cats kill their kittens:
We already know that female cats have very caring nature, especially for their kittens. This is very rare when she became harm for their babies. But some cases still found when mother cat kill their babies, so let’s discuss these scenarios why female cats can do this.
Maternal Age:
Having a baby is a great responsibility for humans. So we can understand how challenging it can be for mothers. Just as giving birth is difficult for humans, cats also go through a tough time. If the feline has not fully matured, it is more complicated for her. That is the main reason why cats may feel stressed and feel panic.
Poor maternal instincts:
Female cats not do that deliberately but if she still kill her kitten there should be a reason behind this. She was in pain or may be have physical or mental health issues, and she is not able to take care of her babies so that she can kill her kittens.
Lack of Nourishment:
If the cat’s health is compromised, she does not produce enough milk for her kittens. That may cause stress and result in the cat killing her kittens. Nourishment is directly linked to mental and physical health. If any of these is compromised, there are more chances the cat might kill her babies.
Sadly, this behavior is common in feral cats because she has to struggle to survive due to lack of food and water. She is unable to take care of her kittens this maybe a reason to kill their kittens.
Birth Defects/Disease:
If a mother senses that one of her kittens is ill or has a birth disease like (abnormality, deformities), that makes it almost impossible to survive, then she will kill her kittens in order to give proper attention to the remaining litter.
Stress/Anxiety:
We have already discussed that giving birth is a very painful process for felines. When a cat becomes a mother at an early stage of her life, she is unable to understand how to take care of her kittens. When she is not able to fulfill these responsibilities then this lead to fear and anxiety. The other case is when she is not feeling safe and not able to move from one place to another. This could be very stressful for her and if she is not able to handle this situation, she may kill her own kittens.
In most of cases the mother becomes a killer because of anxiety or stress. Though a mother is a very caring and loving personality but some sad cases accused when the mother cat killed her kittens.
Rejected Kittens:
A mother may reject her own kitten when she feels one of her kitten is not well and has lesser chances of survival. Then she separates this kitten from others, and some of the time she kills that kitten when she feels this kitten will not remain alive.
What to do if a mother cat rejects kittens:
As already mentioned, mom is rejecting her kitten when she feels it is ill, abnormal, or in pain. If you find any of these possible illnesses, start taking care of that kitten. If you feel she is still responding at the time of your interaction that is a good sign because this means she is still concerned about the kitten and she wants to take care of him/her. But sometimes, she is not willing to nurse the kitten. Then you may move this kitten from that place to a separate area and call the vet for treatment. At that point, make sure you take a charge to take care of a kitten and start feeding the kitten through a syringe.
But remember this is a very rare case when a cat shows aggression towards the kitten. Cat rejecting kittens is a very painful moment in every term. But this is the rarest case I have ever seen. Female cats are generally known as loving and caring. You just need to know all the possibilities so you can handle every kind of situation.
Why do mother cats attack their older kittens?
Let me talk here on behalf of my own experience. If a cat had babies a few years back, they would become young. When a cat becomes a mother she is possessive for new kittens and if she feels an older kitten’s danger for new ones she may attack them. There are some reasons why she feels insecure or attacks the older kittens.
Jealousy:
When a mother cat attacks her older kittens this must be because she feels they are jealous by the new ones. She feels older kittens could attack the new ones that’s why she take that step to take care of new ones.
Will male cats kill kittens?
The bitter truth is that male cats do kill kittens. Killing in domestic male cats is more common especially when the kittens are not their own.
Female cats get impregnated multiple times by many male cats within a single pregnancy that means all of the kittens don’t have a same father. If a male cat discovers that a kitten is not similar to him, he may harm the kitten.
This behavior is not common in neutered cats, because their hormones are not changing their behavior. If the dominant cats are well socialized, then they don’t feel any threat from other male cats and can live in his presence.
Not only domestic cats, but feral cats also kill kittens, so we can say male cats live in high risk-environment with minimal resources.
Why do male cats kill their own kittens?
There are many reasons why male cats kill their own kittens. The most common reason is to kill the competitor’s kitten, and ultimately to get the opportunity to mate with the female cat. Studies show that the female cats go back to heat at an average of 8 weeks after giving birth. But this timeframe varies from one cat to another cat. Some cats may mate as short as 1 week after birth or some may as long as 21 weeks.
Female cats are generally not ready to mate after they have kittens but if the male cats kill their kittens, then she may get ready to mate with him. If the male cats do not kill their kitten then he needs to wait for a while for the female cats to wean the kittens and get ready to mate again.
If the male cat feels his territory is in danger, he may kill the kittens when you bring the kitten’s home. I would say not all male cats are killers, some male cats may not kill kittens even if they are unrelated to them.
If you are a cat owner then you have to protect your female cat or her kittens from other male cats until kittens have fully weaned and leave their mother.
How to stop male cats from killing kittens:
As you know, domestic cats are not a harm to kittens. But you have to take safety precautions before taking kittens to the environment where the male cats are already present.
Neuter your cat:
Generally, male cats will not be violent towards kittens. But sometimes they start reacting and may kill them.
If you have a plan to bring kittens into your home and you already have a male cat, the best solution is to neuter your male cat. As already mentioned, neutered cats have changed behavior, so you can introduce your kittens to your male cats.
Separate your male cats from kittens:
If you have the budget, make sure you neuter your cat. If you are not able to do so, then you need to separate them.
The first thing you need to do if you have a newborn kitten in your home with a male cat is to separate them for the initial weeks.
You may keep the kittens where cat does not go so kittens are protected. If you are not able to separate them, you should make them interact them under your supervision. Or you should not leave them alone without any family member’s supervision.
Generally male cats take time to use to the presence of new kittens in your home. The first new days or weeks are crucial for male cats to accept the presence of kittens.
Introduce your kitten slowly:
First you introduce your male cats to kittens in your presence. If you feel the male cat is showing aggression or has changed behavior toward them, then you need to separate them. But if male cat’s behavior remains the same, there is no problem in the interaction between them.
When the kittens are almost 8 week old then you can start introducing them to male cats but slowly, but be careful and observe their interaction.
Once your male cat becomes familiar with the kitten’s scent, then you can start introducing each other more frequently but only in someone’s presence.
Kittens generally take 5 to 7 months to fully take care of itself. Beware of your cat’s behavior and make a surprise visits off and on.
Final Thoughts:
Let’s review the article once more. First of all, female cats have good behavior and they are not a threat to kittens. So a question arises in our mind that if female cats have good behavior, then why she kills her kitten? There could be a multiple reasons like anxiety, stress, mental or physical illness, or lack of resources.
Male cats kill their kittens because of various reasons like threaten of their territory, and because of his harsh behavior.
We explained why cats kill their own kitten so you can understand in a better way and know what to do if you face any of these situations.
References:
- https://petkeen.com/is-it-true-that-male-cats-kill-kittens/
- https://www.catster.com/guides/is-it-true-that-male-cats-kill-kittens/#:~:text=The%20most%20common%20reason%20a,of%20abnormalities%20in%20her%20kitten.
