Letting TomCat near kittens
honey bunny
I set her up in the laundry room to have her kittens, and she
seems eternally greatful. :-)
I left the window open so that she could come and go as she pleases.
Stealth, the "full" feral cat came into the laundry room while I was
at work, to steal her food, or whatever, and she must have attacked him
because he won't go near the laundry room now, and she was in a corner
scared. The laundry room was a mess! She was so scared or up-tight that
she used the box that she and the kittens were in for a litter box.
I had to stay with her for a while before she would lie down and
let the kittens out from under her belly.
I closed the window so he can't get back in and put in a litter box.
Fortunately, although she's never seen one, she knew exactly what it
is for :-)
Question:
How long will it take before the kittens are big enough that the TomCat
won't think they're "food", and he'll treat them like cats?
--
Tony J. Podrasky [YOGI-ism]s: - It's not an illusion: it just looks like one.
San Diego , Ca - No one goes there anymore: it's too crowded.
to...@convex.com - Hey Yogi: You're looking pretty cool today.
QSL? QRU? QRZ? QLZ? Thanks: you don't look so hot yourself.
Julie Kangas
[...]
>Question:
>
>How long will it take before the kittens are big enough that the TomCat
>won't think they're "food", and he'll treat them like cats?
Probably when they become semi-adults, approx 6 months.
Of course, many say that toms don't *mean* to kill kittens. They just
get 'confused' by a female's "false heat" and try to mount the kittens
and when they bite the neck the kitten dies.
But then, I've seen pictures of lions killing cubs that aren't theirs.
There's no confusion in the minds of these guys. They're just killing
cubs they didn't father. Perhaps a similiar thing goes on with domestic
cats. It's not a question of "food" or them not knowing the kittens
are cats. It's more a matter of the kittens not being their own. It's
actually very shocking the amount of infantcide that takes place in
nature (esp fish -- some will eat eggs as fast as they lay them.)
Julie
DISCLAIMER: All opinions here belong to my cat and no one else
Jennifer Longstaff
: In article <big-number> to...@convex.com (honey bunny) writes:
: >How long will it take before the kittens are big enough that the TomCat
: >won't think they're "food", and he'll treat them like cats?
: ..... I've seen pictures of lions killing cubs that aren't theirs.
: cubs they didn't father. Perhaps a similiar thing goes on with domestic
: cats.
Yes, the same thing happens with domestic cats. (I saw a special "NOVA"
about cats last year at some point, maybe someone else can clarify which
one it was.) The full male cat (either wild, or domestic even) wants
his own genes to be propagated as much as possible, and if a female cat
is still nursing kittens, then she won't be available for mating as soon
as if she had no kittens. So the male will kill the kittens so to
mate with the female as soon as possible. Of course if those are his
own kittens, then his genes are already on their way, and he won't kill
his own kittens. (I sorta wondered how some cruising tomcat would know
those were really his kittens. Is there some instinct? Would he
recognize the mother? Do the kittens smell familiar to him?)
There is a lot about this "gene propagating" phenomenon in "The Selfish
Gene" by Richard Dawkins which is an easy-to-understand, and even
entertaining book on evolution for the layman - he uses genetics as a
tool to discuss evolution of many species.
_____
-Jennifer Longsta...@md.fsl.noaa.gov---NOAA, Boulder Colorado- \ /
(computer programmer, oboe player, cat lover, gardener, SEFEB member) \ /
--------------------------------------------Straight but not Narrow----V
Ann Adamcik
>
>How long will it take before the kittens are big enough that the TomCat
>won't think they're "food", and he'll treat them like cats?
>
Tomcats don't think kittens are "food". A tomcat will often kill kittens
that aren't his, which causes the female to come into heat again. The
tomcat can then mate with her and propagate his own genes.
-Ann
Malcolm L. Carlock
Not necessarily an answer to avi's question, but... when I was in high
school our grey/black tiger tom and burmese mix ladycat had two litters
before they were neutered. From the standpoint of several things that
"one hears about cats", the births and upbringings of the kittens seemed
a bit unusual:
Recalling from childhood folklore that mom cats like to keep their litters
in a hidden place, I fixed up a nice towel-filled basket behind my dresser
(there was some extra room back there due to it being under a wide drafting
table.) When the burmese went very loudly into labor one night, I brought
her downstairs and put her into the basket. She stayed there until the
birth of the first kitten, whereupon she left the basket and trotted upstairs
to the living room with the kitten to show it to all of us. She then went
loudly into labor again, and had the rest of the kittens in the living room
(I'd brought the basket upstairs by then.)
During her labor, the tom didn't seem to know what to do. When she yowled
he'd try putting his "arm" around her, and even tried biting her neck once.
We kept him on our laps after that, until her labor was through.
Hearing stories about toms killing kittens, we planned from the beginning
to keep a close eye on the tom, and to keep him locked out of the mom cat's
room at night. However, from the start he treated the kittens gently,
cleaning them constantly even just after birth, and "hugging" them and
playing with them as they got older, and keeping them from falling down
the stairs (!) Later, he and mom slept together in the basket along with
the kittens until they were quite large.
Most of the above also applies to the second litter, though he did bite
the kittens of the second litter once or twice while playing with them.
Not seriously, I don't think, but he was playing with them as he would
a cat toy or mouse, knocking it off after we heard the YEEK! from the
kitten and reprimanded him.
I'd still keep a close eye on any tom around kittens. But our tom at
least proved to be a gentle father.
--
Malcolm L. Carlock Internet: ma...@unr.edu
UUCP: unr!malc
BITNET: malc@equinox
Karen Bruner
>Tomcats don't think kittens are "food". A tomcat will often kill kittens
>that aren't his, which causes the female to come into heat again. The
>tomcat can then mate with her and propagate his own genes.
One time we got a six-month old stray male while one of our cats had
young kittens. He would "play" with the kittens, never doing any
damage, though. He especially liked the one that squealed the most.
Anyway, the next litter she had was his, and he had a completely
different attitude toward those kittens. If one came near him, he
would run away.
So much for being a responsible father.
--
I don't think you understand what linked lists are. They're lists.
--CS 2 TA