my cat just gave birth
By killerbullet
@killerbullet (174)
United States
April 10, 2011 1:28pm CST
so yesterday my cat gave birth to 2 little kitten but that's OK its not so wired but what really was strange is what the male cat we have did
so she cleaned her kitten and started feeding them and the male came and sat right in front of her until we left and she finished feeding them and the we heard a cry of one of the 2 just born kittens .we ran to the voice and we saw the male grabbing the small cat in his mouth just like if he was taking a big chunk of meat and the cat was just trying to get her baby back
of course we tried to take it out of him .his mouth was shut like its glued we had to put him in the water to save the small cat
but after then we noticed that the small cat was injured . well i have no idea why did he do that he was going to eat his own kid
if u know why did he do that pliz respond giving me an answer for this weird incident
1 person likes this
9 responses
@yoyo1198 (3641)
• United States
10 Apr 11
Male cats will kill the kittens from a new litter. I have heard of this frequently and internet Q&A sites are full of information about these incidents. I think you need to keep the male away from your new kittens. There have been various reasons given for why this occurs so you might want to do a search. My advice is to separate them immediately.
2 people like this
@bellis716 (4799)
• United States
12 Apr 11
Male cats have been known to kill kittens to make the females come into season sooner.
@greenmachine45 (430)
• United States
11 Apr 11
I have heard of tom cats killing kittens but never seen it first hand.Like the others said it be something to research. I have had cats all my life and none of the toms I have had ever tried to kill any kittens but that doesn't say that if don't or couldn't happen.
1 person likes this
@whatrow (792)
• United States
11 Apr 11
From my experience, male cats are the "love 'em and leave 'em" type. Once they have done their job, they couldn't care less about the consequenses. And the females don't want the males around either. My kittens were fathered by 3 feral cats. But they keep hanging around and coming in through my cat door to steal the food. Whenever they do, my females gang up and chase the cats out of the house. The scenes are very violent.
I don't know why your cat went after the kitten. But, if my females are so determined to keep the males away, it is because the males do have the potential to harm the babies.
@neenie (343)
• United States
11 Apr 11
My cat just had a litter of kittens a few weeks ago too! Exciting, isn't it? :)
But male cats just don't have the maternal instict that females do. Most of the time, they could care less if they are the father and don't try to take care of them. I have other cats and the males didn't even bother with the kittens. My females (the ones that aren't the mother) are always getting in the box and trying to clean the kittens. It's just the way they are.
You should try to keep that male cat away from the kittens. If you can, I would put the kittens in a totally different room that he can't get in to. You don't want the Momma to fear for her kittens because then she will start moving them into places you won't be able to find. If the kitten was seriously injured, you may want to take him/her to the vet. They are so young and fragile right now, better safe than sorry.
@neenie (343)
• United States
11 Apr 11
It depends on his actions. I would try to keep them apart for at least a week or two. Then I would try to let him around them, with you around.. see how he does with them. If he just ignores them like a normal father cat would, then you can try to leave them out. I would take it very slowly though. And who knows, the kitten may have been sick or something and he realized it. Cats are very different then us. If they know a kitten is sick, they will try to kill it and eat it. Queens are more likely to do this, but you never know.
And I wanted to hold mine all the time too! I tried to stay away from mine for like the first 3 weeks though. My cat must trust me though because I can usually hold them and play with them.
Also, are you planning on getting your cat spayed? I think you said it wasn't her first litter. It's not really good for a cat to have litter after litter and the cat population already has too many. I'm not trying to harp, just asking :) My cat getting pregnant was a total accident and I have no idea how she did it.. considering I have no unfixed males in the house and she stays indoors. But she is getting fixed in a few weeks, after the kittens are totally weaned.
Enjoy your kitties!
@clrumfelt (5490)
• United States
11 Apr 11
Was it the male or female kitten who was injured? I have heard that tomcats will kill male kittens just as they will fight other adult males for a female.
@sharj123 (17)
• Canada
11 Apr 11
Male cats will do this to kittens. I have had it happen over the years. It just seems to be a thing of nature for some reason. I suppose animal behaviourists could tell you why. In the meantime make sure your kittens are out of the way of the tomcat--maybe put the mom and babies in a separate room with access to water, food and litter, of course. It could be that tomcats feel threatened by another cat that may grow up to challenge him or the smell of the newborn.
@OpinionatedLady (5966)
• United States
11 Apr 11
Well some Toms do not like to have other males around and that includes their own off spring. They have been known to kill them right off the bat. If he was just trying to care for the kitten as some do then he probably wouldn't let go for fear you would hurt his baby!.
