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Do cats often kill the kittens of other cats?
I am a fairly new Vet receptionist, and I really don't know as much about cats as I would like to.
Today a client came in with a mother cat and only one kitten, and she told me why there was only one kitten. She lives in the country, and all her cats have been ones that wandered over one day and she took in, the latest being the pregnant cat. All went fine, until one day when she went to the store, and all the kittens but two were dead, and the mother had a wound on her face.
One of the remaining two kittens was fine, but the other was badly injured, so she rushed the injured one to the emergency vet. Unfortunately, he didn't survive. The vet didn't believe it was the Jack Russells, as he said the bite wounds were too small, and the client's account of the dogs made me feel as if it wasn't them either. Also the wounds on the Mom did not look like any dog bite I'd ever seen. It was kind of like large needle marks on her nose.
The owner believes it must have been one of the other cats. Is this common in cats? Would it have been a male cat, or a female? Or did the mother do this? I didn't know cats were a species that usually killed young from other cats. The kittens were maybe 6 week I want to say?
4 Answers
- J CLv 72 years ago
Unneutered males will kill kittens as they are an 'obstacle' to getting to the female so that he can breed her again. She needs to get any and all unneutered males fixed, and the unsprayed females as well. Most shelters have low cost spay/neuter clinics for barn cats and strays.
- PearlLv 72 years ago
i wouldnt think the nnother wouldve done it, it couldve been sonne other aninnal doing it too
- Nekkid Truth!Lv 72 years ago
Male cats often will kill kittens to induce the mom to go back into heat
- LauraLv 72 years ago
It is very common in cats to attack kittens. This is why it is always recommended to keep kittens and mom in their own room. Its to keep the kittens safe.
Its very common for male cats to kill kittens, they see the kitten as a future threat. They would rather kill the kitten than fight the kitten in a few months for breeding space.
I would have recommended that this woman get the male cats neutered, that way this won't happen in the future.
