Oldest domestic cat to give birth
This is not an official world record so it’ll be anecdotal. With both formal and informal records, you’re bound to get some inaccuracies because people don’t always report what they believe is a record....
Category: mothering
Female domestic cats respond particularly quickly to urgent kitten calls
A study found that female domestic cats responded about 10% faster to kitten calls which conveyed to them a high level of urgency compared to kitten calls which were assessed as non-urgent. Females evaluate...
White domestic cats often make bad mothers
The title sounds unfair and biased but it isn’t as it is based in biological fact. The prevalence of deafness in pure white domestic cats varies depending on whether they have two blue eyes...
What are the games that cats play?
There are four fundamental types of domestic cat play: Play-fighting – practice for defending against predators and subduing prey. The mouse-pounce – practice in stalking small prey animals. The bird-swat – practice in attacking...
At what age does a cat lose its baby teeth? Assessing kitten age.
A cat owner on the Reddit.com website (user u/maifoothurts) asked whether young cats lose their baby teeth. The question was accompanied by a pretty stark photograph which you can see below of a canine...
Male and female rural domestic cats behave somewhat like lions
A couple of scientific reports indicate to me that when the domestic cat is left to their own devices such as in rural locations e.g. as barn cats, their behaviour is very similar to...
Sibling suckling. Why do adult domestic cats do it?
“Sibling suckling” is when domestic cats beyond the age of weaning suckle on each other for reassurance and comfort.
Reason why cats massage you
Strictly speaking it’s not massage! There is one reason why domestic cats ‘massage’ their owner. And it is not really massaging as I am sure many of you know. The word ‘massage’ is misleading...
Female, domestic stray cat has a kitten and knows she needs a human caregiver and asks
There is only one way to interpret the behaviour of this stray, female domestic cat who leads the video maker on a rainy day towards a lobby area of what appears to be an...
Kitten development – comprehensive discussion
In this article on kitten development, I refer to the development of the domestic cat after birth. About 70% of kittens are born nose and feet first (the so called “diving position”). They are...
5 reasons why mother cats kill their kittens
People ask why mother cats kill their kittens. Here are five possible reasons. The first general point to make is that inexperienced mothers are more likely to kill her kittens. And stress plays a...
What is the largest litter of kittens on record?
There is an official world record for the largest number of kittens in a single litter. The source of the information is, of course, the Guinness World Records website. They state very succinctly that...
Do domestic cat mothers instinctively know how to care for their offspring?
Not always, is the answer. You would have thought that as the domestic cat is considered to be barely domesticated that they would have inherited the full range of parenting skills from their wild...
Why do domestic cats bring prey animals into their owner’s home?
You may know the answer so I won’t go on about this. It’s actually often a reversal of roles depending on the gender of the cat. Normally the human owner of a domestic cat...
Do cats recognise their mothers?
I argue that cats recognise their mothers based on the evidence including how their recognise their human guardian.
Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.