Female domestic cats cooperate to care for kittens

Female cat cooperation in raising kittens of other females
Female cat cooperation in raising kittens of other females. Screenshot.
Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

Although the news media are having fun with this video in describing a female domestic cat’s behaviour as stealing another female’s kittens, this is normal behaviour for group-living females. It might look odd to some observers but when you think about it, it is very friendly, harmonious and cooperative. In this instance a TikTok user has uploaded a short video of a tabby female cat caring for the kittens of ginger-and-white female cat. She’s perfectly happy in doing this. The truth is that when unsterilized female domestic cats live in a group – in this instance it appears to be a group of two – they form friendships depending upon blood relationships, status and age.

And when it comes to mating, pregnancy and raising kittens females may pool their efforts to raise the kittens of other females. This behaviour is supported by the fact that when living in a group female domestic cats can come into heat at the same time, thereby facilitating this form of cooperation to care for the kittens of another. It is thought that the reason is to create a defence against male cats who may kill the kittens (feline infanticide). When infanticide has been observed by researchers the victims have most often been the kittens of solitary mothers.

SOME MORE ON MOTHERING

Domestic cat maternal aggression is instinctive
Domestic cat maternal aggression is also referred to as maternal protective aggression. It's what you think it is: a queen's ...
Cat brings bird to stranger's house
There is a stray cat in the community. You don't know the cat and yet she consistently brings dead birds ...
Generous Cat
Allogrooming. This is the origin of the cat licking huma behavior - Photo: Pixabay. Feline allogrooming of a person's hand ...
Kittens kneading
These side-by-side videos tell the story behind adult domestic cat kneading. PLEASE CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON AT BOTTOM-LEFT OF ...
How do I get my cat to use the scratching post?
This is an article by Elen, a visitor to PoC. We humans are claimed to be divided in to two ...

Please search using the search box at the top of the site. You are bound to find what you are looking for.

Useful tag. Click to see the articles: Cat behavior

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

follow it link and logo

Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.

I welcome and value comments. Please share your thoughts. All comments are currently unmoderated.

This blog is seen in 199 of the world's country's according to Google Analytics which is pretty much the entire world.

Scroll to Top