A Michael Broad Blog
This is a cute video which has gone somewhat viral on TikTok which is illustrative of the kitten-mother relationship. Personally, I don’t particularly like it but it is quite good nonetheless and informational. Kittens will cry when they are first weaned because their mother isn’t around to help with feeding. This kitten looks as …
When your cat licks your hair, she is allogrooming you. From her perspective your hair is unnaturally long. It makes the allogrooming process almost impossible which is why she struggles. However, she is licking you as another cat with normal-length hair. It’s just unfortunate that the hair on your head is much longer than …
When do tigers leave their mother? Tigers leave their mother conclusively between 17 and 24 months of age. Males leave earlier than females. By 15 months of age young male adult tigers often leave their mother for several days at a time. They test their independence. Females develop more slowly and stay with their …
A kitten’s mother typically starts to wean him/her in the fourth or fifth week of their life. It may be earlier if: the litter is large or; the mother is stressed or; the mother is unwell. The mother (‘queen’ in cat fancy parlance) drives the process of weaning her kittens. Dr Bradshaw says that …
There are two hormonal issues which help to ensure that the bond between mother cat and her kittens is strong and that the kittens are trusting during their first few weeks after birth. Mother Firstly, the nursing mother receives a wave of the hormone oxytocin which is produced in the hypothalamus and is secreted …
In the natal den, soon after birth, kittens recognise their mother immediately via three senses: warmth, feel and smell. However, they probably have little idea what their mother is meant to smell like. The smell of their mother is not in their DNA. This has been proved when kittens suckled an artificial ‘mother’ which …
The answer to the question in the title is that you should praise your cat for her maternal generosity. You should then take the mouse from her while stroking her and complimenting her. You should then quietly dispose of the mouse if it is dead. If it is alive you should place it outside …
MALAYSIA-NEWS AND COMMENT: It is not uncommon for an individual cat to seek shelter and warmth in the engine compartment (‘bay’) of a vehicle especially during cold weather and at night. But this is the first time that I have bumped into a story about a mother cat making the engine bay of a …
