Female cat as a queen. Photo in public domain.

Because she behaves like a queen towards courtiers, the people who attend the court of a monarch. When a female cat is on heat – a period called ‘estrus’ and the time during which she is receptive – she lords it over the toms who gather around her like a circle of courtiers. They approach the queen with deference and she often punishes them in an autocratic manner after sex when she aggressively slaps them while screaming abuse.

In matters of sex, in the feline world, the queen is dominant. Toms may fight each other but when they attempt to mate with the queen they are not bossy but deferential. The tom protects himself from being swiped by the queen by biting the scruff of the neck. This is not a physical restraint but it elicits in the female a more passive response as happens when a mother cat carries her offspring to a new den site by grasping the kitten by the scruff of the neck in their jaws.

P.S. The word ‘tom’ to describe a male cat can be traced back to 1760 and an anonymous story published in The Life and Adventures of a Cat. The male cat in the story was referred to as a ‘ram cat’ as was commonplace in those days but he was given the name ‘Tom the Cat’. The story was popular leading to a preference to calling male cats ‘toms’ rather than ram cats.

SOME POSTS ON HEAT:

Do cats stay in heat after they get pregnant?

No, cats do not stay in heat after they get pregnant. The more technical word for "heat" is oestrus (estrus ...
Read More

Female domestic cats cooperate to care for kittens

Although the news media are having fun with this video in describing a female domestic cat's behaviour as stealing another ...
Read More

Do spayed cats go into heat and have the urge to mate?

No, properly spayed cats do not go into heat and do not have the urge to mate. The surgery is ...
Read More

Does this female cat want her male owner to have sex with her?

Is this female cat's actions a vestigial female mating behavior? By that I mean an instinctive but not complete form ...
Read More

Do female cats bleed?

The question in the title is a roundabout way of asking if female cats have periods. As female cats come ...
Read More

When is a female cat in season?

When a female cat is 'in season' she is ready to mate (in heat) and this readiness is dependent upon ...
Read More

Do cats understand the concept of beauty, do they find some other cats more attractive over others?

This is an interesting question which made me think and I will answer it at least initially from the viewpoint ...
Read More

Do female cats go through kitty menopause?

Female cats who have not been spayed are fertile and sexually active all their lives. Therefore they do not go ...
Read More