Expert: Jessica - 4/4/2011

Question
Hi Jessica,

This is a kind of follow-up question to my previous one about 'Adopting out feral kittens'.

I was wondering about cat pregnancy and how much hormones and protective instinct effects the behaviour of a pregnant / lactating queen.

Bella, the feral mother cat I trapped and am caring for now, has calmed down a lot over the past two weeks (her latest litter are now just over four weeks old).  She has been living indoors for 3 months now.  Her manner is much more relaxed around me, she allows me to get much closer than before.  While she has been breastfeeding her kittens I have had to be close to bring her food and water to her.  Would that be desensitising her more to humans?  Or would it be more about the hormones and protective behaviour calming down?

I intend to take Bella to be spayed when the littermates are weaned.  Do you think this will help her calm down more too?

Thank you

Answer
Hi Jody,

Mothers do become a lot less worried about their kittens once the babies start roaming from the nest, around 2 weeks of age. Her relaxed demeanor probably has a little to do with some of the stress of her litter lifting a bit. But I believe that her progress likely has the most to do with all of the contact that you've had with her. Continue to keep this up, and I think you will be rewarded.

Spaying definitely helps to reduce moodiness in my experience, and while it certainly won't turn a feral into a lap cat, anything you can do to help even out hormonal fluctuations, like a spay, always helps. It may be a coincidence, but I have had slow progress with unspayed ferals and quick progress with spayed ones. Part of this may also have to do with the fact that at least half of the time, in tact females are preoccupied with finding a mate and wouldn't make the most pleasant pets even if they were tame all along. The spay is certainly a good idea from a health standpoint, as well as a behavioral one.

Good luck!

Jessica