Expert: Ali - 5/21/2011

Question
I've never owned a cat but 2 months ago my son had to work abroad for a couple of months and asked me to look after his 2 year old male and female cats. I agreed. Turns out she was pregnant and had 4 kittens. One was dead. The other 3, one female and 2 males are now nearly 8 weeks old and absolutely lovely. The mum is brilliant with them and still feeding them. I have a problem though. The male cat for a few weeks is constantly harrassing the female and trying to mate with her quite aggressively. The main problem though which can be quite scary sometimes is that he keeps going after the female kitten and biting her on the neck pinning her down. I've been told this means he wants to mate with her which I find a bit odd given the age of the kitten. He is also quite aggressive with all the kittens and they are afraid of him. He's got quite a feral personality anyway and my 15 year old son was bitten in the face by him the other day. I phoned my son and he said its all normal. I disagree. I think the kittens are in danger from this cat and I know the cat is not neutered and i have demanded my son do so as soon as he comes back.

I've shut him in a different bedroom which is quite large. We try to spend some time with him each day and he will sometimes let us smooth him but to be honest we're nervous around him as he just turns on us for no reason. Another problem is he can open doors himself so i'm forever running up trying to get him back in and he hisses etc.

I'm at a loss as to what to do as they're not my cats. I'm worried about when my son takes them back soon and fear for the kittens safety. I am thinking about keeping the kittens myself. Initially i thought the two males as they would be indoor cats and would get them neutered as soon as possible. But now i'm considering also having the female too.

My questions are why is the male behaving like this? Am i right to separate him or is it cruel? Also if i keep all three kittens and make sure they're neutered etc will 2 males and one female live together happily in the future without the constant harrassment towards females i see this male giving?

Sorry for the long question but i have no idea what to do.

Thanks

Answer
Suzanna,

Unfortunately this is normal behaviour for an intact male to display with young kittens - I would keep mom and her babies in a separate room (since they don't open doors for themselves unlike the male). There is serious potential that this male will hurt these kittens because he is trying to drive them away so that mom will wean them more quickly and therefore be available to mate more quickly, some intact males have been known to kill young kittens, but there isn't likely any sexual component to this tom's behaviour towards the female kitten. Mom and the tom should be spayed/neutered ASAP not just to prevent reproduction but also for health and behavioural reasons. I would suggest having the kittens stay with you when your son comes home since it seems like he's already got plenty to handle with momma cat and the tom...

The tom's behaviour is dangerous especially given that he's already bitten your son's face....Your older son should be made aware of the fact that your younger son has been bitten by his cat and that you and other family members are really uncomfortable around him because of his aggressive behaviours. Unfortunately the best way to deal with this kitty's bad behaviours is to neuter him and use behavioural modification techniques like spray bottles filled with water or cans of compressed air (like those used to clean keyboards just be certain that you NEVER point the nozzle at the cat since the propellent can cause serious injury) to discourage unwanted behaviours so unfortunately it comes down to deciding whether or not you want to take responsibility for neutering the tom at a spay/neuter clinic and work with him - if not you can always suggest that your son find someone else who is willing to take on his challenging behaviours until he gets home.

As for the kittens living together into adulthood, provided they are spayed/neutered early you shouldn't see any of the behavioural issues you've been seeing with your son's intact male - there are studies that show that the earlier that pets are spayed/neutered the better off they are in terms of health, behavioural issues and long term wellbeing because it's important to realize that many behaviours we as humans see as undesirable in intact cats come directly from territorial/sexual behaviours.

If you have any further cat related questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me again - I'm more than happy to help in any way that I can.

Kind regards,

Ali