liz@unirot.UUCP (Mamaliz ) (12/21/85)
Our youngest cat got pregnant (yes, we were derelict in getting her fixed...still "thought we had time". She will get fixed after this litter.) We have places for all the kittens (mouse is a rather popular cat). The problem is, we have two older cats, both fixed, both have never had litters. One of them is mean and stupid and one of them is a hunter. I am afraid they are going to go after the kittens. Does anybody have experience with cats doing this? We don't like keeping them outside during the winter, and we don't want to lock mouse away, she is used to people around and exercise. Thanks liz
kanner@tymix.UUCP (Herb Kanner) (12/23/85)
In article <253@unirot.UUCP> liz@unirot.UUCP (Mamaliz ) writes: >Our youngest cat got pregnant (yes, we were derelict in getting her >fixed...still "thought we had time". She will get fixed after this >litter.) We have places for all the kittens (mouse is a rather >popular cat). > >The problem is, we have two older cats, both fixed, both have never >had litters. One of them is mean and stupid and one of them is a >hunter. I am afraid they are going to go after the kittens. Does >anybody have experience with cats doing this? We don't like keeping >them outside during the winter, and we don't want to lock mouse away, >she is used to people around and exercise. At the very least, watch them all like hawks for a few days until you think you understand their intentions. Let me tell you a little story: Many years ago I bought my first abyssinian cat, a male. He was bought as a pet, i.e. without the right to register his offspring. We had a half-siamese of about the same age, both kittens, and thought it would be fun to let them mate and have a litter of kittens before we neutered him. A friend warned me, be careful: the tomcat will kill any male kittens in the litter. Well, Sinbad thought that those kittens were the greatest things on earth. Some months later, by which time we had probably neutered Sinbad, we met a woman who had a siamese tomcat. She suggested that it might be interesting to mate our half-siamese to it and see what we get. Well, Sinbad seemed relatively uninterested in the kittens, but one day I saw him pick up a kitten by the scruff of the neck and give his head a sharp shake. I didn't understand the possible implications at the time, but was sufficiently alarmed to separate him from the litter until they grew up a lot. Other people told me that this is the way they break the necks of their prey. The only explanation I can offer for the difference in his behavior toward the two litters is that the half-abyssinians might have smelled "right" to him. -- Herb Kanner Tymnet, Inc. ...!hplabs!oliveb!tymix!kanner
lbo@ihlpl.UUCP (Oberlander) (12/23/85)
> Our youngest cat got pregnant (yes, we were derelict in getting her > fixed...still "thought we had time". She will get fixed after this > litter.) We have places for all the kittens (mouse is a rather > popular cat). > > The problem is, we have two older cats, both fixed, both have never > had litters. One of them is mean and stupid and one of them is a > hunter. I am afraid they are going to go after the kittens. Does > anybody have experience with cats doing this? We don't like keeping > them outside during the winter, and we don't want to lock mouse away, > she is used to people around and exercise. > > Thanks > liz From my observations, it will depend on the genders of your neutered cats. Back before I left my parents' home, we had a neutered male (Sandy) for many years. I observed encounters between Sandy and kittens on a few occasions - he was very friendly, almost maternal, towards them. He even allowed one to eat from his dish. Another data point: some friends introduced a third cat (a kitten) to a two cat home a few years ago. The two older cats are both neutered, one male, the other female. The female threatened and attacked the kitten on ocassion, while the male protected it from the female, and taught it house cat "manners" (use of the litter box, etc.). From my experience, then, if the older cats are neutered males, you'll likely have an easier time than if they are neutered females. Lew Oberlander AT&T Bell Laboratories ihnp4!ihwld!lbo
marauder@fluke.UUCP (Bill Landsborough) (12/24/85)
In article <253@unirot.UUCP> liz@unirot.UUCP (Mamaliz ) writes: >Our youngest cat got pregnant (yes, we were derelict in getting her >fixed...still "thought we had time". She will get fixed after this >litter.) We have places for all the kittens (mouse is a rather >popular cat). > >The problem is, we have two older cats, both fixed, both have never >had litters. One of them is mean and stupid and one of them is a >hunter. I am afraid they are going to go after the kittens. Does >anybody have experience with cats doing this? We don't like keeping >them outside during the winter, and we don't want to lock mouse away, >she is used to people around and exercise. > >Thanks >liz If your cat named "mouse"?? is anything like any other mother animal she will not let any other animal, friend, foe, or human anywhere near her litter. They know the danger better than we do and they take care of the problem. (Just ask any park ranger about approaching bear cubs in the spring...) Bill Landsborough ---- "Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude... Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7