Why do cats kill other people's kittens?

Cats are considered the best mothers. Purrs often accept other people's children and not just kittens. Experienced breeders know that the miracle of birth can be overshadowed by the incomprehensible behavior of the young mother. Some cats eat their kittens, and there is no fully adequate explanation for this phenomenon yet.

Does your cat have breeding value and pedigree? Are you planning to breed a certain breed? If the answers are yes, the first thing you need to do is study all the possible nuances of four-legged behavior. The fact is that absolutely everything, even the most cruel and illogical (from your point of view) actions can be justified. Naturally, you won’t be able to predict all the problems and nuances, but everyone can avoid making gross mistakes.

Veterinarians and felinologists explain the fact that mother cats eat kittens in different ways. All theories agree on one thing: we are talking about either cannibalism or accident. Even experienced breeders may encounter this problem when it comes to the first birth of a cat.

Note! Cannibalism is a phenomenon that is the act of eating an animal of its own relative (of the same species and genus). This phenomenon is not (!) rare; it occurs in more than 1000 species of animals and in humans.

How to understand that a mother can kill a kitten?

A potential killer mother avoids her newborn babies in every possible way. To prevent the possibility of eating kittens, you need to carefully monitor the behavior of the expectant mother. On the eve of birth, the animal becomes nervous. Behaves inappropriately. After the birth of small kittens, the cat does not find a place for itself. Instead of feeding them and licking their fur, she runs away and hides. Mom is too hyperactive. A cat kills kittens if there are strange animals in the house. Sometimes this is done immediately, and sometimes after several hours or even days.

How does a cat behave if the kittens die?

If a tragedy does happen and the kittens die due to the fault of a rival cat, then in the future the cat will behave as the procreation instinct tells it to. For several days she may worry, look for and call her babies, running near the den, and having found corpses, she will try to revive them by licking them and nudging them with her muzzle. And all this looks very sad, given the humanization of animals by the owners.

With increased lactation, psychological discomfort can be aggravated by physical suffering due to overcrowded mammary glands. But the milk soon “burns out”, and the hormonal status triggers the beginning of a new estrus in the body, during which the cat is again ready to mate with any suitable partner.

In some cases, the mother herself becomes the culprit in the death of kittens. Such cases occur due to:

non-viability, deformity, disease or poor viability of newborns. This is a kind of “sweeping” dictated by natural selection;
a sharp lack of food or certain nutrients (for example, protein or calcium) for a pregnant cat. In this case, the animal has to choose between its life and the life of its offspring;
severe stress and psychological trauma. Maternal instinct can fail, turning into postpartum cannibalism, and if such cases are repeated, then it is better to sterilize such a cat.

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Preventive measures

Cannibalism is not considered a physical disease. Therefore, treatment with medications will not give results. If the owner notices that a pregnant cat has an unstable mental state, manifested by excessive activity, fussiness or irritability, he is recommended to increase monitoring of the animal.

It is important to pay more attention to her and show her love more often. A few weeks before the start of lambing, she is provided with a secluded place where she and her brood will feel calm

This could be a special cat house, a box or a wooden box with soft bedding, an entrance hole and a window for observing the birth in order to provide timely assistance if needed.

When kittens are born, it is important to provide the pet with maximum peace and not to be excessively intrusive. But you can’t completely ignore it either.

Other pets should be removed from the room during the birth. The owner must be on alert in order to save the kitten's life in time.

Rejection of foreign odor

In the case where a cat bites its offspring, and at the same time was previously picked up on the street or has access there for walks, this is a very bad sign. The fact is that such animals always remain semi-wild and their natural instincts are more acute than those of fully domesticated pets. Here, the reason for aggression towards one’s own offspring can be a foreign smell on the kittens.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with: Rasbora heteromorph - cuneiform and Rasbora spotted.

Summary

The most likely reason your cat will eat a kitten is that it was born unhealthy or stillborn. Although still rare, it is more common in domestic cats than purebred cats because there is no evidence of mixed genes with strays. Breeders cannot selectively breed for diseases and genetic problems, and there is no way to determine whether a kitten will have a disease. Your cat can eat kittens for any other reason, but they are more common in feral cats living in the wild without food or shelter.

We hope you enjoyed reading this quick guide and that it helped answer your questions. If we've helped you learn something new about your pet, please share our insight into why cats sometimes eat their kittens on Facebook and Twitter.

Posted by Ed Malaker Veteran writer who writes a variety of blogs on pets, tools, guitars, fitness, and computer programming. When Ed is not writing, he is usually doing DIY around the house or working in the garden.

How to prevent your cat from eating kittens

To prevent your cat from eating her kittens, you should begin preparing for birth two weeks before it occurs. There are a few simple precautions you need to take to help keep newborns safe:

Prepare a place for childbirth in advance. Dark, quiet, away from other animals and people.
Competently and correctly choose a diet during pregnancy and after childbirth.
Observe the pet during and after childbirth, isolate the babies if the mother behaves aggressively.
Food during and after childbirth should be kept in close proximity to the mother.
Isolate other animals from the laboring or nursing mother.

Cat cannibalism is an unpleasant and dangerous phenomenon, but it is worth remembering that it is often just a manifestation of instincts. The right approach to organizing the place of birth, proper care and quality nutrition will reduce the risk of killing kittens to a minimum.

Fight between cats and kittens - what to do?

Don't try to interfere between them or separate them. In fact, it is dangerous for you, and it is up to them to resolve the conflict between them. However, here are some tips to reduce stress and attacks.

Cats and kittens fighting - distraction

If your cat is constantly attacking your kitten, then as soon as you notice that he is doing this, it will be time to distract yourself. And to distract her attention, you can try making noise, clapping your hands, or spraying them with streams of water from a spray bottle. This way, the adult cat will be distracted by something else and her aggressive drive will be stopped.

Cats and kittens fight - Punishment

While it is true that there is no point in punishing a cat harshly, we can still make him understand that he does not have to start all over again. To do this, open my article: How to punish an attacking cat? ou My cat doesn't listen to me - How to make a cat listen?

Fighting cats and kittens - pheromones

To reduce the stress of an adult cat in the presence of a kitten and make it less aggressive, it is recommended to diffuse pheromones. All you need to do is attach the pheromone diffuser to the meeting point between the kitten and the adult cat. This way, tension will be relieved and the atmosphere will become more relaxed.

Cats and Kittens Fighting - Review

If the adult cat's aggressive behavior towards the kitten does not stop after a few weeks, you will need to have her checked by a veterinarian. In fact, maybe the reason is not the arrival of the kitten, but that he actually has health problems.

Finally, why not seek professional help? Indeed, there are cat behavior trainers who know how to deal with these types of problems. They will be able to help you arrange a place of life that will allow you to avoid conflicts between a cat and a kitten, and especially to socialize them correctly.

Is your cat refusing to eat? Here: Can a cat die of hunger?

Does your cat seem sad? Here: Can a cat cry?

Why do cats kill kittens?

The origins of such a cruel attitude towards furry babies by human standards can be seen by studying the habits of wild cats in their natural environment. For example, in lions, all females become pregnant exclusively from the “king of the pride,” and when, in the process of intraspecific struggle for territory, power goes to another male, he invariably kills all the suckling young left by the previous leader. This helps to stop lactation in lionesses and stimulates the beginning of a new sexual cycle, during which mating occurs with a new “king”. Thus, the offspring of the strongest male survives, which ensures the evolutionary viability of the species as a whole.

Domestic cats are guided by the same thing, despite their long-standing tameness, proximity to human habitation and abundance of food. But why do cats kill kittens from a rival male? How do they distinguish between their own and other people's cubs?

It turns out that animal senses are capable of establishing the fact of paternity no worse than a modern DNA test. And the whole point is that the mother cat constantly rubs her muzzle against the bodies of her kittens, spreading an individual scent mark on them. Murks have special scent glands in the corners of their eyes, on their chins and behind their ears. By rubbing themselves against certain objects and the human owner, cats mark them, denoting private territorial possessions. By sniffing the “messages” left behind, the tailed relatives recognize the socio-physiological status of the individual, instantly identifying the stranger.

Accordingly, the smell of the facial glands left by the mother cat on the kittens becomes a signal “yours!” for male cats who mated with her. Many cats, having recognized children, remain indifferent to them, but some become caring fathers, protecting their family from enemies and regularly bringing food.

In addition, wise nature countered the predatory instinct of murder with an equally powerful maternal instinct. Considering the large number of cats in the private sector, pregnant females try to make their lair in the most secluded place and carefully hide newborn kittens. They try to keep the nest clean, and when caring for the babies, they carefully lick them, neutralizing all odors. Nursing mothers minimize their time outside the den, rushing as fast as they can to their babies and, on occasion, staunchly protecting their offspring.

As fathers, cats have a bad reputation. Over the centuries, the stereotype has portrayed them as sexual maniacs who use the slightest chance to get rid of their own offspring. This image belongs to the pen of the great Herodotus, who described his journey through Ancient Egypt more than two and a half thousand years ago. Very surprised by the reverent attitude of the Egyptians towards the cat tribe, he could not help but publicize such flaws in cat behavior. Here is one of his observations: “When cats have kittens, they no longer seek male company. Cats, in order to once again gain the attention of their friends, resort to a very strange trick. They grab the kittens, drag them away and kill them, but in no case eat them. After this, the cats, being deprived of the need to care for their offspring, again rush into the arms of cats.”

In other words, horny cats destroy a litter of kittens in order to return the cat to a state of sexual arousal as quickly as possible. This theory has prevailed for thousands of years, and many still believe in it. No one even thought, what if this reaction of cats is caused by something else, or maybe they want to get rid of their offspring in order to achieve some kind of biological benefit? So where is the truth?

Observations of European wild cats, which belong to the same breed as domestic cats, have shown that, far from seeking infanticide, they often actively participate in raising babies. One brought the cat and kittens his own portion of food and carefully placed it next to her. Another did the same himself - regularly until the cat fully recovered from giving birth. He also began to behave threateningly towards people who came close, which had not been observed before. Both cat families lived in zoos, where the cats were also sexually aroused and were more likely to be expected to be aggressive towards the cubs.

In the wild, where cats live over vast territories, the chances of a cat appearing near a shelter in which a cat and kittens live are quite small. Consequently, the possibility of both paternal care and infanticide is low. In crowded conditions in a zoo or a big city, the likelihood of a cat colliding with kittens increases sharply, and if this happens, four options are possible: 1. The cat simply does not pay attention to the kittens. 2. The cat shows miracles of paternal care, as is the case in the zoo. 3. The cat does not allow the cat to approach the place where the kittens lie, and furiously attacks him, trying to push him away, even before he has time to choose a behavior strategy in relation to the cubs. 4. The cat kills kittens.

In reality, these traditional options are quite rare. Most likely, such skirmishes end differently. But still, the ancient story told by Herodotus would hardly have inspired confidence for two and a half millennia if it had not been confirmed by evidence. So how can we explain these cases that support the belief in a very dubious outcome?

Or maybe so? A cat will sometimes practice “false arousal” several weeks after giving birth. If the cat is nearby, it excites him wildly, but he gets a turnaround. The cat is terribly upset and, one might even say, in despair. If a kitten crosses his path, he may even try to have a relationship with it. The hunched posture of a kitten is very similar to that of a sexually active adult cat. This, as well as the kitten’s inability to dodge and have the strength to rush away from the cat, is interpreted as sexual signals by other excited cats and decides the fate of the unlucky baby. The cat doesn't hit him, but when he climbs onto the tiny body, he simply grabs the kitten's neck, because he usually acts this way with an adult cat. The kitten does not resist. That is, it remains motionless. And this is a special sexual signal emanating from an adult cat and making it clear that she is ready for copulation. Such a misunderstanding leads to the fact that the cat, already tuned in to mating, suddenly discovers that the kitten is still too small for this kind of activity. But he is no longer able to correct the mistake and begins to squeeze the kitten's neck harder and harder, as if he were dealing with a clumsy adult cat. As a result, he breaks the thin neck and twists the kitten's head, as a result of which the baby dies.

Dead kittens are most often eaten by their own parents. Yes, the victim of sexual dissatisfaction, alas, has no choice but to be devoured. Terrible mistake. It is precisely these, by the way, rather rare cases that led to the creation of the image of a wild monster, a sort of cannibal cat who does nothing but kill and devour his own children.

H. Nepomnyashchiy “Keeping a Cat”

Reasons for the destruction of offspring

Cat cannibalism is a common phenomenon, which is the process of an animal eating its own relative.

There are several factors for a cat destroying its own offspring. The main reasons are the following:

Lack of milk. The cat eats the weakest kittens to feed the stronger ones.
Human curiosity. Under no circumstances is it recommended to hold newborn babies. This reckless action could cost the kitten its life. The cat, sensing someone else's smell, refuses it or eats it.
Postpartum shock. The cat is genetically programmed to free the born kitten from the placenta and destroy stillborn cubs. But a cat that has lambed for the first time, being in postpartum shock, often cannot distinguish a dead baby from a living one and eats the entire litter.
Jealousy. Cats are jealous creatures. Some individuals, not wanting to share their master's love, get rid of their offspring, and they may not do this immediately, but after one or even three to four weeks after the birth of the kittens. Therefore, in the first month of life, it is not recommended to pick them up, and you should also pay more attention to the pet.
Genetic failure. Animal psychologists believe that a cat that has given birth is prone to mental disorders. Therefore, if the breeder notices a change in the condition of a pregnant pet, the litter is taken away immediately after lambing.
Physical deviation. The mother cat “relieves defective and too weak kittens from suffering” by eating them.
Mastitis. The disease is accompanied by severe pain. The young mother regards the kittens' attempts to eat as an attack and therefore deals with the entire litter at once.

Causes

The kitten is sick

One of the most common reasons why a cat will eat one of her kittens is because it is sick or unwell and is unlikely to survive. In this case, the mother will eat the kitten so that it does not suffer.

Cats have over 200 million olfactory sensors in their noses and can use their keen sense of smell to detect things we cannot, and many people believe that illness is one of the things they can smell. An unhealthy kitten poses a risk to the rest of the litter because if it dies, the bacteria can spread quickly, leaving the other kittens vulnerable.

Kitten stillborn

As we just mentioned, a dead kitten can quickly spread bacteria to the rest of the litter, so the cat has no choice but to eat it if it's stillborn.

Litter in danger

You may ask why you can't remove a sick or dead kitten to prevent the cat from eating it. The answer is that your cat will not tolerate any interference with the litter, at least for the first week after birth. Any attempts to approach him will make her think that this place is unsafe, and she will begin to move the kittens.

If she can't move them or feels it's too difficult, she may eat one or more of the kittens, so most experts recommend staying away from the nesting site for a week or two at all costs.

Well-home cats are unlikely to eat their kittens because they feel insecure and will usually move the nest if you get too close. In the wild, your cat is at risk from several predators who may view the kittens as an easy meal, and the mother may eat the kittens to reduce stress if she feels they are not safe.

Long hard work

For some cats, labor can last three days or more. Although your cat can eat and drink during this time, this process can cause enormous damage to the cat. A long labor often makes your cat hungry, and she may eat the kitten to replenish some of the lost nutrients. Cats are strict carnivores, and they can restore important nutrients by eating the kitten that will help it continue to give birth.

Inexperience

It's rare, but inexperience may be to blame for some first-time mothers eating their kittens. Your cat may not know what to do other than eat them, or they may be too rough, unintentionally killing and then eating the dead ones.

Exhausted cat

One of the most common reasons why a cat might eat one of her kittens in the wild is that she is malnourished and needs the nutrients she gets from eating her young.

She also usually eats the placenta. If your cat is very underweight, she may eat the entire litter. If kittens remain, they will receive increased nutrients through breast milk, so sacrificing one can improve the health of many.

Fortunately, domestic cats are rarely underweight to the point that they need to eat a kitten to survive. Some experts suggest that up to 50% of cats over the age of five are obese and could lose a few pounds.

She doesn't recognize the kitten

Another reason not to approach kittens when they have just been born is that your cat will use her strong sense of smell to identify her offspring. The slightest change in smell can cause your cat to mistake the kitten for a predator and will not hesitate to kill it for the sake of the offspring. Often one touch is enough to change the kitten's scent and confuse the mother.

Can a cat eat kittens? Why do cats eat kittens?

As you already understand, the situation when a cat eats kittens is rare. Can adult male cats kill a kitten because it is alien, sick, or for some other reason? And if so, why do cats eat kittens?

Practice shows that cats rarely kill kittens and mostly through negligence (crushed, strangled, etc.). Therefore, you don’t need to worry too much about this if you have a mother with a litter and an adult cat in your house. There is no need to worry especially if the two of them live in the house and there are no other males.

However, some males, like females, inherit cannibalism. Can a cat kill a kitten because it is a cannibal? Definitely yes. Can a cat bite a kitten for this reason? Yes. If a cat ate kittens, does that mean he is a cannibal? Most likely, yes too.

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But the claim that adult cats can kill a kitten simply because they do not like them, consider them future competitors, or are trying to kill kittens from competing cats is largely a myth. However, tragic situations do happen.

It’s a completely different story if someone else’s cat kills a kitten. There may indeed be intent here. But it does not consist in a sense of competition, as happens, for example, with lions. Most likely, if a cat killed kittens from another father, in fact, this has nothing to do with their father, but with their mother. Thus, the cat, having looked for a female for mating, provokes her to start a new heat as soon as possible, when she can be covered. He knows that while she has small children, she most likely will not flow or show interest in him. But if the cat killed the kitten, he has a chance.

How can I prevent a cat from attacking my kitten?

Some cats are less happy to have a kitten in the house than others. To limit attacks and ensure that the cat and kitten can live together without recurring arguments, here are some explanations:

Cat attacks kitten - Territory

Since your home has become your cat's territory, the arrival of a kitten will be a source of conflict because the cat does not like to share its territory with other cats or other animals.

Plus, your adult cat is the one who was there before! Consequently, the attacker is at home, on his territory. And it's completely normal that your cat doesn't want to give in to the new baby. Hence the problem of aggression.

To keep your cat from becoming kitten-aggressive , you will need to go through stages of gradually integrating your kitten into your cat's environment (see my article: How Do I Get My New Kitten to Accept My Adult Cat? ).

Cat attacks kitten - Out of jealousy

When we adopt a kitten, we give it time, we give it love, we play with it, and without realizing it, we may be abandoning another cat. In addition, with the arrival of a new kitten, we will change his habits (move him from room to room, install a protective barrier, delay walking or playing time...).

But because your cat is an animal and is very attached to its habits and routine, it may react and behave as if it were jealous . This is one of the reasons why a cat may attack your kitten.

So be careful: Try to compensate for this and spend even more time petting and soothing your adult cat more often.

Cat attacks kitten - aggression

If, despite all the measures taken, your cat continues to attack your kitten, it is because he does not want to make a friend. Indeed, like people, cats do not get along with all the cats in the world. Depending on age, races, characters, experience, a cat will accept the presence of another cat or not!

So, what can you do to stop an adult cat from attacking a new kitten?

Reasons why daddy cat destroys offspring

Cannibalism is inherent not only to domestic cats, but also to cats. As a rule, the female hides her nest from outside animals. But often a cat finds it and destroys the offspring. At the same time, males kill not only strangers, but also their own cubs. One of the likely reasons why cats eat kittens is to stimulate the female to come into heat. If a cat that has given birth feeds its offspring, it will go into heat after 3 to 4 months. If the cubs die, estrus occurs almost immediately after the kittens die. This pushes males to destroy their offspring and thereby stimulate the female to go into heat.

Another reason why cats kill kittens is competition, the struggle for existence. Adult males perceive small kittens as future competitors for food resources, territory, and females. That is why they can destroy both other people's cubs and their own. Also for this reason, at the level of natural instincts, the mother cat tries to place the future nest in a secluded place, inaccessible to other animals.

A cat (cat) eats kittens - what to do?

Now you know the answer to the question, do cats eat kittens - their own and others'. If such a situation occurred by chance or because the kitten had a pathology, then this is absolutely normal and nothing needs to be done. But if this is not the first time a cat has done this and there are no apparent reasons, then it is sterilized and is no longer used to produce offspring. This indicates a genetic tendency towards cannibalism, which is inherited.

It is also better to castrate kittens from such a cat and not use them when producing offspring, because with a high degree of probability they can also carry the gene for cannibalism.

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Can a cat kill a kitten? Deadly attacks

Fights between a cat already installed in your home and a kitten that comes to live there usually do not result in death. I have not noticed. In no case , there are no indications on sites specializing in cat behavior or on forums.

The only rare cases where a cat can kill another is when a female kills her cub or (seen on the Animogen forum) when a (non-parent) cat from outside has entered the house. where there were 5 little kittens. He killed four kittens and fought with the mother, who wanted to protect her babies, but to no avail.

Otherwise, I have not heard, either from my veterinarian, or from those around me, or on blogs or scientific sites in the cat world, of cases where a cat accidentally killed a new kitten with whom it was supposed to share a home.

The cat reacts aggressively to the kitten

Well, it certainly won’t kill to kill, they have a taboo on it. But, periodically it can even strangle. Our 6-year-old cat did this when a 2-month-old female kitten was brought into the house. He will squeeze her somewhere in a corner and squeeze her there, roll around, strangle her, she screams like a fool. I must say that sometimes he still does this, although very rarely. The cat is now, thank God, 9 years old, and the cat is 15. The cat is almost twice the size of the cat, but the cat still builds it. Now, though they are almost inseparable, they sleep together.

Cats are accustomed to each other within 1-2 weeks, under your supervision. Usually this time is enough for the cats to get used to it. But whether they will be friends is a big question. It's a lottery. In the neighboring branches there is a lot of information on training cats to friend each other, read it.

I have an 11-month-old cat, neutered; we were recently given a kitten, a 1.5-month-old girl. The cat reacts aggressively to her, rushes and bites. It seems that if we don’t pull him away, he might strangle her. His kitten is not afraid to climb up to play with him. You can see from the cat that he was offended, stopped approaching the owners, all his attention was on the kitten. Can a cat harm a kitten? and how to change this behavior?

Judging by what you describe, the kitten should live under the sofa, never leaving. If he boldly climbs up to the cat, it means he doesn’t see the danger. If he doesn’t see it, it means there’s no danger. Castrate the cat, otherwise in 4 months he will climb on the cat (unless you specifically achieve this))) The probability of friendship is closer to 100%

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Why does daddy cat eat kittens?

When considering this topic, it must be emphasized that the father of the family has a predisposition to eat his own offspring. It is worth noting several reasons why this happens.

Just like a woman in labor, the head of the family may experience banal jealousy. Sensing competition for the attention of a female, owner, or a threat in maintaining the boundaries of their territory, cats tend to get rid of their opponents.
An additional reason may be the female's estrus. When a cat loses her offspring, she quickly recovers and is ready to breed again. Because of this, cats sometimes eat newborns. This fact does not apply to cats living in the same territory as females.

Males in nature are less likely to exhibit cannibalism. This is due to the fact that most often only the female takes care of the offspring. It is on her shoulders that the responsibility for getting rid of sick and weak offspring falls.

The cat ate newborn kittens: reasons

In the animal world, an unpleasant situation occurs, in human opinion, when a cat eats newborn kittens. Sometimes this happens immediately after birth, as soon as the offspring are born, and sometimes the cat does it a little later. Perhaps this fate befell only one. And perhaps everyone... Why do cats eat their kittens? Is this an accident or a pattern? There are several answers to the question.

Why do cats eat their kittens?

So, we have sorted out the question of whether cats eat their kittens. Yes, this happens. Now let's figure out whether the fact that a cat ate a kitten is a sign of her mental or physical illness.

First birth

For a first-time cat, the process of giving birth and the appearance of kittens is very stressful. Primiparous cats may not leave their nest for days due to confusion and anxiety and may eat their kittens due to extreme hunger or thirst. Therefore, during childbirth, the owner must be present nearby and calm the pet.

How can you tell if a cat can eat kittens?

It is impossible to be 100% sure whether a cat can eat its kittens or whether a particular pet will avoid this attack. There are several warning signs that can be seen with the naked eye.

During pregnancy the animal became very irritable.
Nervousness appears after childbirth. Runs away from kittens, cannot sit in one place.
Initially, the pet is hyperactive.
There are other animals on her territory with access to her offspring.

But what to do if the cat ate the kittens? Under no circumstances should she be scolded, beaten or even thrown out of the door. What has been done cannot be undone, and the animal will be left with psychological trauma, which can affect subsequent births and attitudes towards motherhood.

Cases from life - who killed the kittens?

The Internet is filled with horrifying stories of cats killing their kittens and eating them. However, all these stories reek of ignorance of the owners. Most often, speech stories contain one or more pitfalls. Below are real life examples with explanations.

Circumstances: a village cat, gives birth every year wherever necessary, no one monitors the birth, cat and kittens. Situation: immediately after giving birth, a cat eats newborn kittens. The owners don't know the details. Reason: most likely, the cat gave birth to already dead kittens or was so weakened that she was unable to feed the offspring. In this case, we are not talking about cannibalism in its pure form, it is rather natural selection (the cat is trying to survive). In addition, regular litters weaken the body so much that the mother cat may die in childbirth or never bear another offspring.

Circumstances: the cat lives in a village or a private house, birth occurs on the street without the knowledge of the owners. Situation: after a few days, the owners find the remains of kittens (paws, tails, heads). Reason: Most likely, the kittens fell prey to a rat or other predator, and the mother was so weak that she could not protect the offspring.

Circumstances: the owners of an unsterilized cat do not know the gestational age. Situation: a cat eats her kittens at birth, the process happens very quickly. Reason: most likely, the offspring were premature or nonviable due to pathologies. This situation can occur if not enough attention is paid to caring for a pregnant cat or if the mother cat gives birth after each heat.

Circumstances: a cat and a female cat live together, regularly producing offspring. The owners do not bother monitoring the progress of pregnancy and childbirth. Situation: owners found dead newborn or slightly older kittens. Reason: most likely, the cause of death was the sexual instinct of the cat, which destroys the offspring so that the female comes into heat faster.

The frivolity and irresponsibility of the owners is amazing, but these are not all the stories that can be listed. Sadly, the vast majority of owners “get rid of” a cannibal cat immediately after the incident... but the reason is not the cat. Be smart! Do not torture your pet with unnecessary pain and stress if you are not going to engage in factory activities seriously! Sterilize your cat if you are not ready to monitor your pet, feed it properly during pregnancy, stay awake at night and nurse kittens.

Prevention measures

Experienced breeders, when detecting such inappropriate behavior in a cat, remove it from further breeding, since cannibalism is inherited. The many reasons why a cat strangles her kittens make them difficult to identify. In this regard, the following preventive measures should be followed:

Balanced and nutritious nutrition for a pregnant female with the inclusion of vitamin and mineral supplements in food. A veterinarian will help you get recommendations on creating the optimal diet for pregnancy and after birth. Monitoring the level of calcium in the blood to prevent postpartum eclampsia should be done through clinical analysis, since both high and low levels of the mineral in the body are dangerous;

Preparing the nest in a secluded, quiet and safe place, inaccessible to outside animals. A thick cardboard box or exhibition box is suitable for these purposes. The nest should be placed in a dark place. It should be dry and warm. This organization corresponds as closely as possible to the natural conditions inherent in the cat at the genetic level.

Hunting training

For many, the behavior of a cat when she teaches kids to hunt comes as a surprise. At the same time, people do not always understand that what is happening is just lessons that do not pose any danger. As a rule, during such activities, the mother cat can catch the kitten with her front paws, hold it quite tightly, and begin to beat it with her hind paws. At the same time, the cat takes turns biting and licking the baby, in addition, it can also purr, letting the kitten know that it is doing everything right. From the outside, this behavior may seem very strange. In fact, the mother cat is simply showing her babies how to properly grab the victim and then suppress it. These skills can also be useful for young cats in order to defend their territory in the future. Over time, you will notice that the kittens begin to practice the learned techniques on each other.

Later, when the kittens become more mature and are already moving around the entire apartment, it will be possible to observe new lessons that will already include stalking skills and hunting jumps. Here mom will show by her own example how to carefully track down a victim, sneak around, and then attack. It is possible that household members will become victims. Well, then, the kittens will also practice the acquired knowledge, both on each other and on their mother.

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Pathological causes

Some cats eat newborn kittens for reasons other than natural ones. Sometimes the animal does this because after pregnancy severe disorders began to develop.

Hormonal disbalance

Immediately after conception, colossal changes occur in the animal’s body, including hormonal ones. In such situations, some cats simply do not understand that they have given birth to kittens. Animals aggressively perceive the offspring and eat it immediately after birth.

A similar situation can occur in cats who have had a caesarean section. Outside interference disrupts the natural process of childbirth. A serious malfunction occurs in the animal’s body, under the influence of which the cat eats the kittens.

Mental pathologies

The birth of kittens is an intimate process that each cat experiences differently. If the comfort conditions at the time of childbirth are violated, the female experiences severe stress, which negatively affects her psycho-emotional health.

During childbirth, it is better to protect your pet from strangers and objects. Otherwise, the animal will begin to worry and inadequately perceive the ongoing event.

After giving birth, felinologists do not recommend holding babies in your arms, because this can “interrupt” the natural smell. Cats perceive foreign scents aggressively, so they immediately destroy such kittens.

To prevent a mother cat from eating newborns, it is important for the owner to create the most comfortable living conditions and carefully monitor the nutrition of the pregnant pet. It is advisable to install the baby box in a quiet, secluded place so that the expectant mother is not disturbed by extraneous animals and sounds.

If the cat does not want to be in the place chosen by the owner, it is better to rearrange the box or keep track of where the pet most often spends time. If during childbirth the animal nevertheless begins to eat kittens, you should urgently isolate the offspring, and after a while try to put them back. If a cat hisses and lunges at the kids, it is better not to risk their lives by starting to care for them yourself.

Cat behavior - statistics and reasons

Cannibalism as a mass trend, always provoked by nature. That is, in order to push a cat to eat a cat, something extraordinary must happen in the outside world.

In the wild, animals can be driven to cannibalism by hunger, stress, or a threat to their own life, the pack, or their offspring . The act of eating one's own kind is inherent in:

For fish, adults eat eggs and fry.
Insects – adults eat young and weak adult insects.

Note! In the world of insects, females often “have fun” with cannibalism. But among fish there are more male cannibals.

In the cat world, both the female and the male can pose a threat to newborns and grown-up babies. However, males are guided solely by instincts, and the behavior of cats can be interpreted in different ways. By the way, it is the versatility of motivation in the behavior of mother cats that has led to such intense interest in this issue. It is known that cannibalism in females always manifests itself against the background of a combination of several factors.

Among wild and domestic animals, pigs are the leaders in the field of cannibalism.

Yes, few people know, but pigs are omnivores and are not averse to eating flesh. There are known cases when pigs (including domestic ones) not only killed, but also ate people. In defense of cats, we note that when a male and female live in the same house, fathers rarely kill kittens.

However, the general recommendations remain the same:

The cat must have a nest that is inaccessible to other pets for the entire feeding period.
The cat should not be allowed near the cat and offspring until the young mother comes to her senses after giving birth.

Note! Statistically, 10-12% of first-born cats are prone to cannibalism.

Now let's look at the reasons for cannibalism. The topic is not for the faint of heart, so emotional readers should skip this part. So, a pregnant cat is an incubator for 3-8 kittens. Babies constantly pull nutrients from their mother, including protein (protein). Newborn kittens and their afterbirth are a rich source of protein, amino acids and vitamins.

If the cat did not receive proper care during childbirth, the newly born baby is perceived by her as food. Here it is important to understand that the animal’s consciousness is clouded, since a huge number of hormones and adrenaline are thrown into the blood of the woman in labor. We can say that the cat acts automatically and does not know what it is doing. Moreover, the pet may come to its senses after an act of cannibalism and frantically search for its cubs, not remembering that it ate them.

Newborn kittens can be regarded by a cat as a source of microelements, and here we are not entirely talking about cannibalism. Postpartum eclampsia is a condition that occurs against the background of a critically low level of calcium in the blood. You need to understand that calcium should not be considered as an independent element, since it is absorbed in combination with phosphorus and magnesium. A lack of calcium and magnesium can lead to clouding of mind in the literal sense of the word, that is, the cat goes crazy and destroys the kittens, and then often dies itself.

Note! With eclampsia, a cat kills kittens, but the act of eating is extremely rare.

Cats of noble origin are known for their caring mothers, but problems with purebred mothers are much more common. There is such a thing as the absence or weakening of the maternal instinct. Mistakenly, the lack of instinct to care for offspring is confused with postpartum depression. Here we are not talking about a state of panic and sliding into a “funnel”, but about the absence of any tender feelings for the cubs.

In the absence of maternal instinct, the following scenarios are observed:

A cat eats kittens - rarely and only if the pet has a strong hunting instinct.
The cat refuses the kittens - immediately after giving birth, the pet leaves the nest, ignores the squeaking of the cubs, hisses at them, and refuses to feed them.
A cat crushes kittens - that is, the pet either smothers the babies or sits/lays on them. This behavior is typical of jealous and dominant cats.

The absence of maternal instinct is more often observed during the first birth of a cat - this argument is not accurate, since not every breeder decides to breed a would-be mother for the second time. Even caring mother cats can abandon their kittens after a caesarean section. When faced with a situation like this, don't panic. In almost half of the cases, the cat accepts offspring when she has recovered a little from the stress and pain of childbirth. Feed the babies with milk replacer, observe the behavior of the pet, and affectionately invite her to the babies. At the same time, be careful and monitor the mother's body language, since her behavior will be controlled by hormones for several days after birth.

The next common reason that provokes cannibalism in cats is a mental disorder due to stress . You need to understand that psychosomatics has not been fully studied. It is an undeniable fact that childbirth involves extreme pain and stress. In the human world, a large number of women in labor fall into postpartum depression due to the “miracle of birth” they experienced. Considering that 20 years ago doctors dismissed the diagnosis of “postpartum depression,” it is too early to talk about a detailed study of this disorder. I am glad that medicine has at least recognized the existence of such a condition and the need for its treatment.

It is known that cats are also prone to postpartum depression. Judging by the stories of young mothers, they had an overwhelming feeling to kill their child. Yes, exactly kill. What stopped you? For many, nothing, and those who managed to control themselves were guided by some form of mercy towards themselves or the child. When studying this issue, many mothers who experienced postpartum depression admitted that they did not kill their child (infant) for the following reasons:

Possible criminal liability.
A slightly tangible awareness that it will be difficult to live after what has been done.
Lack of determination (or confidence) to commit suicide after killing a child.

Is it scary to read something like this? But this is the truth and people told it, but who knows what a cat feels and thinks about? Using statistics, experts have found that the acute development of postpartum depression in cats can provoke:

A restless environment during childbirth - strangers, other animals, panicky behavior of the owner, loud sounds.
Lack of a nest, the need to give birth on the street or in another unprotected place.
The presence of a male (father) during childbirth.
Weaning of kittens immediately after birth, including during caesarean section.
Constantly invading the nest area after birth or during nursing.

Immediately after birth, a tragic fate may befall one or more kittens. The rest of the offspring will be accepted with all maternal tenderness. In this case, the likely cause is developmental defects in children . Congenital pathologies are not always visible to the owner, but the cat “senses” them. The mother understands that the kitten will not survive and destroys it so that healthy babies can get more milk and attention. This is natural selection and the most adequate reason for a cat to kill its own cub.

The destruction of one or more healthy babies is also explained by instinct and natural selection, but the root cause is a lack of milk. Childbirth takes place in such a way that the strongest babies appear first, and the weakest ones appear last. It is the weakened part of the offspring that is destroyed if strong babies are threatened by hunger. It is worth understanding that this is not only about poor feeding of the cat, but also about insufficient saturation of the milk.

The last reason, which can be considered incredible and ridiculous, is the accidental eating/killing of a kitten. Immediately after birth, the cat independently gnaws the umbilical cord and eats the afterbirth. During multiple pregnancies, this process is controlled by the owners, since eating all the placenta can lead to diarrhea. Some sources give examples of a cat accidentally killing a kitten while eating the placenta.