Cats that Kill Kittens

Another cause of kitten killing is rare, but not impossible. An inexperienced or over-anxious mother may clean her kittens excessively. In some cases a queen has been known to bite off a kitten's paw, tail or ear due to excessive cleaning behavior when the kitten is small and relatively fragile. In a very small number of cases, her efforts at cleaning (and restraint) are forceful enough to kill a tiny kitten. In an attempt to hygienically dispose of the body she may consume or partially consume it.

Finally, kitten deaths occur naturally and for diverse reasons. Many queens will dispose of the body by removing it from the nest or moving the nest away from it. Another way of disposing of carrion is to eat it. Where the kitten is only partially consumed it may appear that the mother has killed it even if she is simply trying to dispose of a potential predator-magnet.

Happy Families

At the other end of the spectrum, cats in colonies (ferals, breeding catteries etc) can exhibit some truly social behaviors. They may co-operatively raise kittens along with other nursing females, with non-nursing females or even with males (most often, but not exclusively, neutered males). In most cases the participating 'aunties' and 'uncles' are related by blood, usually sisters or mother/daughter pairs who may pool their kittens or co-operate in kitten care.

In most cases the kittens may have the same father (or multiple fathers since kittens in a single litter may have different fathers) or the queens may be closely enough related that the communal raising of kittens is in the genetic interest of participating queens. In the domestic setting, the co-operating cats may be unrelated but may be very familiar with one another and act as though closely related. Even if they have been mated to different toms their instincts may be fooled into allowing this co-operative behavior especially if there is a resident stud cat on the premises - the females are unlikely to compare notes about who they actually mated with and simply view themselves as part of that cat's harem bearing litters which share a common father. Some males also become excellent and trustworthy kitten-sitters.

In a domestic situation, the owner may be viewed as 'the other queen' and it is not unknown for a female to transport all of her kittens onto the owner's lap, chair or into the bed so that the human can mind the babies while the queen takes some time out from maternal duties.

(Continued on next page)