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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / April 2007Splodge as Daddy cat
I don't get this. Look at the pictures of Splodge, Marblecake and Marblecake's kittens on my website: http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/Cats/ It doesn't look very likely to me that Splodge could be the father. The kittens tend to associate in pairs that look alike - Gerald and Poppy, and Eccles and Siouxsie. My guess was that each pair had a different father and neither of them was Splodge. They don't have fluffy tails and they don't have anything like Persian faces. But he's certainly *acting* like he's the father, and the kittens are treating him that way. He's spent most of the last month less than ten feet away from them, he grooms them, and they all like to snuggle up to him, They won't have anything to do with any of the other cats in the house except their mother. He's only once gone off on an extended prowl. Do tomcats often get broody about unrelated kittens? ============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ============== Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760 <http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/> for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975 stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557 >I don't get this. Look at the pictures of Splodge, Marblecake and >Marblecake's kittens on my website: http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/Cats/ [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] ><http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/> for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975 >stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557 As a rule, no, but there seem to be no rules that cats will follow. As soon as I read something categorical about cats, I see a cat that contradicts it. There are toms that kill kittens. There are toms that go all gooey about them. I'm glad to see Splodge is one of the latter. Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh Make Levees, Not War >I don't get this. Look at the pictures of Splodge, Marblecake and > Marblecake's kittens on my website: http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/Cats/ [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Do tomcats often get broody about unrelated kittens? We had one that got that way about a puppy! A tiny poodle puppy that had been rejected by his mom after a c-section. I think at first the cat looked after him to keep him from crying. But he got very attached. He would come get me whey the puppy needed a bottle. As often as not the mamma dog would steal my warm spot in the bed while I was up with the pup. Jo > I don't get this. Look at the pictures of Splodge, Marblecake and > Marblecake's kittens on my website: http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/Cats/ [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Do tomcats often get broody about unrelated kittens? I don't know how common it is, but it does seem to happen. Way back when my Frank was young, I brought him a kitten for company. After she had initially jumped about sideways and hissed at him all day, we went to bed. The kitten, Nikki, climbed after us into bed. She first tried to wash me, but it seems I didn't give her the response she wanted, so she went over and started licking Frank's tummy. Then she found a nipple. Her purrs doubled in volume as she started sucking. Frank gave me this slightly uncertain look, then he settled down to groom her and suckle her (she was only 8 weeks old - if I hadn't taken her then, she would have been pts). They became best friends after that, and Frank always looked after Nikki like she was his own.  SignatureMarina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki. Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/ Pics at http://s120.photobucket.com/albums/o185/frankiennikki/ http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/ http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki >> I don't get this. Look at the pictures of Splodge, Marblecake and >> Marblecake's kittens on my website: http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/Cats/ [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] >have been pts). They became best friends after that, and Frank always >looked after Nikki like she was his own. Frank was the ultimate DaddyMommyCat. ;) Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh Make Levees, Not War > I don't get this. Look at the pictures of Splodge, Marblecake and > Marblecake's kittens on my website: http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/Cats/ [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Do tomcats often get broody about unrelated kittens? If Splodge mated with Marblecake while she was in heat, then he has reason to assume that the kittens are his... I know that with primates (monkeys and apes, particularly), females in multi-male groups will deliberately mate with as many males as they can while in estrus in order to confuse paternity and reduce the chance of infanticide if a new male takes over as the dominant. Katrina SignatureHistory: special people in special places at special times Anthropology: everyone else the rest of the time -KWorley, 1997 ----------------- www.Newsgroup-Binaries.com - *Completion*Retention*Speed* Access your favorite newsgroups from home or on the road ----------------- > If Splodge mated with Marblecake while she was in heat, then he has > reason to assume that the kittens are his... I'm not sure cats are able to make the connection between the drive to mate and the resulting pregnancy and litter. I thought that not even humans figured that one out until well into our evolutionary development. > I know that with primates > (monkeys and apes, particularly), females in multi-male groups will > deliberately mate with as many males as they can while in estrus in > order to confuse paternity and reduce the chance of infanticide if a > new male takes over as the dominant. Do zoologists actually know that this is *why* a female does this? Well, let me rephrase that. It might be that when a female mates with several males, there are fewer infanticides of her babies by the males in her group, so females who have the tendency to mate with multiple partners would be more likely to pass on their genes. So over time, there would end up being more females in the population who mate with several partners. But that doesn't mean that a female is *concious* of why she does it at the time. Apes are smart animals, but that's pretty sophisticated thinking. :) Of course, that doesn't explain why multiple partners would cause the males to refrain from killing the babies. Actually, don't cats do this, too? There can be multiple fathers in a single litter, I believe. I don't know what affect that has on infanticide, though. Male cats are far less interested in their offspring than male apes, as far as I know. Joyce >> If Splodge mated with Marblecake while she was in heat, then he has >> reason to assume that the kittens are his... > I'm not sure cats are able to make the connection between the drive to > mate and the resulting pregnancy and litter. I thought that not even humans > figured that one out until well into our evolutionary development. Splodge sat and watched part of the time while she was giving birth, then came over and sniffed the kittens while they were still wet. I'd have expected that a tom could tell if the kittens were his from the smell? But in this case I don't see how they could be. Maybe the new-kitten smell in general is all it takes to turn a furry little philanderer of Julio Iglesias proportions into a paterfamilias. ============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ============== Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760 <http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/> for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975 stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557 > > If Splodge mated with Marblecake while she was in heat, then he has > > reason to assume that the kittens are his... [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > though. Male cats are far less interested in their offspring than male > apes, as far as I know. I doubt the male would think of the newborn as "his" but if he thinks of its mother as his mate, and I'm sure they can make that connection, it might give her offspring some protection. Jo >Actually, don't cats do this, too? There can be multiple fathers in a >single litter, I believe. Yes, at best, you can only assume all kittens in a litter are half siblings unless you are talking about the queen being kept indoors with only access to one tom Female cats don't ovulate unless they are mated. So Tom A comes along and then Tom B and Tom C and they can all be fathers of one or more kittens in the same litter Lesley Slave of the Fabulous Furballs |
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