Maternal instinct in male cats
My good kissing cat (the subject of my article, “How to Teach a Cat to Kiss”) is a five-year-old neutered mongrel.
When another kitten took refuge in my house, I was worried because I wasn’t sure how my first cat would react. Would you be happy to have a playmate? Or would I be antagonistic and jealous if I saw another cat sharing my love and attention with him? Following the introduction, she gave the kitten a passive look, then rolled her eyes and focused her attention on the vacuum cleaner. He growled softly every time the kitten approached him. I had to think of a probable solution to a problem that could arise when the time comes when the two cats cannot get along. The furthest thing from my mind was getting rid of the little kitten because I already loved my heart. I decided to keep the kitten in the basement and let the older cat stay indoors.
I learned two things:
- It is not good to make the kitten and the older cat strange to each other.
- Cat owners should take the initiative to create a friendly atmosphere for the two cats by allowing both to mix with each other. But always be on guard to protect the kitten from being bitten or scratched by the older cat.
If you are in the same situation as mine, you can observe your cats’ behavior as they go through the process of getting to know each other and becoming more than friends in the future.
At first, the older cat will go far each time the kitten approaches. The act hints that the bigger cat avoids the kitten because he doesn’t want to hurt him. It is also a gesture that you can possibly accept the presence of the kitten. Then he begins to play with the kitten allowing him to play with his tail wagging. There may be a case where the cat gets too excited and can accidentally hurt the kitten. You can always get their attention, but don’t scold the older cat. Instead, let him lick the kitten. Then encourage him to play with the little one again. As the older cat licks the kitten, a certain character trait is developing in him.
In the case of my good kissing cat, a maternal instinct developed in him. He took care of the kitten and pampered it. Even now that the kitten is a mature cat, the older cat still pampers him.
The experts explained that female behavior develops among neutered male cats because the hormone estrogen is the only hormone present in the cats’ bodies after the source of testosterone is removed. Create a tendency for male cats to behave like females. Both estrogen and testosterone are present in humans and animals. In females (both human and animal), estrogens are dominant over testosterones and in males (both humans and animals), testosterones are dominant over estrogens.
It had relieved me of my worries before: the thought of watching my two cats fight. In fact, it is a wonderful experience to see two mature cats loving each other as mother and son. And now I am the one who is jealous because the kitten I love so much prefers his “surrogate mother” to his loving lover.