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My male cat has issues with my pregnant female cat please help!

post #1 of 18
3/26/09 at 11:04am
Thread Starter 
I have a question about my cats my female cat is 20 days pregnant and my male cat is playing a little too rough with her I'm afraid it could make her lose her kittens, she cries like he is hurting her but she has always been a big baby, is it possible that he could hurt her and make her lose her kittens? he also likes to lay on top of her and not let her up. is this normal behavior? he never acted like this before she got pregnant. I'm afraid it is an issue that will transfer over to the kittens when they are born. a 10 lb male cat on top of newborn kittens is not an ideal situation. Should I separate the male from the female or just let them be? Any help would be great!
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post #2 of 18
3/26/09 at 1:46pm
I don't know, as I'm not a pregnant cat expert. If she's always been a "big baby" then it might well mean nothing - for the moment though, I would keep them seperate, or at least seperate them when one or both of them is being overly energetic/playful.

Someday more knowledgable than I is bound to come along soon though

You could also try posting in Breeder's Corner.
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post #3 of 18
3/26/09 at 2:52pm
Thread Starter 
Ive tried keeping them seperate but they are unusually close to each other and when I lock one in a room away from the other they both start crying their heads off and pacing on either side of the door and then when I let them out together again they spend hours grooming each other. but Ive noticed that since shes gotten pregnant he is a bit more aloof around her and being a big bully. she is alot smaller then he is (shes 6.5 lbs and he is almost close to 11) sometimes when there sitting next to each other he will all of a sudden bite her on the head, just a quick snap and when she cries he lets her go, its really wierd. could it be a dominance thing?
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post #4 of 18
3/26/09 at 2:57pm
Thread Starter 
oh by the way he is also the father of her kittens I was told he was fixed and hes not(kittens are a fantastic way to find that out!) and i don't make a habit of reaching under my cats tail but I did check and hes not fixed (which will soon be corrected)
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post #5 of 18
3/26/09 at 3:05pm
Hmmm, well the most damage can actually be caused during the first part of the pregnancy, so I'd separate them to be safe, and let them out when your around to "supervise". I'm no expert, but you could just call your vet if you want to get an experts oppinion...
Good luck! Keep us updated on how she is!
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post #6 of 18
3/26/09 at 3:23pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks very much and I will keep all updated! I am very excited about her pregnancy even though it was a surprise, I am very attached to cali and in a way and am secretly pleased that guardian is the father of her kittens, he is very special to me, he came into my life two days before my cat who I had bottle raised from a baby and was only 11 months old got out of the house and hit by a car, he sat with me all night while I cried and licked the tears off my face, and to this day sits on our nightstand all night and watches over us while are sleeping (hence the name guardian). I was happy to find this site with people who are crazy about cats like I am! I will post pictures of them as soon as I figure out how

Cali and guardian cali is the grey tabby guardian is the black and white
cali posing
cali and guardian sleeping

guardian posing
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post #7 of 18
3/26/09 at 4:37pm
Aww, you've got really pretty kitties there So Cali is about 3 weeks along now?
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post #8 of 18
3/26/09 at 8:07pm
Thread Starter 
she will be three weeks in a couple of days, I feel like im the expectant mother! Ive been looking up all sorts of info and I found a really neat video done by national geo. it was called "in the womb cats" you can find it on you tube. her nipples are just starting to get pink and she seems really interested in all the boxes and bags in my house, but she seems most interested in my daughters crib I hope she doesn't try to have her babies in there!
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post #9 of 18
3/26/09 at 8:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by calismom View Post
I have a question about my cats my female cat is 20 days pregnant and my male cat is playing a little too rough with her I'm afraid it could make her lose her kittens, she cries like he is hurting her but she has always been a big baby, is it possible that he could hurt her and make her lose her kittens? he also likes to lay on top of her and not let her up. is this normal behavior? he never acted like this before she got pregnant. I'm afraid it is an issue that will transfer over to the kittens when they are born. a 10 lb male cat on top of newborn kittens is not an ideal situation. Should I separate the male from the female or just let them be? Any help would be great!
Sounds to me like hes still trying to mate with her still.. If you dont get him fixed soon before the kittens are born he can get her pregnant again within 3 weeks after her birth.. That happened to me one time.. The mama gave birth again 12 weeks later. She nursed the first set of kittens all through her 2nd pregnancy.. And they still all snuggled together like one big happy family
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post #10 of 18
3/26/09 at 9:01pm
I would start seperating them now. Once the kittens are born they cannot be left together at all - as he can impregnant her while nursin. And an intact male can mate a female successfully up to 2 months post neuter.

I'd start looking into low cost spay/neuter in your area for the kittens, to ensure they do not go out there & add to the overpopulation issues we have now. There is tons of info on the site about raising kittens, like further info on keeping them until they're 10-12 weeks, what food to feed, when to start weaning, etc.
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post #11 of 18
3/27/09 at 2:25pm
Honestly, Guardian doesn't LOOK like a tomcat...they usually have very large, boofy heads. Not that I'm saying you don't know what to look for around back , but I wonder. And I'd think you would have noticed because of the odor...tomcats have a very strong urine odor, and very few people can stand to keep them indoors, even if they use the litterbox unfailingly. Did she ever get outside? Anyway, if he is intact his hormones might be making him be too rough with her. I'd have him neutered immediately, and even then you might have to keep them separated so he doesn't hurt her or the babies.
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post #12 of 18
3/27/09 at 3:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
Honestly, Guardian doesn't LOOK like a tomcat...they usually have very large, boofy heads. Not that I'm saying you don't know what to look for around back , but I wonder. And I'd think you would have noticed because of the odor...tomcats have a very strong urine odor, and very few people can stand to keep them indoors, even if they use the litterbox unfailingly. Did she ever get outside? Anyway, if he is intact his hormones might be making him be too rough with her. I'd have him neutered immediately, and even then you might have to keep them separated so he doesn't hurt her or the babies.
This is an excellent point - I'd double check if Guardian is intact (and if so, get him neutered immediately). Obviously, it's hard to seperate such good buddies - I wouldn't suggest seperately them all the time, just when one of them gets overly playful (too rough).

If he is intact, however, getting him neutered now is for the best so that you don't have to worry about him getting Cali preggers again.
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post #13 of 18
3/28/09 at 2:03pm
Thread Starter 
I took guardian to the vet today to make sure he was intact and he is. Cali did not get out of the house at all and she is definatly preggers (checked by the vet as well) guardian doesn't spray at all and mabey that is the cause of the smell that you are talking about? and he is also getting fixed next week I dont want anymore kittens!!! Guardian is 23 months old so i don't think hes going to get a bigger head (I hope not its big enough already!) mabey hes just a small cat?
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post #14 of 18
3/28/09 at 10:51pm
Nah, it's not just the spraying (though most toms do spray)---their urine REALLY smells bad. Maybe you have an unusually sweet-smelling tom, or you have a really good litter brand! Funny that his head is so skinny. I've never seen a tom without the boofy head. Good thing you had them checked out. Now you can get him fixed and prevent this from happening again! Finding GOOD homes for kittens is so hard .
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post #15 of 18
3/29/09 at 11:09am
Thread Starter 
Actually I found alot of people on craigs list who are looking for cats but I don't know who to trust. ive heard some horror stories about people using kittens as snake food. Im going to post another thread to see if anyone has a list of questions to ask prospective owners.
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post #16 of 18
3/29/09 at 2:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
And I'd think you would have noticed because of the odor...tomcats have a very strong urine odor, and very few people can stand to keep them indoors, even if they use the litterbox unfailingly.
One of my intact males doesn't have that odor at all. And he doesn't spray at all. I was actually almost sure that he wouldn't be able to have kittens or wouldn't know what to do with a female, but I was very wrong..

If your kitty couple has been together all the time, be prepared for the fact that all of the kittens may not be the same age, it's also possible that some of them will born even few days later than the first one!
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post #17 of 18
3/29/09 at 3:13pm
Thread Starter 
I didn't even think of that! Yikes.
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post #18 of 18
3/30/09 at 7:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthernGlow View Post
One of my intact males doesn't have that odor at all. And he doesn't spray at all. I was actually almost sure that he wouldn't be able to have kittens or wouldn't know what to do with a female, but I was very wrong..

If your kitty couple has been together all the time, be prepared for the fact that all of the kittens may not be the same age, it's also possible that some of them will born even few days later than the first one!
Quote:
Originally Posted by calismom View Post
I didn't even think of that! Yikes.
This is why it is imperative that you keep them separated until your girl has been spayed and your boy neutered - and keep in mind that your boy will still carry active ummmm ... "swimmers" ... for about a month or sometimes even two after being neutered.

Cats are unusual in the way they breed ... intact males don't care whether or not a female is in heat, they will just go for it whenever they get a chance. Now, the female may not be willing, but that won't stop a determined intact male - this leads to possible fights and even injury.

I strongly encourage you to keep these two apart until you are 100% absolutely certain your boy has been neutered and enough time has elapsed to ensure he is no longer fertile.
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