will a cat bury their kittens?

Hi... i haven't posted in ages but i just heard a disturbing story from a friend that her cat had kittens and then buried them. this happened twice or thrice....

does any one knoe if this is something that cats do?

I havent never heard.

I can imagine though, it is a way for the mom to hide the corpses, like they do with poo, and sometimes with food.


(I presume we are talking about corpses, not burying the kittens alive??)

the claim was that the cat (part of a large colony) was burying the kittens alive to keep the numbers down..... i thought that was a weird claim.

... hmm, that does sound pretty weired and I must say I can't quite believe it. I'd go with StefanZ and presume the mother was hiding away the dead kittens to keep the smell down or for later consumption.

Cats will kill and eat their young if a kitten is too sick or weak to survive or if the mother is very stressed out and unexperienced.

Cats don't activly do population control- if there are too many cats food resources become an issue and more kittens die due to a malnourished mother not beeing able to feed them.




By the way- how could this have happened twice or thrice? This cat belongs neutered asap, just watching it loose one litter after the next ... she should try to catch this cat with a trap if she isn't already doing so.

regards,

Christine

i know.... it should not be happening at all. these guys have about 28 cats on 1.5 acres of land in a pretty unpopulated area.... and one of them has some pretty non-conformist views on how to manage their feral cat population and is also convinced that they are self culling their numbers etc..... i've done my best to try and say my part but ... there's only so much you can say.

most of the colony has been neutered and spayed but the cat that keeps burying the kittens is according to them 'schizoprenic' and impossible to catch.

i don't know for sure. i haven't seen the colony myself....

they're also not getting any help from the local shelters at all.

Originally Posted by zazi

i know.... it should not be happening at all. these guys have about 28 cats on 1.5 acres of land in a pretty unpopulated area.... and one of them has some pretty non-conformist views on how to manage their feral cat population and is also convinced that they are self culling their numbers etc..... i've done my best to try and say my part but ... there's only so much you can say..

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Hi,

that doesn't sound too great. Mother nature is cruel- some of these cats might die painfully due to malnourtition and diseases.

At least you're trying to convince them to re-think their position sending you some good vibes for these cats.

Originally Posted by zazi

most of the colony has been neutered and spayed but the cat that keeps burying the kittens is according to them 'schizoprenic' and impossible to catch.

i don't know for sure. i haven't seen the colony myself....

they're also not getting any help from the local shelters at all.

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Ask them how exactly they are trying to catch this cat- are they using a humane trap or trying to catch the cats by hand? Maybe we could give them some tips that could enable them to catch her after all.

By the way- if they have such non-conformist ideas about managing a feral colony its not too suprising they aren't getting any help from the shelter.


regards,

christine

I have heard of cruel people doing this especially if the cat was an outdoor pet that got pregnant, and the owners didnt want the cat anymore so they kill and bury the kittens who were easy to find and they cant catch the mother to kill her so she become a stray cat. So the mother could have been guarding her dead kittens.

I never heard of cats burying there own kittens, but then again it's completely possible I guess.

hi, my cat was super fat and then one day she just got small but still fat.we looked everywhere but no kittens we thought she probably buried them because this was her first time giving birth and maybe she didnt know what it was

I do not think a cat would deliberately bury her kittens, alive or dead! If a kitten dies then often the mom will eat it, as many animals do, do help nourish her and save the other kittens, and to stop predators finding her and her surviving kittens. That is nature.

Bellain10 said:

hi, my cat was super fat and then one day she just got small but still fat.we looked everywhere but no kittens we thought she probably buried them because this was her first time giving birth and maybe she didnt know what it was

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 Agree with that said, either she did hid them very well (they do!), or she did ate up them (yes, it can happen too).  These are the two most propable variations.

If burying them so ONLY as stillborn.  Not so probable, but can happen, I imagine.

I suppose being burying alive because of being crazy is theoretically possible, but this is one in a million, not more. Besides, there are much fewer crazy cats than crazy people.   

Count this as the verrry least possiblility.  Just slightly better than seeing dragons flying around in broad daylight although you are sober.

Bellain10 said:

hi, my cat was super fat and then one day she just got small but still fat.we looked everywhere but no kittens we thought she probably buried them because this was her first time giving birth and maybe she didnt know what it was

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Could you please consider getting your cat spayed? Better for her and her health/longevity and better for the already huge cat overpopulation dilemma.

StefanZ said:

I suppose being burying alive because of being crazy is theoretically possible, but this is one in a million, not more. Besides, there are much fewer crazy cats than crazy people.   

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:lol3: GREAT quote, Stefan. And, completely true.