Do ferals "couple up"?

williecat

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The feral I've been feeding and trying to catch since June (named Magic) has recently starting bringing around another cat at night. I'm not positive it's a male, but he has the big jowls and head of a tom cat. We call him Rusty.

So Magic and Rusty will rub against each other and eat together. Magic seems to guide him around with her head and often annoys him. He will hiss and swat at her and she always backs down but doesn't run away. It reminds me of an old married couple where the wife nags at the husband. I've not seen any other ferals around and Magic spends most of her days on my porch without Rusty.

I assume Rusty is the father of Magics kittens. magic is all black, Rusty is mostly white with a few patches of red tabby and the kittens were a mostly white calico and a cream with brown points.

Could they really be a "couple" in that they hang out together and mate? Do feral cats do that?

PS I've been trying to catch and spay Magic, but if I caught Rusty, I'd fix him too.
 

Willowy

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Feral cats are not solitary. They like to have friends and even groups of friends. Cats are promiscuous, not monogamous at all, but it's not unusual for 2 to hang around together regardless of gender. He probably is the baby daddy but she wouldn't be the only female he's mating with. Keep trying to catch her because there are going to be more kittens soon :/.
 

StefanZ

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Yeah, agree with above.  It is not unusual for ferales to stick more or less constantly together, even as a sort of family group.  the maile being a co protector of the kittens, sometimes it is even the male who is the main caretaker of the kittens.

This coupling is not the most common variations, but quite a few of our forumites did witnessed this.
 

sivyaleah

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The colony I'm familiar with in my home town has one specific cat, very friendly to humans (not feral, a stray for sure - she lets me pet her everywhere on her body) who seems to be the glue that holds the social aspect of this group together.  She has one main "friend" that she pals around with ALL the time.  They walk together with tails intertwining, bodies rubbing together, etc.  It's incredibly sweet to watch.  Several of the others seem to take cues from her whether or not it's safe to approach people.  She plays with all of them, although they do not necessary play with each other.  
 
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