Half Feral Male Cat attacking his kitten (possibly male, hard to tell from fur) Will he KILL his own

I've taken care of a male cat I named Smoky for 2 years now. He lets me and my family pet him but no one else. Months ago he brought a female to us named Lucy and they had a kitten. I believe the kitten is about 16-20 weeks old. Recently whenever Lucy is not around Smoky will randomly hold down the kitten and bite all over his neck and and back. The kitten adores his father and follows him around but when Smoky does this he looks kind of scared. I've seen them play before but this is different. The kitten usually sits and lets him do it but today he got away and his eyes were huge so he left for half an hour and came back when Smoky had calmed down. I've heard of male cats killing their kittens but usually this is when they are younger and our kitten is 16-18 weeks old. I'm really worried about the kitten but I can't watch them all the time and Lucy only comes towards sunset. Is Smoky actually going to hurt him and if he does in the future what should I do?

He may be trying to convince him to leave---tomcats usually run off the males when they're about that age. If you want them to all get along they'll need to be neutered.

Absolutely agreed with Willowy - the male may be trying to get the younger male to go away, in which case neutering everyone is the only thing that will help.

However, are you...sure that the kitten is male? Does it look like a potential attempt at mating behavior? I ask this because part of mating is for the male cat to bite the female's neck, and it's common for toms to try to mate with their own kittens (once the kittens are grown they don't know the difference!). Again, spaying/neutering would be the only fix for this.

There are low-cost spay/neuter clinics - try googling "low cost spay/neuter near [your town]" to see if you can find info. Local rescues and shelters are also likely to have connections or sometimes even their own low-cost services. It seems like the tom is the main issue here, but it'll be important for all the cats to be fixed too. Smoky will try to mate with the mother again, but in addition, if the kitten is male, he will try to mate with her, too.

I don't know what your situation is, but maybe you could get help from other people around you by explaining that you're concerned that if these cats remain unfixed, not only will it lead to a lot of homeless babies, it could lead to a cat population explosion in the neighborhood.

In any case, good luck!

Thank you everyone for your answers. I have looked into TNR before and I will most likely have them all neutered/spayed now but my only worry is that they will never trust me again. But I know that the kittens safety is more important. 

Also I'm not sure if the kitten is male because he is still very timid and never turns his back to me. But he is starting to become comfortable with us so I should know soon. The biting didn't look like Smoky was trying to mate he just bit all over his back and sometimes his neck. Again thanks for the advice!

Best of luck with these kitties! I'm glad you're looking into TNR for them. It's tough, especially if you suspect they might be afraid, but in the long run, it will be good for them. You're a good cat guardian.

coco7036 said:

Thank you everyone for your answers. I have looked into TNR before and I will most likely have them all neutered/spayed now but my only worry is that they will never trust me again. But I know that the kittens safety is more important. 

Also I'm not sure if the kitten is male because he is still very timid and never turns his back to me. But he is starting to become comfortable with us so I should know soon. The biting didn't look like Smoky was trying to mate he just bit all over his back and sometimes his neck. Again thanks for the advice!

Click to expand...

They shouldn't hold it against you after a few days. You bring the food!

Also, once hormones calm down they will be less on high alert.

Wild and Farrel male cats have been known to kill kittens. They do this so the female will will come into heat. I know it does sound odd but it is known fact. I would keep close watch and keep them apart.

Dominant male cats sometimes mount and lightly bite other cats' neck as a show of dominance. Since the male may be getting aggressive, you might conside trapping and neutering him first, because if he chases off the kitten, the kitten will be without a food source. Don't worry about the cats being angry with you for trapping and fixing them. All cats lucky enough to have caregivers have to deal with occassional trips to the vet, which all they hate, but they get over it in a day or less. The other option is to trap the kitten first and take him into your home after the neuter surgery. At 4 months, he can still be socialized, especially since he already has a relationship with you. He would have a much happier life indoors. Also, female kittens as young as 4 months can get pregnant, so if the kitten is female, you don't want to put this off much lomger or you could have two pregnant cats to worry about. Good luck and thanks for helping them.