Can Kittens have different fathers??

whisky'sdad

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I was working at the shelter on friday and a fellow volunteer and I were talking about the big differences in colorizations of the kittens. She mentioned that she heard that the female cat can be impregnated by various toms. Is that true? Is that why they look so differently?

The litter in question had a siamese mix, a almost pure siamese, orange tabby, a calico, and a black kitten.
 

cjandbilly

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It is possible, I just wanted to add some more real quick. My vet told me that once a female cat is pregnant, she will only be able to get pregnant more in a matter of about two days. It is very possible, and very common, but it's over a short amount of time. We found this out when we were asking if Annie could be a premature kitten... he said by 2-3 days, the most.
 

maverick_kitten

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i read an article that said (uk) town cats are more promiscuious than farm cats with an average of 4 fathers per litter rather than three. dont know how that works out, thought it would be the other way round.
 

kittylover4ever

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Ive heard this is true, but I just dont' understand. I mean, when a woman gets pregnant, she's pregnant......no one else can get her pregnant again till after she's given birth.........
 

hissy

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That's a woman though, a cat's system is much different- in a colony outside, many females will be mated with more than once, producing a large litter of kittens, but those that are fathered by one tom, will smell different to the mother than those fathered by another. In a colony, sometimes one tom will come to the litter and sniff out his kittens. He may then (though this is rare) choose to help nuture the kittens to take the load off of mom. But, he will also attempt to kill the other kittens that are not in his group. So the momcat will generally chase him off to protect her brood. Since these kittens are conceived at different times, this leaves the last litter at the mercy of the first- when the contractions start, no matter in what stage of developement the last litter is, they too are pushed out in the world. That's why in some cases in what looks like a perfectly healthy vibrant litter of kittens you may also have runts, or premies.

That's why controlled breeding is so important, because in some cases, depending on the cross breeds of the outside cats, blood types don't match on the parents and the kittens are born genetically altered, or ill. With ethical breeding, and the study of blood lines, this tragedy is often averted because special attention is paid to the queen and the tom as well in order to produce the strongest and best kittens in the line.
 

juniper

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Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

Ive heard this is true, but I just dont' understand. I mean, when a woman gets pregnant, she's pregnant......no one else can get her pregnant again till after she's given birth.........
Actually, I remember reading somewhere about a woman who gave birth to twins who had different fathers (and it wasn't via IVF or anything, it happened 'naturally')!
 

annabelle33

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that is so weird.

My one cat (now rb) had a small litter but the cats looked completely different. My other cat (also rb) had a larger litter but all the kittens looked almost exactly the same, and all almost exactly like the mother. I always wondered about that.
 
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