Do Cats Know They Can Get Pregnant?

[vanellym]

Silly question , but I googled it and didnt find an answer...

When a queen cat goes in heat and meets a tomcat , they end up doing it .

But does she know that it will most likely make her pregnant?

I know (believe) they don't plan ever being pregnant and get excited the way most humans do....

So if anyone has any interesting links or theories, share them!

Having a nursing cat has pop so many questions in my brain!

 

[jen]

All they know when they are in heat is that they NEED to mate. That is why it is our responsibility to neuter them They also have the kittens and raise them on instinct. They have no real emotion attachment as a human would to them. Yes they may mourn their kittens a bit when they leave but it isn't like a human where they long to have a family someday and will miss out if spayed. Make sense?

 

[jen]

I do have a follow up question if anyone cares to answer and if the OP doesn't mind. If an adult female and her adult male kitten are adopted together and have never been apart (now both spayed and neutered) do they know they are related? Does the female know the male is her baby and does the male know the female is his mom??

 

[vanellym]

Back when I was a kid , my parents had a pack of 3 small dogs... they were all related(never separated )yet still mated. I always wondered if they knew that it was incest...
This dosent really answer your question but I hope someone replies to us an answer!

I sometimes wish we knew more about the way animals think and just how much are they capable of doing/knowing.

 

[jen]

I do know that they definitely do not care if they are related when left intact and are in heat. They don't even have to be in heat to get pregnant. Males will mate with any female, even his own mother.

 

[Willowy]

There is a natural instinct for a female cat to reject males she's close to. In theory, to help prevent inbreeding, but she'll also reject a male who's not related if they grew up together. The catch is---she'll only reject him if another male is available. If, say, they're both housecats, or he's the only male around outside for some reason, she will eventually let him mate with her. The biological imperative to reproduce is stronger than the instinct to not inbreed.

I do think older females know that mating will get them pregnant. A lot of them start trying to avoid toms and try to fight them off when they get older, but the males will take them by force. Of course a young female doesn't know the first time. Well, the same is true of humans if they don't get good sex ed!

 

[golondrina]

I wouldn't know if a female cat is aware that mating will result in a pregnancy although I woudn't be surprised if they realize it after a couple of pregnancies take place.

But on the question if kittens realize they are related brings to mind what happened some years ago with my younger daughter's female dog. She gave birth to a very clumsy female baby. This mom dog took care of her deficient daughter over the years protecting her whenever necessary. When her daughter became pregnant and after delivering her kittens she acted as if she was not concerned mom took over the situation and handled the pups one by one as necessary as they were born. Then she picked up each of them and placed them next to their mother's nipples time and time again until the little ones started to nurse and their mother understood her role at least so far as feeding them was concerned. I could write many pages relating all the occasions this mother took care of her daughter and protected her over the years until her death.

I suppose situations vary with the animals as they do with us humans but that it is quite possible they understand their relatonship to one another to a grater extent than is realized if the conditions permit it.

 

[Kflowers]

We adopted a cat who quickly turned herself in a set of four. We kept her and the kittens though we got everyone fixed before it happened again. The mother cat took care of the kittens reassuring them - they ran to her when frightened though they were physically bigger than she was- and protecting them from what/whoever frightened them. They were a little mentally challenged, perhaps because they were her first litter, though she had the mothering thing down pat. She never cared much for other cats, just her kittens though she let them play with others we rescued. Her 'kittens' died at age 12, 16, and 17. She was there for the survivors each time. She died when she was 19.

 

[Merlin77]

I think cats do have family relations, and that they "choose mates", though not to the same degree as humans do. Raini and Hunter lived together and shared the shed, back when the other cats weren't around. I cannot say if they choose to have kittens or not.

Raven got really sad when Suki and Willy disappeared (then was happy once they returned).