RE:Is this cute but my queston is this normal is about my kitty and a cat?

Question

Well anyway i got a kitty like a month or so ago and my 13 year old british shorthair With a tortoishell coat and she acts like she is the mother even though she did not give birth to her.I mean she grooms her, she follows her around,the kitten follows tess around.And they sleep together they play togther.Does she think shes a mother.Well anyway tess seems to be happy now :)

Answer 1

Many cats have parenting skills. Yes, what your older lady cat is doing is quite NORMAL.

I once adopted an eight week old kitten, and my older neutered tom cat took it upon himself to pick up where mamma cat left off. This cat would pin the kitten down and groom him and made sure he used the litter box.

Be glad older kitty fell in love with the kitten. Sometimes older cats never learn to accept the kitten.

Answer 2

That's wonderful! I would have expected a disaster with a female cat that old. Actually my friend got a kitten last year. She had an old and ill cat around 17. The kitten was very close to the old cat.

Guess it's like people. Some are just born charmers.

Answer 3

Yes, very normal. It is rare, but normal. I have seen it before as much as I have seen the older cats try to kill them by grabbing onto their neck after grooming them. But after all this time, and she plays with the kitten without hurting it, and they sleep together, it seems that your older cat may have just what she needed, a friend in feline. No, I don't think that the kitten thinks Tess is her mother, just the buddy a kitten needs.

Answer 4

Sure it's normal. The older kitty likes having a little kitty pal and the kitten likes having a mommy to groom her and play with her. Sometimes a neutered male cat will raise kittens too.

Answer 5

Yes, it's quite normal. Sometimes they have territorial issues at first, but my cats have always learned to love each other. I actually had a male cat that acted as a surrogate mother to 3 kittens. The mother was a stray that chose to have her kittens at our house. We had the male about a year and a half when she came. He was lonely and grouchy all the time until she came. We kept her and the kittens in a spare room until they got a little older, but he was fascinated by them. She eventually let him get around them after she learned to trust him, and he fell in love with them! He would groom them, sleep with them, and eventually even let them try to nurse! The mother would nurse them occasionally, but after she learned to trust him, she let him do everything else for them. He had one that he was especially fond of though. (It was a yellow tabby like him.) We ended up keeping that one and another, but gave the mother and 1 kitten away. They, especially the yellow one, kept trying to nurse for a long time. (They were almost grown), and he always let them try.

Answer 6

I'd say you got EXTREMELY lucky to have an older "lady" take to a youngster like that. As long as they get along and are happy, that's all the matters. NORMAL -- maybe, but not commonplace, I don't think.

My 15-year old tortie has stuffed "babies" she likes to mother (she was spayed at 6 mos. so never had kittens) but when I did have kittens after a stray adopted me last year -- she's been barely tolerant and NOT motherly towards the real babies at all. However, she still likes to mother her stuffed-animal babies.

Answer 7

Yes, most animals by instinct care for the little ones just like a mom. Do you watch the animal channel? If not you should. They showed a dog breastfeeding some baby kittens because their mother (the cat) for some unknown reason did not want them. So the answer to your question is acting like a mommy.

Answer 8

Animals with a strong maternal instinct will sometimes do this. I had a dog who had puppies, and ever afterward, she had this really strong maternal instinct. We later got a tiny kitten, and my dog would lie down and when the kitten came over she would lick it and clean it as if it were her own. She would happily let the kitten sleep between her front paws - they were inseparable. The kitten would romp and play all over her. My dog always seemed happiest with other animals around, especially that kitten.

Answer 9

I would say it is normal but rare also. I would also say that Mr. Talking Head needs to have his mouth sewn shut and his fingers broken.
How rude of him to say that mean stuff.
A father he will never make!

I am so happy that Tess and baby kitty found each other. May all of you live a long and happy life together!
Good work sweetie!

Answer 10

I have a 95 lb. male Rott/Dob/Shep. mix who actually thinks he is a mother to my little 4 week old siamese kitten. The kitten loves him and sleeps with him. He is as gentle with that kitten as could be. Be glad your cat has adopted the kitten. Most times one cat don't like the other.