Why would my adult male cat try to kill a female kitten?

Question

I have had an adult male cat for approximately 1 month. My daughter wanted her own cat and knew someone that was giving away kittens. I told her she could get one if she agreed to take care of it. Upon arrival of the new kitten, we tried to introduce the cats to each other. At first, it looked like the adult was trying to clean the kitten until he bit the kitten. We tried a couple of times which only resulted in the same thing. Can anyone explain why?? Is it because the kitten is a female and my cat is a male?? Do male cats not get along with other cats?? I'm new to being a cat owner. Please help.

Answer 1

Male cats are know as Tom Cats. They often kill kittens. It is a dominance thing that Tom Cats do. I don't like it and it is a sad fact. But that is probably why cats have as many kittens in a litter and have as many litters as what they do.

Answer 2

Cats don't readily accept other cats.
They are very territorial. The fact that the kitten is a female has no bearing on it. My daughter had a female cat for about 5 years. She then rescued a stray female kitten (over a year ago), and she still has to protect the younger cat from the older cat.
Don't leave them alone when you are gone. Put the new cat in the bathroom, or someplace where it can feel safe. Even a pet carrier would be better than subjecting it to the older cat's jealousy.
I have heard that after a few months, cats will learn to tolerate each other. Good luck.

Answer 3

Cats are extremely territorial. To introduce the young kitten was perceived as a threat to what was the sole territory of the other cat. You need to keep them apart for a few days, whilst the kitten settles in and the male cat gets used to the scent. Slowly, you need to let them both get closer to each other - you need to do this and so there is a door between them but they can smell each other. Do this a couple of times and then slowly open the door. You should find that the reaction of the adult cat is not so extreme.

You can buy a cat pheromone spray called Feliway from the vet. You can plug this in and it will settle the adult cat down as it is a familiar smell to them.

Answer 4

I have had ALOT of cats in my life both male and female so I can honestly tell you that it doesn't matter that you have an adult male and a kitten female. Cats can co exist peacefully no mater their age or sex and some male cats even take on a nurturing role to kittens. What it sounds like is that the adult male cat just doesn't like other cats or has some kind of behavioral problem. Maybe in time he would warm up to the kitten but if he keeps trying to hurt her I would consider finding a new home for one of them.

Answer 5

Your tom cat is actually displaying natural cat behaviour. Like their wild cousins, domesticated tom cats are very territorial and generally become very much a loner when they reach adulthood. You say that you have just had your adult male for a month; he is, therefore, in the process of establishing his territory, and he will defend that territory quite literally to the death against all interlopers.

Your cat obviously sees your daughter's kitten as an interloper and that means that your cat and your daughter's cat will never be able to get on together, unless perhaps you get your tomcat spayed (i.e. send him to the vet to get his reproductive tackle removed). It is a safe, routine operation for your vet to perform and your cat will be a lot more chilled out afterwards. But do not be surprised if your tom cat never gets on well with your daughter's kitten. It is most likely, however, that your tom will only accept your daughter's cat if it was a related sibling.

I don't know if you've ever seen Big Cat Diary on television, but it would have given you the clues to understand why your cat is being so bolshy. Male lions sole raison d'etre is to rise to the top of the tree in the pride and to further its genealogical line through procreation. To this end, it establishes a territory and all the females in that territory are his property, and he will defend that territory to the death against all-comers. The only way he can rise to the head of a pride is to depose the current alpha male either by killing him outright or banishing him from the pride's territory. He may do this on his own or he may achieve it in alliance with one of his brothers.

Once he has successfully taken over a pride he will systematically get rid of all the offspring of his predecessor by killing them to ensure the purity of his genealogical line. The pride females will then come into season and mate with the new pride leader. It sounds brutal and violent, but life in the wild is full of brutal and violent realities.

The people from whom you got your daughter's cat should really have asked if you already had a cat in the family, but of course, they may well have been as unaware of feline politics as you are. Maybe seeking advice from the RSPCA before you actually went ahead with acquiring the kitten would have been helpful and prevented this clash of feline personalities.

But it is all done now and you should therefore, as I have said earlier, get your tomcat spayed to take away his aggression. It might have the desired effect, but it is most likely that he will never accept your daughter's kitten as a companion, because your daughter's kitten is not a related sibling and you will have to keep them separated.

I would also advise you to get your daughter's kitten neutered as soon as possible to avoid the problem of unwanted kittens in the future. Your vet will be able to advise you about the best time to have this done.

I hope this has been helpful to you.

Answer 6

I also had a cat that tried to kill our new kitten several times . We think it is because male cats are territorial and are protecting their turf! If the male cat was neutered, as ours was, it could have thought of the kitten as "food" or prey and attempted to "hunt" it. That would account for the licking, then biting. They do that with mice too! Ours never did accept the kitten. It was sad.

Answer 7

Well that's good that he's neutered. Have a checkup with the vet to make sure he's not sick. Get his rabies and distemper shots, and leukemia too, since he's been outside. Then bring him in. They may hiss and growl at first-jealousy and territory changes. Squirt him if he trys anything mean. They may become good friends in a couple weeks. Isolate the kittens when you are not home and perhaps at night when you're sleeping. make sure you are giving divided attention to all 3 cats. I've seen male cats adjust fine to kittens. They even sometimes become a surrogate mother. I'm sure after awhile, it will be fine. Also after they're older, its natural for sibbling rivalry, where they chase each other, and do alittle fighting. When mine fight, and the kitty is crying, I throw a pillow at the other one or squirt him, reminding him to be nice to his brother.

Answer 8

the kitten is an intruder, into your male cats territory .
it is not aggression as such it is pure instinct

Tom cats are notorious for killing kittens
especially, if they come from a different household .

IF the kitten does not, have its , fierce female, MOM cat to protect it .

you have two solutions ;

1) put a screen between two rooms so that they can see each other but not get at each other
(allow the kitten, to escape from him .)

Once they are well acquainted ,
you can let them get to know each other very gradually
as the kitten gets older it will not be a problem
,

2) your male cat, may be less territorial ,if he is castrated

I do hope
, with patience , all will be well
>^,,^<~~~~~~~~~ ~~####>^,,^<

Answer 9

My male cat had no difficulties getting used to my female kitten, but I kept them separate for several weeks, only allowing them together when I was in the room. After about 3-4 weeks, they started getting along, and now, 4 years later they are the best of friends!

It just takes patience, and supervision.

Answer 10

keep the cats in separte rooms then swap so that they get used to each others smells then slowley introduce them to each other but be preparead for some fighting with a water pistol or plant sprayer to separate them. we had a male cat then got a female kitten and had to do this it took about 4 weeks but it worked this was on the advice of a vet .

Answer 11

This is what male cats do. They will kill the babies to send the mom into heat early and giving birth to his own young. Even though mom isn't around it's just their nature.

Keep putting them together but have the kitten in a crate. And only supervised. When the kitten gets older he will be OK with having her around. Have her spayed also.

If he is not neutered have him neutered. This may help with his aggression and spraying.