Male cats can be very destructive to pregnant women.
They’re also likely to be more aggressive than usual during pregnancy. Often, they’ll try to bite or scratch their pregnant female counterparts.
When faced with these behaviors, it’s your responsibility to ensure her safety. So, why is a male cat attacking a pregnant female?
A pregnant female cat was attacked by a male cat today. The attack happened at the cat sanctuary near our town.
The female cat was 6 months old, and the unborn kitten was about 2 weeks old. The male cat was only 1 year old, so it’s surprising that it attacked the mother cat.
However, apparently some cats get aggressive toward other cats when they’re pregnant. The male cat was caged for a week after the incident, which probably calmed it down.
The female cat also recovered quickly and is now able to take care of her kitten again.
Will A Male Cat Attack A Pregnant Cat?
A male cat may attack a pregnant female if the pregnancy is successful and the female is in heat.
Some cats just don’t like each other, and the male may be jealous of the pregnancy because it gets in the way of mating with females in heat.
Cats may disagree about who has rights to a particular food bowl, or they may fight over territory and sleeping spots in the house or yard.
The most common is a lack of socialization, as kittens with feral mothers are more likely to display aggression than kittens raised by humans from birth.
A cat that has lived his whole existence as the lone cat may react aggressively to other cats and to humans when placed in a new environment with other cats and people.
Male cats with aggressive behavior difficulties may never be able to be kept as pets because their behavior is never going to change.
Why Is Male Cat Attacking Pregnant Female?
Rough Play
Things may become tense when a male kitten tries to rough house with a littermate or when a female’s hormones cause her to swipe at anything that looks like a rival for her attention.
Cats may play rough, but felines in the wild generally don’t engage in true fighting behavior like kicking, biting, and clawing each other.
But this kind of play can turn into a real fight if one or both of the animals feels threatened or is trying to defend its territory or property.
It is best to keep your male and female cats separated until they’re at least 6 months old, and they can both be spayed or neutered to avoid this potentially aggressive behavior.
Most of the time, male cats and pregnant cats only do things like grooming, sniffing, chasing, and sometimes making noise with each other. This shouldn’t be a big deal in most cases.
Territory
Male cats are aggressive creatures that will fight to defend their territory from intruders and other males.
This is most common when male cats fight outside their territory to protect their nesting sites from rivals or when males fight over access to females in heat.
Redirected Aggression
This kind of aggression is directed against any perceived threat, usually another animal or person, instead of toward a specific target.
While sitting at a window, a pregnant cat may be startled by a passing car, storm, or another animal and lash out instinctively at the threatening sounds.
Whether or not she’s growling and holding still, to cats, everybody looks like a potential predator that justifies their need to attack.
Cats often use redirected aggression to protect themselves from people like children, dogs, raccoons, and other cats who come into their homes.
Defensive Aggression
Maternal aggressiveness is exhibited by a mother cat defending her kittens from perceived threats, such as another animal, while the babies are too young to fend off attackers themselves.
When another cat approaches, even one with whom she was friendly in the past, the maternal instinct kicks in, and she will begin attacking and biting the other cat to defend her young.
After a few weeks, when the kittens are old enough to defend themselves, the mother usually stops being so mean.
Spaying maternally aggressive cats is a controversial topic that divides veterinarians and wildlife biologists.
Inter-Male Aggression
Adult male cats will often get into fights with each other over mating rights.
These acts may be employed to sexually stimulate a female in heat as a prelude to mating with her, or they may be a pre-emptive strike to prevent a rival male from gaining access to the female.
This kind of aggression is about territory, and the cat uses his body language to show the other cat that he means business before they fight.
Attacks are usually averted if each male tries to bluff the other into submission without engaging him directly; but if this fails, they may fight each other to the death with fatal results.
How Do Male Cats Act When A Female Cat Is Pregnant?
Following and Pursuing
The surroundings has a dramatic effect on the behavior of a male cat who is about to mate with a female in heat.
While territorial disputes may cause him to stalk or patrol an area in order to stake his claim, if a female is in heat, he will perform a series of behavioral changes, some of which will be unique to this particular event.
Swatting
The cat strives to remove itself from its spot or avoid getting close enough for the female to swat at him.
This is his attempt to stay away from her, but he is still vying for her attentions in his own way.
This is more likely in a territorial altercation or if there are two or more males competing for the attention of a single female.
Growling
Another defensive vocalization that a cat uses in territorial disputes is growling with teeth bared and hackles raised.
The cat growls to show its displeasure with the other male’s presence or to warn a female that he’s ready to mate with her.
A cat growls when it feels threatened, is irritated, or is surprised by what is happening around it.
Hissing
At the moment, a hissing sound can mean irritation, anger, fear, a warning, frustration, pleasure, or even dominance.
This is a defensive sound, and a cat that makes it will lift its tail and show its teeth at the same time.
Constant hissing warns the cat ‘s opponent to stay away or leave the area.
Biting
This is a last option for cats and is exhibited only when no alternative is available to protect the mother and the unborn babies.
Consult a professional cat behaviorist for advice on appropriate ways to train your cat not to bite people or other animals.
But unless this is addressed, biting may continue even after the cat’s kittens have been weaned.
What Can I Do To Stop My Male Cat From Attacking The Pregnant Female Cat?
Your female cat is about to give birth to a litter of kittens. The male cat is enjoying this, but he’s not always gentle with the pregnant cat.
He knocks her down, bites her, and urinates on her. You have tried to break up fights between the male cat and the pregnant cat, but that only seems to make things worse. What can you do?
Chances are that the male cat is not comfortable with his female cat being pregnant, and the fear is causing him to act out aggressively.
As a male cat owner, you need to understand that the male cat does not automatically know how to care for his female cat when she is pregnant.
Here are some things you can do to help the male cat understand what is happening:
- Let the pregnant cat go first – When the pregnant cat wants to go somewhere, let her lead. This lets her know she is in charge. If the pregnant cat is not the boss, then the male cat will try to assert his authority.
- Provide separate sleeping areas – Separate sleeping areas for the male and female cats will make them feel less competitive for space.
- Keep them separated – If you have more than one cat at home, keep them separated as much as possible until the kittens are born.
- Provide more toys for the male cat – Give the male cat more toys to occupy his time.
- Stop play-fighting – Stop play-fighting between the male and female cats. This will only encourage the male cat to be more aggressive toward the female cat.
- Give the male cat space – Give the male cat his own space, separate from where the pregnant cat is. This will stop the male cat from trying to interact with the pregnant cat.
The male cat needs to understand that the female cat is the boss of the household, and he needs to respect that.
By showing him who the boss is, you’ll stop him from being aggressive toward the pregnant cat.
Also Read: Can You Travel With A Pregnant Cat?
Final Words
Male cats attacking pregnant females is a serious problem that no one wants to face.
Fortunately, there are many reasons why male cat attacking pregnant female happens.
Male cat attacking pregnant females occurs for several reasons, such as territorial aggression, hunger, and mating.
Territorial aggression happens when a male cat feels threatened by another cat or animal and attacks it because it is trying to take over his territory.
Male cat attacking pregnant female is also caused by hunger. A male cat will attack another cat or animal because he needs to eat.
Finally, male cat attacking pregnant female is caused when a male cat wants to mate with a pregnant female cat.
