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- Jan 24, 2012
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Hi. Our 4 cat family gets along well for the most part. Our newest addition Lucy (6 years, spayed as an adult after having kittens) was befriended quickly (after an isolation period) by our Eko (2 years, neutered at 4 months.) She is also friendly with our other male cat (Leo, 2 years, neutered) and Emily (2 years, spayed.)
Eko likes to "make kittens" with Lucy. He gets on top of her, bites her neck (must not be too hard because it takes a while for her to even react sometimes) and makes biscuits with his back legs (not really humping and clearly not knowing all that is involved with the process.) I wasn't too worried about it at first....I'd just clap and distract him....but it is happening mutliple times per day now and he won't be distracted. The funny thing is...I can't really tell if Lucy is bothered by it. She yowls a bit (which is typical for a female when mating, right?) and "fights back" by biting Eko's ears to get him off her. She occasionally hisses and swats him if he was being really persistent. They are still really friendly with each other and Lucy seems to want to be near him even right after these incidents. She doesn't avoid him at all.
Another interesting clue....our other male, Leo, plays sheriff around here. He is always on the spot if Eko is playing too rough with one of the girls....all it takes is his body language to get Eko to quit. Now, Leo and Eko are good friends and snuggle buddies...so it's not like Leo is a tyrant or anything. He just "polices" skirmishes between cats and keeps the peace. Interestingly, he lays right there while this is going on and does nothing. Could this indicate that he knows it is no biggie? He heard Lucy screech at Emily today and came in the room with his tail puffed up (funny, because he doesn't know who to blame if the girls "fight"...which is usually mild and silent anyways.) But he doesn't react to Lucy's yowls during this mock mating.
I just would love some input on whether I should be intervening here. I'm usually pretty hands off because the most intervention that has ever been needed by me is the occasional distracting of the kitties when tensions rise. They are a pretty nonviolent friendly group. We do keep a feliway diffuser going and I spray the living room with calming spray if tensions seem high.
Do you think this is a problem?
Eko likes to "make kittens" with Lucy. He gets on top of her, bites her neck (must not be too hard because it takes a while for her to even react sometimes) and makes biscuits with his back legs (not really humping and clearly not knowing all that is involved with the process.) I wasn't too worried about it at first....I'd just clap and distract him....but it is happening mutliple times per day now and he won't be distracted. The funny thing is...I can't really tell if Lucy is bothered by it. She yowls a bit (which is typical for a female when mating, right?) and "fights back" by biting Eko's ears to get him off her. She occasionally hisses and swats him if he was being really persistent. They are still really friendly with each other and Lucy seems to want to be near him even right after these incidents. She doesn't avoid him at all.
Another interesting clue....our other male, Leo, plays sheriff around here. He is always on the spot if Eko is playing too rough with one of the girls....all it takes is his body language to get Eko to quit. Now, Leo and Eko are good friends and snuggle buddies...so it's not like Leo is a tyrant or anything. He just "polices" skirmishes between cats and keeps the peace. Interestingly, he lays right there while this is going on and does nothing. Could this indicate that he knows it is no biggie? He heard Lucy screech at Emily today and came in the room with his tail puffed up (funny, because he doesn't know who to blame if the girls "fight"...which is usually mild and silent anyways.) But he doesn't react to Lucy's yowls during this mock mating.
I just would love some input on whether I should be intervening here. I'm usually pretty hands off because the most intervention that has ever been needed by me is the occasional distracting of the kitties when tensions rise. They are a pretty nonviolent friendly group. We do keep a feliway diffuser going and I spray the living room with calming spray if tensions seem high.
Do you think this is a problem?
