Odd Estrus Accompanied With Strange Behavior

[KatsPurrrsians]

I have a newly acquired queen who had just turned a year old when I got her 2 months ago. Her previous owner said she’s had her first heat cycle but didn’t elaborate on the number of cycles, the dates or cycle lengths and such. Well since bringing her home she’s not had a heat cycle. I have a tom cat (my baby) who has free range of the house and I assumed being around him might prompt estrus. However that hasn’t been the case. Moreover, she’s adopted this strange new habit of stalking my 5 month old female kitten and biting her on her back (who is normally her BFF and main play friend) . The kitten doesn’t not like it at all! She’s even started hissing and growling at the new 1 year old and avoiding her. The 1 year old doesn’t seem phased at all when the kitten gets upset. She just keeps slowly following her until I separate them. And to top all that off, when I notice my tom cat chasing her she gets very mad at him and swats, hisses and growls until she finds a hiding place. Once she hides he still tries to get at her but eventually she wins out and he gives up.

What could be causing him to chase after her if she’s not in heat? According to the original breeder her heats were not silent by any means. And I haven’t noticed any signs of heat so is my tom just being a young hormone filled boy or do all these signs add up to something else? And why has she had such a long hiatus in estrus since coming to live with us? Could that be the reason right there?... the fact that she’s in a new living environment? Does anyone have any experience with anything like this?

 

[posiepurrs]

It could be the new environment causing the delay. Also usually my cats stop heats as the days get shorter even though they are strictly indoors. They resume as the days start getting longer. The behavior with the 5 month old sounds like a dominance behavior, not related to heat cycles. As for her attitude with the male, it might just be as the old saying goes :familiarity breeds contempt. You could try separating them for a bit to see if it makes her more receptive.

 

[KatsPurrrsians]

Thanks so much for the response posiepurrs ! That eases my mind a lot! Everything you said makes perfect sense! Always grateful for your input.

So how’s it going since you’ve come out of retirement? (Forgive me if I’m off with my assumption that you’d already come out if retirement. I haven’t been on in a while ).

 

[KatsPurrrsians]

Update— when I was grooming my girl today she began treading her back legs and put her tail to the side!!!!
However, my male hasn’t noticed her yet. He’s napping under my king size bed so I can’t reach him to lure him out. And another thing, my girl isn’t showing these signs every single time I pet her tail area. Nor is she showing the usual heat signs I see in my other queens (being vocal, super affectionate, rolling around). Granted I’ve never witnessed this particular queens heat signs before so maybe she’s just not as noticeable as my others. Or could I be jumping the gun assuming this is heat? Maybe this is just the first stage of heat? Or could I have missed the first stage and this is the last? So many questions running through my mind. I know I’m over paranoid . Sorry about that. I’ve just been in mega anticipation to get these two together. I’m hoping I haven’t missed anything important and missed our chance till spring .

 

[KatsPurrrsians]

Wondering if it’d be a bad idea to confine she and my male together? With the recent aggression and all... oh wait , it just dawned on me that maybe she was in the first stage of estrus the other day when he was chasing her and she was being aggressive. But in that case wouldn’t he be aware that she’s in full heat right now? She’s laying on top of the bed and he’s underneath (one of his favorite napping spots).

 

[posiepurrs]

Thanks so much for the response posiepurrs ! That eases my mind a lot! Everything you said makes perfect sense! Always grateful for your input.

So how’s it going since you’ve come out of retirement? (Forgive me if I’m off with my assumption that you’d already come out if retirement. I haven’t been on in a while ).

I am not technically out of retirement from breeding yet - I am still waiting on a male for my stud. I think I have found one, but he is far to young yet to finalize the deal. The one I am interested in has a dynamite pedigree. Even has some national winners in it. Of course it also depends on cost - I know what I am willing to pay. It could be 2 years or more before we have a litter.

 

[Sarthur2]

KatsPurrrsians

It is not wise to breed your new female until she is a minimum of 18 months old. That would be in the spring. This also gives her a good 6-8 months to adjust to her new environment.

Therefore, you should not allow your male around her right now. I certainly would not confine them together right now.

I also agree that you may not see a regular estrus cycle until the spring anyway, which would be totally normal for a female cat through the winter.

This cat needs time to mature and to adjust without your male chasing her.

I also agree that she is letting the kitten know that she is the dominant female.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Does your male have full run of the house all the time? How do you control matings? And how many breeding females do you have now?

 

[KatsPurrrsians]

KatsPurrrsians

It is not wise to breed your new female until she is a minimum of 18 months old. That would be in the spring. This also gives her a good 6-8 months to adjust to her new environment.

Therefore, you should not allow your male around her right now. I certainly would not confine them together right now.

I also agree that you may not see a regular estrus cycle until the spring anyway, which would be totally normal for a female cat through the winter.

This cat needs time to mature and to adjust without your male chasing her.

I also agree that she is letting the kitten know that she is the dominant female.

Yes, that was my original plan (waiting until she settled in before making any decisions as far as breeding go) and luckily (along with excellent genetics) she’s an extremely well socialized cat with an excellent personality. She was right at home within a very short time and showed to have the promising personality traits which one would look for in a queen. However, I was mainly concerned about the odd developments in her estrus cycle. So I’m glad to know it’s not odd at all. To be honest I was actually wondering if she was showing traits towards same sex mating behavior (I know, silly right). However I’m not sure if the animal kingdom is as complex as human we humans are in that area.

It looks like she wasn’t in heat like I thought . So I’m thinking spring mating will be in store after all. My other queen stops her heats in winter too.

talkingpeanut , my male only has full run of the house when my breeding females (only 2) aren’t in heat. He lives on the upper level of the house and away from my girls when I’m controlling heat cycles and matings.