Why is my male feral trying to mate with kittens?

moreknow

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Hi all,
Thankfully this time it isn't a serious cat problem, but i have an unwanted cat behavior going on
So i have 4 grown semiferal males, one of them was fixed last week, and he's still spraying and being territorial. Im not surprised about that but he's still appearing to make attempts to mate, which is weird. Does anyone know if this behavior will go away?
The cat mentioned above was believed by me to be the dominant cat, followed by this other one who's been actively trying to mate as well, despite there being other 'enemy' tomcats outside that don't belong to me. These 2 cats are the only ones ive seen wanting to mate and be territorial, and thankfully they have always been cool with each other; no fights whatsoever. They typically spend nights in my garage
However, i saw the other 2 cats, who are about to turn 1 year and also spend nights in my garage, try to mate with this 4-month old kitten that i brought in last month. The whole day, these 2 cats look disinterested in that stuff and sleep, but now all of a sudden they're smelling the kitten and one even got on top.. the kitten was purring (i think she thought that the male was tryin to playfight), she seems confused and not interested.
This isn't ideal, but can anyone explain this behavior if possible? and how can i stop this unwanted sexual behavior?

Many thanks,
uriel
 

Norachan

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Male cats will spray and attempt to mate with female cats if they've only recently been neutered. They can still father kittens up to one month after being fixed.

Female kittens can go into heat before they get to 5 months old. I've had several young female feral cats spayed right as they reached six months old and a few of them were already pregnant, so must have mated at around five months of age or just after.

I think you need to get this 4 month old female spayed as soon as you can. It sounds like she'll be producing kittens pretty soon.
 

danteshuman

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I agree with Norachan . I was just going to tell you that hormones can stay in the cat for weeks after neutering & female cats as young as 3 months can go into heat. Just to be sure I recommend spaying at 4 months. It sounds like you need to spay hee ASAP!

Maybe keep them seperate until she heals up from her spay? Also try getting a black light & enzyme cleaner to clean up his marking. I would try cat attract litter in new open boxes in front of his favorite pee spots.
 
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moreknow

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Male cats will spray and attempt to mate with female cats if they've only recently been neutered. They can still father kittens up to one month after being fixed.

Female kittens can go into heat before they get to 5 months old. I've had several young female feral cats spayed right as they reached six months old and a few of them were already pregnant, so must have mated at around five months of age or just after.

I think you need to get this 4 month old female spayed as soon as you can. It sounds like she'll be producing kittens pretty soon.
thank you so much for the information :)
it just seems so weird because the 2 cats who are trying to mate with that kitten never do anything like that throughout the day. The other 2 older cats are the ones who do all the spraying and mating.. and that kitten is so small, she just hisses at them
 

Jcatbird

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Nighttime is often when cats are more active. It’s not unusual to hear mating calls or cat fights at night. That little girl really doesn’t understand mating yet but she will if you can’t keep her from the males until she is spayed. It’s very common for very young females to get pregnant. It is also common for a cat with very young kittens to , almost immediately ,get pregnant again. Any mating age female really needs to be spayed or kept away from males entirely. It only takes one incident to produce kittens. I’m glad you noticed! Very observant!
 
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moreknow

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I agree with Norachan . I was just going to tell you that hormones can stay in the cat for weeks after neutering & female cats as young as 3 months can go into heat. Just to be sure I recommend spaying at 4 months. It sounds like you need to spay hee ASAP!

Maybe keep them seperate until she heals up from her spay? Also try getting a black light & enzyme cleaner to clean up his marking. I would try cat attract litter in new open boxes in front of his favorite pee spots.
yes i plan on getting them all fixed by May
the dominant male who i just got neutered last week is on top of the female and is actively chasing after her, and i just heard her growl as he was on top 😦 .. is this because he's actually mating? or is this just b/c of the hormones or because maybe the clinic didn't actually neuter him (unlikely lol)
 

di and bob

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It takes up to 60 days for the hormones to leave their bodies. Even neutered males will try to mate at times, it is more a show of dominance though instead of actually mating. that may be what your males are doing. But your poor little female needs to be protected, they could possibly hurt her.
 
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moreknow

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It takes up to 60 days for the hormones to leave their bodies. Even neutered males will try to mate at times, it is more a show of dominance though instead of actually mating. that may be what your males are doing. But your poor little female needs to be protected, they could possibly hurt her.
ah i see, thank you sm :)
Yes i plan on taking her, another female and the tomcat to the clinic Thursday
 

danteshuman

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Once (& only once!) I saw my mom’s cat go into heat. She drove everyone nuts; even the other 2 male neutered cats. One of the boys would mount her, bite her scruff then get all confused. So it is possible he is not completing the mating. Still just to play it safe I would keep him separate from her (to prevent injuries, bullying & possible pregnancy.)
 
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