It’s a question you never thought you’d ask yourself: what do I do if my cats are mating with each other? Get ready for ‘The Talk’.
Just when I thought I wasn’t going to have a Valentine’s Day post, inspiration struck. Well, actually, ‘inspiration’ started a wanton display in my living room.
As some of you know, Loki and Izumi have gotten quite close. It’s one of the reasons we decided to keep her. These two lovebirds bonded quickly and formed an age-appropriate relationship that, until last night, was strictly PG.
“What Do I Do? What Can I Do?”
“What do I do?” was my first question. Do I just let them have at it? Is it bad for their relationship if I let them? Should I break it up? What if it becomes a habit? Is it normal that my cats are mating?
Mating is an animal instinct; I know this. However, I’m not sure how it affects the dynamics of a cat household when it’s allowed between kitty siblings. So, I’m here to answer the question: what should cat owners do when Cupid’s arrow strikes?
Make Sure Your Cat Is Spayed/Neutered
Loki is neutered, and Izumi has an appointment to be spayed this week (it was set up before this ever happened – good timing!). If you find that your cats are mating or are attempting to mate, and you don’t want kittens around, have them fixed.
One rather disturbing tidbit I discovered while researching this was that veterinarians will do cat abortions. I know many people (myself included) find this abhorrent; if you want to avoid putting yourself in a situation where this becomes an option, GET YOUR CAT SPAYED/NEUTERED.
How Long Should I Wait Before Having My Female Cat Spayed?
Female cats can go into heat at as young as four months. They can have a litter of kittens at as young as six months. Don’t believe the myth that cats can’t be spayed until six months old – that’s just plain BS.
Cats can be spayed or neutered as young as eight weeks. Most shelters perform spay/neuter surgeries at this age, so there’s no reason your veterinarian can’t do it too. You should, however, make sure your veterinarian is qualified and comfortable with the procedure. If they aren’t, find someone that is.
Is Mating Stressful For My Female Cat?
If your cats are mating, there’s probably a lot of noise going on. You walk into the room expecting a fight, and you are instead greeted by the sight of them going at it. Izumi did a lot of protesting, which I took to be her saying “Back off, Kitty Weinstein!”.
I think it was more Loki’s lack of finesse than actual resistance to the idea. Once he, erm… ‘got it right’, she was all for it. It was pretty hilarious watching him try to mate from the wrong side, though.
Mating can be painful for female cats due to the male cat’s barbed penis. You heard right – barbed penis. A male cat’s ding-a-ling has ‘spikes’ on it for reproduction purposes, but these will most likely not develop if he is neutered early.
I have no idea if Loki has barbs on his yoo-hoo, and I’m not in any hurry to look. But guessing from Izumi’s reaction to having her cherry popped, I’m going to say no.
Is Regular Mating Normal Between Cats?
How often do cats mate? If your cats are fixed, there’s going to be distinctively less hanky-panky going on. The lack of sex hormones really dampens the mood. Intact cats are a different story.
Cats can and will mate as often as the female cat goes into heat. Female cats can have up to five litters a year (about one every 10 weeks). Without pregnancies, they will go into heat every three weeks on average. YIKES.
If we were to leave Izumi un-spayed, she and Loki would probably be going at least every month for a week straight. So, yes, regular mating is normal. Then again, I’d rather it not be happening at all, but you can’t fight the birds and the bees.
What If The Two Cats Are Litter Mates?
Loki and Izumi are technically adopted siblings, not actual siblings. But what happens if two cats of the same litter mate? Does that even happen? Don’t cats have any concept of incest or shame? Um, no.
Siblings will mate without a second thought. The instinct to reproduce is hardwired into a cat’s brain, and they will mate with any available female – even their own mother. This may seem gross to us, but cats don’t have the types of societal taboos that we have. They’re cats! Animals will be animals.
Unfortunately, there are some consequences to mating with your relative if you’re a cat. Inbreeding can result in birth defects, which include serious health conditions that can be fatal. Munchkin cats, for instance, often suffer from joint problems due to their stubby legs. One of my friends has a barn cat with a neurological disorder that causes them to wobble when they walk.
Although cat siblings mating isn’t dangerous in and of itself, any kittens produced from this union can suffer genetic defects and will have a hard time finding homes.
My Male Cat Is Neutered, So Why Is He Still Trying To Mate?
Another myth cat owners believe is that neutering totally takes away a male cat’s desire to mate. Obviously, this isn’t true. Male cats will still respond to a female in heat; occasionally, they will go after a spayed female as well.
According to Pam Johnson-Bennett of Cat Behavior Associates, male neutered cats “may take weeks and in some cases, months or even years” to stop exhibiting these behaviors. Male cats neutered sooner rather than later have much less chance of developing sexual urges.
Has your cat tried to mount and mate with another cat in your household? If you have any tips on how to deal with a situation like this, leave a comment!
That was a very interesting read!
Purrs xx
Athena and Marie
The funniest thing was Loki walking up to you all proud!
Thanks for posting this. I’m always amazed at how many kittens a pair of cats can make it a year! Also, I love the background picture on your blog, super cute!
Ha! I enjoyed this article. Both our cats (a Male and a female) are fixed so I hope I won’t have to walk in on this eh-em tricky situation. LoL
I just walked in on my male neutered cat humping my unspayed female in heat. At first I let them go at it, until it became an all night affair. I finally had to break them up, though my female wasn’t too happy about it. Now I feel dirty after being witness to all that hanky panky.
Oh boy… that doesn’t sound like any fun at all. Hopefully once you get your female cat spayed you’ll get more sleep!
Dealing with this right now. We took in a stray female kitten a some months back (we have 15 now all ferals and stray we’ve adopted) and planned on getting her spayed after saving up some money, all our other kitties have been spayed/neutered at 2 months so she was “safe” or so I thought. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit and all our inexpensive (still expensive) routes closed shop early, back in January. I had been hoping to wait this out, again all our male cats have been neutered a long time ago the latest bunch were fixed a year and half ago, so I figured she’d be ok until this virus blows over and I can get her fixed. Well, it appears this isn’t the case, lol. She has been going insane and our home has become the Playboy Mansion. ALL the boys, six of them, are trying their best to ehhmm “help her out” it is making life somewhat unbearable. She’s howling all day and all night and some of the boys are fighting over her. Found this article by searching for”can neutered cats still mate”. Seems they can, though I guess they’ll be “shooting blanks”? Ugh…can’t get an appointment through any of the shelters/low cost spay places here (all closed to the public right now) and many of the Vets are not doing “elective” surgeries right now, around here. Crossing my fingers my Vet, great Doc but very costly, can schedule us in soon (and make payments available). I’m calling tomorrow morning. This can’t keep going on. I feel so bad for my little kitty (and she is tiny abt 6lbs esp. when compared to the Toms here abt 17lbs, looks obscene smh), she’s obviously in, if not pain, severe frustration and it’s making her mental. She’s frantically running about and yowling bloody murder. Please Dr. Weir, be available.🙏
I’m sorry to hear about your situation. 🙁 Hopefully you can get your poor kitty in, otherwise you might have to try separating her from the other cats (which can be difficult, unfortunately). I hope all goes well and that you can get in to the vet!
After I broke up two cats mating and screaming at 3 am there’s a bunch of fur laying around so what caused that. Should i break them up does it hurt them if i do?
Fur can fly off sometimes when a cat is startled or running from something, so it’s completely normal. I would avoid breaking them up in the middle of mating, though, because a cat’s penis is barbed, and sudden ‘detachment’ can be more painful than the actual mating. Are these your cats, or are they somebody else’s that were outside? If they’re yours, I would get them spayed and neutered if possible to discourage these behaviors so that it doesn’t happen again.
my two cats are 8month old males, and I’ve aught them humping, is this normal, I’m uncomfortable with this, help.
MY neutered male has started humping his brother. Biting his neck etc. Also humoing my blanket. What can i do to stop him.
* I need help *
My female cat wasn’t in heat as soon as my male cat was in heat. The problem is my male cat when he’s “done”, my female cat hisses, growls as loud as she can, and sometimes scratches. It has been 2 days since it all happened. I don’t know what to do.
Thank you!
Are you trying to mate them? Did she end up getting pregnant? I can’t help but feel bad for the female cats, knowing that it’s painful and not enjoyable for them to mate. It makes me feel like my boy cat is trying to r*pe the girl and I wanna protect her. Cause clearly she doesn’t like it when he bites her neck and mounts her cause she starts screaming and pushing him away, and she’s never a vocal kitty.
I just wanted to comment cause my boy cats name is Loki also! And his sister is lilah (adopted sister not blood), and they’ve been both going in and out of heat recently. He’s about 5-6 months and she’s about 8 months. You can tell she’s in heat and wants it but she keeps fighting him off when he tries to mount her and bites her neck. But I’m afraid it’s already happened behind closed doors cause they have a lot of alone time and we do frequently hear them screaming which she never makes noise but he’s usually pretty vocal. So I know when she does scream something is going on. Need to get one of them fixed ASAP!
I was googling can 2 male neutered cats have sex, when I came across this article. My concern is that these cats are litter mates, so I was wondering if one is just trying to be more dominant or is he really trying to have sex with his brother? I’d really like to know if I should separate them or let them have at it? Thanks!
Hi Amber, I have three sibling kittens 2males and 1female and this is the time for mating and found the female on heat . I’m waiting for the vet to turn up next month to have them all spaded. Desexed. My biggest concern is that she’ll end up pregnant so I’ve decided to separate her…. she’s in the caravan and they are out playing…I’m having a thought while writing this to you is to swap their living quarters so it won’t be so stressful on her. .thanks for your informative info on your kitty’s .🙂
My two female cats try to fuck everything.
they are in heat