Mother cat fighting with her son

by John
(Santa maria,ca.)

Our mother cat had litter of five. We found homes for four,and kept a male kitten. as he grew his mother groomed him the usual cat stuff.When he was old enough we had them both fixed,after that she has done nothing but pick on him hissing biting scratching,can you help?

Reply
Hi
So they are now both spayed / neutered. If they were fixed recently it could be that the hormone levels has still not dropped, as this can take several weeks to a month after the operation.

Also the operation etc may have caused the female cat to become afraid in which case she could be displaying something called aggression truama described here

cat-aggression-trauma.html

In either case it would be a good idea to give the cats a time out from each other for a few days and then to go through a reintroduction period to try and regain their confidence in each other.

If the behavior continues after that then you may want to try some cat calming sprays or medication for a period of time until things settle down

scared-cat.html

best wishes kate

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Mother cat fighting with her son

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My mother cat hates her babies too
by: Anonymous

Hi this happened with my cat. She hated her babies once they started to grow up, they wanted to be nurtured and she wanted to be left alone, she would do anything to get them away from her including attacking them, and unfortunately it hasnt gotten any better. But her kittens have learned to walk away from her adn not go near her. they now look to me as a mother figure... lol it can be a pain but i guess theres nothing else i can do about it.

Natural instinct
by: Anonymous

Hi,

It is a cat's natural instinct as a mother to dislike or discourage a relationship with her offspring to avoid incestual relations. I know this sounds weird, but it's true. Mother nature gave our animal friends some options to stop inbreeding as a way to avoid defects and birth abnormalities. I hope this helps.

D. Caron

Mother cat biting adult son cat
by: SimbaTig

Our 11 year old tabby (neutered) has often been aggressive towards her 10 year old (neutered) son over the years. The male, has always been quite placid. In last year or so however she has become increasingly more aggressive and regularly swipes a claw at him when he comes through the door ( often lying in wait to "ambush" him then swiping or biting his neck). The result of this has been several visits to vet with scratches that developed abscesses. The most recent is this week where the son was limping and vet discovered an abscess on his shoulder from probably another bite. Is there anything we can do to try and stop this behaviour. Any suggestions welcomed. Thanks.

Reply
Hi
Afraid not. Your female cat is simple feeling threatened by the male cat and so is trying to stake her dominance on the territory. This is normal behavior for cats I'm afraid.

You could try some of the cat calming sprays on the market like feliway to see if this helps relax her.

best wishes kate

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