How does a male cat recognize his offspring?
How can he sense whether a certain offspring is not his -- and he therefore kills it?
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Practical problem:
We have a situation at our house: The neigbour's cat has kittens in our shed; there were four kittens in the beginning.
There are altogether some 10 cats in our street, 3 males and 7 females (+ 2 castrated males), not counting occasional visitors.
One of the 3 males is really big and aggressive, and he wishes to rule the territory. I don't think that the kittens in our shed are his though, they don't look so.
I think he knows about them, already for a week or so, but he hasn't killed them. Yet two kittens are missing!
What is going on?
How can he sense whether a certain offspring is not his -- and he therefore kills it?
***
Practical problem:
We have a situation at our house: The neigbour's cat has kittens in our shed; there were four kittens in the beginning.
There are altogether some 10 cats in our street, 3 males and 7 females (+ 2 castrated males), not counting occasional visitors.
One of the 3 males is really big and aggressive, and he wishes to rule the territory. I don't think that the kittens in our shed are his though, they don't look so.
I think he knows about them, already for a week or so, but he hasn't killed them. Yet two kittens are missing!
What is going on?