Kitten to Cat 59
Rubbing
The F2 fraction of the feline facial pheromones (see Chapter 3) has been identified as
being associated with sexual marking in males. The depositing of this chemical signal
and the visual display of rubbing appear to be part of the male courtship behaviour.
Vocalizing
Vocalizing, producing a distinct mowl sound, is another part of courtship behaviour
by males (Dards, 1983; Shimizu, 2001). Breeders sometimes report that they can be
alerted to the fact that their breeding queens are coming into oestrus by the ‘singing’
of their stud cats.
Mating
Mating is a somewhat rapid event in cats. The tom, approaching from either the side
or from behind, grasps the back of the female’s neck in his mouth and then mounts
her. Alignment of the genital regions is assisted by the female lowering her chest while
elevating her pelvis and deviating her tail to one side. Pelvic thrusting and ejaculation
occurs very quickly, usually around 20–30 seconds following intromission.
Penile spines
The glans penis of a sexually intact tom is covered in pointed spines that develop at
puberty and regress after castration and therefore appear to be linked to circulating testos-
terone. It has been hypothesised that these have three possible functions during mating:
● To provide additional sexual stimulation for the male and encourage pelvic thrust-
ing (Cooper, 1972).
● To act as a ‘holdfast’ mechanism to prevent pre-ejaculatory withdrawal.
● To provide additional stimulation of the female to encourage ovulation (Aronson
and Cooper, 1967).
Infanticide
The killing of cubs fathered by males from another pride is a recognized behaviour
of male lions. But, although the behaviour has been observed in domestic cats
(MacDonald et al., 1987; Pontier and Natoli, 1999), it is not clear how common it is
or whether these observations were examples of aberrant behaviour. Killing a female’s
kittens would have the effect of bringing the queen back into oestrus quicker. It is
therefore possible that a tom with poor mating success might use this strategy to
increase his chances of mating. Nursing queens can sometimes be more aggressive
than normal to males, especially to unknown males. The possibility that they might
pose a significant risk to her kittens might explain why this is.