Pet Tips

Tip 90 – Cat sex – Are cats promiscuous

Many people view cats especially female cats as sexually promiscuous creatures. One of the reasons for this notion is that when female cats are in heat they call out to let males know that they are in heat. They also mate frequently and often mate with different males that have fought with each other to win mating rights. The resulting litter of kittens may therefore have been sired by different males which can account for littermates that look surprisingly different from one another. This reinforces our notion of their promiscuity and is classic anthropomorphic thinking. (The assigning of human attributes to non-humans)

In truth female cats mate in this way, as it is the most effective way to reproduce and ensure species continuity. Unlike human females, cats do not ovulate (release their eggs) until AFTER several matings have taken place. This is because cats (in evolutionary terms) are solitary hunting creatures and females must ensure that their eggs are fertilized to maintain the species. Mating frequently, and possibly with multiple partners before relesing their eggs, ensures high probability of fertilization as well as genetic variety within the cat genepool.

It should be noted that at this point (modern times) there are shelters all over the world that simply have too many unwanted cats and kittens and the majority end up euthanized. There is no good reason to let your cat(s) mate even once.
So please – spay and neuter your kittens.

Leave a Comment

(Additional questions? Ask them for free in our dog - cat - pet forum)