My older male cat is licking my female baby kitty

by Nancy
(Granger, Indiana)

I have a male neutered cat not quite a year old. I have gotten a female kitten, she is 9 weeks old. He play bites her, never hurts her.


Now he has started to lick her, especially on her bottom/anus. I find this odd. Is this normal?

Editor's note: It sounds to me, Nancy, like he's taking care of her. This is not as uncommon a thing for an older male cat to do for a kitten as you might think, especially if there's no mother cat around.

If he's licking her anus often, however, I'd make sure she's not having some problems.

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starstarstarstarstar 		Stress?
by: Kurt (Admin)

@Susie,

I'm sorry to hear your cats are having problems. I'm assuming both cats are healthy and this is strictly a behavioral issue.

Some cats overgroom themselves when they're stressed for some reason, even though they may seem calm and happy otherwise. While I can't say that's the reason Sylvester is overgrooming Tweety Bird and not himself, I think it's possible.

If he were my cat, I'd make the assumption it was stress causing this compulsive behavior and do what I could do reduce any stress.

So what's causing the stress? I don't know.

Stress can be due to a medical cause, so as I said, I'm assuming he's healthy, but that may be a wrong assumption.

I would increase his exercise level with daily play sessions and groom him daily. I'd also set up a feliway diffuser in an area where he spends much of his time.

If need be, your vet may be able to prescribe medication to help with this behavior.

I hope this helps.
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starstarstarstarstar 		male obsessively licking female
by: Susie

I have a male cat, 3 years old neutered and a female 2 years old spayed. They adore one another, sleep together, eat together and groom each other. The problem is the male cat overgrooming the female above her eyes. She has tiny scabs above her eyes where he nibbles at her. He has pulled most of her eye whiskers and he pulls tufts of fur above her eyes, she has two almost bald patches above her eyes. She does not have an eye infection, just tiny scabs where he has nipped her. He licks her ears and the top of her head and she grooms him too. They have three cat trees and several quiet hiding spaces, but they prefer to hang out with each other. Both cats are calm. How do I get sylvester to stop overgrooming above Tweety birds eyes? She is 1/2 his size. Please HELP
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starstarstarstarstar 		Have him neutered and her spayed
by: Kurt (Admin)

@Anonymous,

I don't know if your male cat wants to mate with your female cat or not. I can't, however, in good conscience, encourage the mating of cats.

There are too many unwanted cats as it is, so I don't see the point of getting a mate for your male cat. If you want another kitten, there are plenty available already.

I also recommend slow and controlled introductions. I would suggest separating your non-neutered male from your non-spayed female so that no one gets hurt or pregnant, and get them both fixed as soon as possible.
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starstarstarstarstar 		My 10 month old male cat licks my 5 month old female kitten's body and private part.
by: Anonymous

I have a 10 month old male tabby orange cat. Recently l brought home a 5 month old female kitten to be his mate.He gets use to her right away but at the same time bites her neck sounds like he wants to have an intercourse to a kitten not in heat yet. In contrary, female kitten gets angry and fights back by her claw tries to scratch. I find this normal when male cat tries getting closer to female cat there are usually a bit fight between them. Hope l am right? On the other hand my male cat licking female's body ears and l just see he smells and licks her anus or vagina anything under her tail. Does this mean that male cat wants to mate with her please?
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starstarstarstarstar 		The kitten
by: Kurt (Admin)

I believe it's possible that your older male cat is licking your kitten a lot on her back end because she has some sort of problem (infection, bowel problems, etc.).

On the other hand...

While I'm not sure to what extent a male cat would imitate a mother cat's duties, there are plenty of male cats who have "mothered" kittens when no momma cat was available (YouTube has plenty of evidence of that).

Mother cats will lick their kittens after the babies eat in order to stimulate bowel movements and urination. At 9 weeks, your kitten is more than old enough to no longer need this help.

If he's doing it for that reason, he's a bit too late, but maybe he doesn't realize that.

At 9 weeks, your kitten is probably right in the middle of de-worming and vaccination booster shots and should be seeing the vet again, soon. Since this behavior concerns you (and I'm glad it does), I would give the vet a call and get an opinion. It's always best to check with the professionals.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Which
by: Anonymous

My baby kitten or the older one?

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