Sexual Behaviour of Cats

Cats experience several periods during a year when they become sexual active. The sexual behaviour of cats starts in their puberty i.e. between the 3rd and 18th month of age depending on their race, the season, and what they eat. Male cats (Toms) will start producing sperm cells and female cats (Queens) will start producing egg cells while they both expel sexual hormones.

A Queen in heat starts behaving very distinctly. She pees more often and she walks around restless. She will meow constantly for hours on end. Queens that live indoors will often go and sit in front of the window and meow. They often become very affectionate, constantly moving up against objects and people, and will roll aroud on the floor making nagging noises. Every touch on her lower back will incite her take on a mounting position. Female cats in heat who behave like this will without a doubt attract all Toms in the neighbourhood. The males will come around in response to the shouting of the Queen, which will in turn make her even more excited and more restless. She will let the males fight for her, but she will not always recognise the winner. She is also not timid as she can mate up to ten times an hour with several males.

When you spay or neuter your cat before they reach their puberty the sexual behaviour will not fully develop. A lot of people choose to spay or neuter their cat because of these benefits. Neutered Toms are more affectionate and more attached to the house. They are also more likely to reach an older age because they loose the urge to mate and are therefore less likely to fight with other Toms – this can cause them a lot of stress. Spayed Queens no longer attract Toms, and they reduce the risk of developing tumours as a result of pregnancy.

For more information see:

http://cats.about.com/cs/pregnancybirth/a/mating_game.htm
http://www.cat-health-guide.org/catmatingbehavior.html

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