My Good Kissing Cat (the subject of my article, “How to Teach a Cat to Kiss”) is a five-year-old neutered male mongrel.
When another kitten took refuge in my house, I was worried because I wasn’t sure how my first cat would react. Would you be happy to have a playmate? Or would I be antagonistic and jealous if I saw another cat sharing my love and attention with him? Upon introduction, she gave the kitten a passive look, then rolled her eyes and directed his attention to the vacuum cleaner. She growled softly whenever the kitten came near her. She had to think of a likely solution to a problem that could possibly arise when the time came when the two cats couldn’t get along together. The furthest thing from my mind was to get rid of the little kitten because he already cast a spell on my heart. I decided to keep the kitten in the basement and let the older cat stay indoors.
I learned two things:
- It is not good to make the kitten and the older cat strangers to each other.
- Cat owners should take the initiative to create a friendly atmosphere for the two cats by allowing the two to mingle with each other. But always be on your guard to protect the kitten from being bitten or scratched by the older cat.
If you’re in the same situation as me, you can watch your cats’ behaviors as they go through the process of getting to know each other and becoming more than friends in the future.
At first, the older cat will go far away whenever the kitten approaches. The act hints that the bigger cat avoids the kitten because he doesn’t want to hurt her. It is also a gesture that he can possibly accept the presence of the kitten. He then begins to play with the kitten allowing him to play by wagging his tail. There may be a case where the cat gets overexcited and may inadvertently hurt the kitten. You can always get his attention but don’t scold the older cat. Instead, let him lick the kitten. Then encourage him to play with the little one again. As the older cat licks the kitten, there is a certain character trait developing in him.
In the case of my good kissing cat, a maternal instinct developed in him. She took care of the kitten and pampered him. Even now that the kitten is a mature cat, the older cat continues to pamper him.
Experts explained that a female behavior develops among neutered male cats because the hormone estrogen is the only hormone present in the cat’s body after the source of testosterone has been removed. It creates a tendency for male cats to behave like females. Estrogen and testosterone are present in both humans and animals. In females (both humans and animals), estrogens dominate over testosterones and in males (both humans and animals), testosterones dominate over estrogens.
I’ve been relieved of my worries before: the thought of watching my two cats fight. In fact, it is a wonderful experience to see two mature cats loving each other as mother and child. And now I’m the one who’s jealous because the kitty I love so much prefers his “surrogate mother” to his loving mistress.