Do Tom cats kill females??

Clutchkick

I live in an area where there were never any cats until about 14 of 15 months ago, when a stray cat with two kittens came out of nowhere. Every morning when my father unlocked the car to go to work the three cats would take off like bullets from under the car.

One morning only the mother and one of the kittens ran out from under the car, he took no notice and started the car. As soon as the car started the car stalled without being in gear, then the third kitten ran out. The car didn't sound right after that, it turned out there was damage done to the timing belt and there was no sign of the kitten. After a few days we saw her and her right front leg was very badly damaged.

We left food out for her tried to get closer and closer to her without her running away. She eventually got used to us and we took her in around September. We took her to the vets and unfortunately her leg couldn't be saved and had to be amputated.

Since we took her in, several more cats and one Tom have come on the scene. About two months ago I noticed she didn’t sound right, like there was damage done to her throat, I didn’t take much notice. About 6 weeks ago we noticed her getting bigger and about two weeks ago she had a kitten. The kitten disappeared shortly after it was born, we think the tom got at it because we have a half door in the shed where she was that was closed so there was no way our cat could of brought her out.

Yesterday I went to get into my car and I noticed all the stray cats were in front of my car(being led by the tom and including her sister/mother) trying to get in under the car at something. I knew there was something under the car and after what happened with the cat’s leg I didn’t want to take a chance so I had a look. Normally the stray cats would run away if you came within 10 feet of them but not this time. They were very aggressive and were desperately trying to get at something under the car. I managed to clear them off and took a look underneath, our cat was hiding there and looked traumatised. There’s been several incidents like this now.

I would compare her personality more to an abused dog than an independent cat after what happened her leg. She is heavily dependent on us and can’t fend for herself, for food or defence. Should I be worried??

mymo

Is she neutered?
It sounds like shes not from your post, if she's not that's why all the toms are around, shes probably in heat again, get her done and they'll leave her alone.
When you get her neutered you need to keep her in and watch her until the stitches are removed.

Nody

In essence yes you should be worried; it sounds like she's not part of the local pack anymore which means that they will do everything to chase her away (not kill) but she's used to be around you and the fact she's hiding triggers the hunting instinct that much more in them. To be honest at this stage I'd say the only route for you is to take her in as a indoor cat (she would have problem hunting properly with three legs anyway and being a full time indoor cat is not a punishment for a cat no matter what people claim) and look at getting the local colony neutered (neuter & release program) if possible.

SillyMangoX

Cats can sense when one is weak and could try to pick off the weakest, they could see her as being a 'liability' so try to get rid of her. Tom cats may also kill off any kittens in order to get the cat back in head and spread their own progeny. So if she's not neutered that would be my first port of call, I would also try to keep her indoors as with a missing leg she won't be able to defend herself should the worst happen!

Bullseye1

There really should be a facility for people to bring feral cars to get spayed/neutered for free. I agree you should bring your girl in as an indoor cat. As long as you keep her stimulated she will be fine.

Nody

Bullseye1 wrote: »

There really should be a facility for people to bring feral cars to get spayed/neutered for free. I agree you should bring your girl in as an indoor cat. As long as you keep her stimulated she will be fine.

People would use that for their own cats instead; I'd rather see the government pay X EUR (lets say 10 EUR) to shelters for each cat/dog neutered (and require confirmation by the vet separately on the numbers neutered to limit abuse). Wont be worth enough to take in every animal (or cost insanely much) but it will definitely help to pay for more neuter and releases.

boomerang

Whereabouts are you OP? I might be able to suggest some local TNR groups that could help with trapping and neutering the ferals. It will have a very calming effect on them and prevent further kittens being born to suffer, like your little one.

Ever2010

If your cat isn't spayed get her done immediately - I would never let an un-neutered cat outside (all 5 of ours have been done).

There are plenty of groups around the country who do TNR and would be more than willing to come out and trap and neuter all of the other cats. This will make the tom less aggressive, as well as preventing any more unwanted kittens.

It would also be a good idea to take her to the vet to make sure that all of her shots are up to date, just to make sure that she hasn't been bitten or got anything nasty from the ferals (2 of our females have had nasty bites this year from a unneutered Tom who was hanging around for a while).

the culture of deference

We have always had outdoor semi feral cats. I have seen new mothers kill or starve their kittens when their is too many other cats around. Your instance sounds like it will stop when cat is neutered.