My female cat has given birth to kittens, why does the female cat eat the kittens?

It may be that the mother is not a sign of motherhood, or it may be an instinctive reaction, or she sees something abnormal in the kitten, or it may be deformed. Or they don't recognize their own children. They will refuse to be fed and will eventually starve to death.

It is very likely that the kitten's body is particularly fragile and has no way to survive, or it may be because the female cat's body is relatively weak and needs to be supplemented with nutrients to eat the kitten.

Because the family may have been in contact with the kitten, so that the kitten has the smell of other people, so the mother cat will feel that the kitten is not her own child, so she will eat the kitten.

This is because female cats have some stress reactions, because cats are more vigilant creatures, and if they feel that the outside environment is not particularly safe, they are likely to engage in some stressful behaviors, such as eating kittens. Every mother is very great, even if it is an animal, she also loves her children very much, and they all say that tigers do not eat their children, even if they don't like their children, they will not bear to hurt their children. <>

However, some cats will eat their newborn kittens, which makes many people find it difficult to understand. It's all a physiological phenomenon, it's too terrible, after all, it's your own child, and if you eat it so easily, won't you feel heartache? In fact, it is a very common behavior for female cats to eat kittens, and they will make this kind of stress behavior when they feel that the external environment is unsafe, which is also a common physiological phenomenon.

Because cats are very vigilant creatures, they can be very insecure if they can't be sure that their surroundings are safe. <>

Especially when kittens are born, if there are other creatures nearby, these kittens will be infected with the scent of other creatures. The mother cat has no way to tell if it is her own child, so she is likely to eat these kittens with other scents. In other words, the female cat's heart may feel that there is no way to feed her own children, how can there be other creatures in the nest.

Some kittens will have some physical defects when they are just born, and the female cat will eat the kitten in order to stop the loss in time. <>

Because female cats don't have so much milk, these disabled kittens also need to drink milk to grow up after birth, and in order to leave this milk for healthy kittens, female cats will have to eat the disabled kittens. Although this behavior is a bit cruel in the eyes of humans, it is also difficult for humans to intervene, so it is best for humans not to disturb female cats when they give birth at home, and not to let the kittens be infected with human breath.

Because the kitten's physique is relatively weak and there is no way to grow normally, it will eat each other, so that it can supplement nutrition and reduce the consumption of its own body.

Because the female cat has a stress response and is afraid of the surrounding environment, or you have been in contact with a kitten, and the female cat thinks that the kitten is not his, she will eat the kitten, so when the cat gives birth, we have to give him a good environment and do not disturb him.

It is likely that there is a stress reaction, the cat's courage is relatively small, and then there will be a fear of life, not adapting to the environment, and a lack of security, so there will be such behavior.

It is likely that there is a stress reaction, the cat's courage is small, and then there will be a fearful environment, not adapted to the environment, and a lack of a sense of insurance, so there will be such an action.

will eat their own children. Here's why:

1.After the female cat gives birth, some people will keep picking up the kitten because of curiosity or worry, etc., there are many people, the kitten is contaminated with the smell of people, the female cat may think that the kitten is threatened by the smell, will transfer them, and when it feels extremely frightened, it will take an extreme way, bite to death and eat the kitten to protect itself.

2.Status changes, if after giving birth the kitten owner has been concerned about the kitten and the female cat cares less, the mother cat will occasionally eat her own cubs to warn the owner not to ignore herself. Of course, this is a very rare case, because cats are more noble by nature and do not admit mistakes like enough, and cats will attract the attention of their owners in their own way.

3.The survival ability of kittens is poor, such as physical problems, the female cat cannot be cured, and the female cat will choose to bite the kitten to death and eat it.

4.After the female cat gives birth to the cubs, the nutrition is insufficient, and the female cat does not notice the nutrition of the female cat, and the female cat will choose to eat the cat cubs to replenish her body energy when she feels that her body is hungry.

5.Female cats lack motherhood, some female cats are pregnant without being a mother, they have no motherhood, and will not treat their cubs as their own children at all, but only as their own food.

Female cats may eat kittens. First of all, if the female cat has no breeding experience, it may accidentally eat the kitten after it is born. Secondly, if the kitten is deformed or dies, the mother cat will also eat it.

In addition, kittens have a human or other animal smell on their bodies, which makes the mother cat feel that the kitten is threatened and will also eat the kitten. Finally, due to a low level of nutrients or a lack of trace elements after birth, female cats can also eat kittens.

Possible cause 1: The kitten has a deformity.

Cats grow up in a "wild" environment, with a certain "cat hunting", and there may be kittens born with deformities that cannot be detected by humans", and it is difficult for them to survive, but their animals and smells are wrong for female cats, so it is possible to eat them to replace the energy lost due to pregnancy.

It is understood that if one or two of the kittens in a litter are killed or abandoned, the entire litter of kittens will be considered a "failure", and the mother cat may not want to waste energy to raise these kittens that are difficult to survive.

In addition, in the cold season, such as early spring, late autumn or winter, because the weather is colder, the energy required is relatively high, and the wild female cat will also eat the kitten to maintain precious energy when she feels that she is not enough energy.

Possible cause 2: Human odor disturbs the female cat.

In some extremely nervous female cats, eating protection has become a mechanical animal, especially some inexperienced female cats are prone to such a situation, Liao Xin said, if the threat is current, the female cat can not protect the cubs, the mother cat will kill them, of course, in most cases, the mother cat will transfer or hide her young.

Sometimes, female cats will kill their kittens because they have been picked up by other people or animals. Her scent was blurred, she no longer recognized her child and felt threatened. In this case, there is a risk that the female cat will kill the kitten.

Possible cause 3: Maternal instinct is not developed.

In addition, if the female cat's maternal instinct is not developed, or there is some hormonal imbalance so that after they become mothers, they will not have motherhood, but will be motivated by a wrong behavior, which is to kill the kitten and eat it.

Normally, female cats will not eat kittens unless there is a lack of food or the kitten has a disability.

Animals have to face survival problems every day, the food chain is interlocking, every species, need to get enough food, in order to live, ancient humans, is no exception, so food shortage, is a problem that animals can never avoid, especially pregnant animals, but also need a lot of food**, in order to help them give birth to healthy babies, when the cubs are born, they also need to eat enough food to produce enough milk to feed the cubs.

However, when food is scarce, these animals also choose to eat their relatively weak pups in order to get enough nutrients. Nowadays, however, there is no lack of food in domestic cats, so this mainly occurs in feral cats.

In addition, when a cat gives birth to a cub, if it is found that its cub is deformed, or critically ill, it will also eat the cubs, because they know very well that such children cannot survive, so cats usually choose to eat these cubs.

Humans don't touch the cubs at the end:

Most animals have a keen sense of smell, can easily detect the abnormality of the surrounding environment, through the sense of smell to determine their habitat, whether there are other animals passing by, if the cubs have the smell of other animals attached to the body, they usually in order to avoid being found by these animals again, and eat these cubs with the smell of other animals, and then move the rest of the cubs to a safer place to protect.

It is common to see female cats transfer their cubs, although it seems very cruel to eat their own cubs for this reason, but this way also ensures the safety of the rest of the cubs and allows them to survive in the cruel nature, so in order to avoid the mother from harming her cubs, please do not touch the newborn animals at will.

It is possible for a female cat to kill her cubs, for reasons that are not yet clear. However, it is suspected that there are several situations: first, the female cat is nutritionally deficient and needs to be supplemented.

If the physique of the big cat declines after giving birth to a kitten, and the owner does not find it in time and gives it a boost of nutrition, it may eat the newborn cubs to replenish its energy. This one is similar to a hen eating its own eggs; Second, the kitten has a genetic defect. It's easy to see that we generally don't lose, but the female cat can feel it herself.

It eats this kind of cub that cannot survive in nature, and then converts the energy into itself, which is equivalent to transforming it into the rest of the kittens, which is also the cruel law of nature, survival of the fittest; Three, in line with a friend upstairs, the kitten may have been touched by other people or animals, and the smell of its skills is masked and replaced by the smell of other people. Because the mother cat recognizes her child not by seeing with her eyes, but by smelling by smell. So if the taste is not right, it will see the pup as an intruder that threatens the safety of other kittens, and of course it will bite this "intruder" to death because it protects other kittens; Fourth, there is a sense of danger.

If the newborn kittens are often disturbed by people or animals nearby, the mother cat will feel very unsafe, and in order to protect the kittens from being harmed, she may also eat them; Fifth, of course, this is superstition, the old man said that anyone who was born at the time of the year went to see the newborn kitten, and the mother cat would eat the cubs. The reason is even more inexplicable!

There are several reasons why a female cat eats her own kittens:

1.Human interference, the kitten is stained with human odor, the mother cat may think that the kitten is threatened by the smell, will transfer them, when it is extremely frightened, will eat its kitten to protect itself.

2.Kittens are weak and difficult to survive, when the mother cat finds that the kittens she gave birth to are too weak to survive, they are likely to eat the kittens and continue to feed other healthy kittens, which is natural selection, survival of the fittest.

3.Female cats lack motherhood, so they realize that there is no way to take care of the kittens as their own children.

4.When food is severely scarce, it is difficult for Xunmu female cats to find food that meets their needs, so they can only eat kittens to replenish energy.

Possible cause 1: kitten deformity.

Do female cats eat their own kittens, some kittens are born without abnormality, it is difficult to survive, and even the females are wrong for their movements and smell. If a single kitten is killed or abandoned, the entire nest will be considered a "failure" and their mothers will not be willing to waste their energy on raising these hard-to-survive kittens.

Possible cause 2: Protect kittens.

She has been known to kill kittens if the cat litter is disturbed, especially if she is kept and cannot transfer or hide her children. Such behavior is instinctive. Threatens that at the moment, if the cubs are not protected, the females will protect them in vain efforts and kill them.

It can tell them that the hand that kills the cat and runs away is more instinctive than protecting them from harm. Fortunately, only a small percentage of female cats immediately killed the young babies, but hid them and found new ones.

Possible cause 3: The smell of people interferes with the female cat

Does a female cat eat her own kittens, sometimes cats kill cats because she has been held by other people or animals. Her scent was so vague that she didn't recognize her child feeling threatened. In this case, cats are either prey because of their size, voice, and movements – or the cats will protect them in the same way and eventually kill them.

Possible cause 4: Maternal instinct is not developed

In addition, if the cat's maternal instinct is underdeveloped, or some hormonal imbalance that makes them mothers, there will be no motherhood, but there will be a wrong behavior to be excited, and that is to kill the cat and eat it.