Survival Values

Feline mating rewards those males who subdue other toms, assiduously court the queen, or patiently wait for their turn.

Each has excellent qualities: strength, intelligence, or persistence. Multiple matings also help to ensure a varied genetic mix. In lions, a new male claiming the breeding position in a pride often kills the cubs of the last dominant male.

The frequency of infanticide in our domestic cats is unknown but zoologist David Macdonald has observed a newly arrived male cat enter the communal nest of three queens in their absence and kill six kittens.

A male believing he had kittens in the litters would have a strong disincentive for such behavior. Maternal infanticide in cats is extremely rare, and mostly due to inexperience or stress from real or imagined threats.