How do female cats attract male cats?

Our question this week was:

Dr. Debra – can you tell me how female cats attract male cats? My cat is 1-year-old and I have not had her spayed yet. She is on a screened in porch and I swear there are tomcats out there prowling around. She is crying and these cats are driving me crazy. I was wondering how they could tell she was a female.

Jessy B.

Answer

Hi – thanks for your email. You wrote asking how do female cats attract male cats. This is a very good and interesting question.

Our behaviorist – Dr. Nicholas Dodman wrote an article about the normal reproductive behavior of cats that you will find interesting. Go to: Normal Reproductive Behavior for the full article.

Basically – Dr. Dodman said it well when he wrote…

“When a female goes into heat, her smell and vocalizations advertise the fact across entire neighborhoods. If tomcats pick up the cues, they will assemble around the females and engage in noisy, violent catfights with rivals. Courtship between males and the female is ritualized and may last several hours before copulation takes place.”

Males have been known to pick up the sent of a female in heat for miles.

You may want to keep her off the porch and call your vet to get an appointment to have her spayed.

Best of luck!

Dr. Debra

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