Mother-offspring Relationship in the Feral Cat Population

Abstract

A study on the mother-offspring relationship in the feeding group of the feral cat population was conducted in a fishing village on Ainoshima Island, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Survival rate of kittens at ten months was very low, 9.5 %. The female delivered kittens at a fixed breeding site. After attaining independence, each kitten gradually established its own moving range, which overlapped the range of its mother and litter mates, and used the common feeding site. The repetition of this process seems to generate the feeding group. Although male cats didn't take care of kittens, related females sometimes reared their kittens cooperatively.