My outdoor male cat is chasing a kitten. Is the kitten at risk?

Your question is suitable for this website! No, an outsider male cat won't eat kittens, but he may view them as stepping on his territory and try to fight with them to defend it. At 25 days of age, the kittens are too young to be left outside overnight, so keeping them indoors is best. Its also best for their health to stay indoors, as they aren't old enough to be vaccinated, and they could get serious life threatening diseases from unvaccinated stray cats. If your parents insist on keeping them outside at night, I would get a shelter to secure them in that prevents other cats from getting close to them or having contact with them. Make sure they are warm in there too. Best of luck, I hope this helps!

Oh no! That is very frustrating to not be told the truth, but it is a good thing you know now. It is a little difficult to assess risk if it is uncertain if your kitten was raised by its mother. If so, and she was vaccinated, she could have passed some maternal antibodies on to your kitty. The biggest risk for kittens is through exposure to other cats. If your kitty is an indoor kitty with no other contact with other cats this significantly decreases his risk. What is most important now is to start his vaccinations with your vet, to have him tested for the kitty viruses (feline leukemia and FIV), and to have him checked for intestinal parasites (if not already performed/dewormer given). Just because he is older does not mean he can not get his vaccines, he will just need less vaccines than a younger kittens. Typically we vaccinate with FVRCP (for kitty upper respiratory viruses and panleukopenia) and rabies. If your kitty will eventually be going outside then vaccination for feline leukemia (after a negative test) is important. Your family vet can set up a schedule for Chase at his first visit. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

I would ensure Hunter is up to date on vaccinations to prevent transmission of diseases such as feline leukemia. I would also consider keeping Hunter indoors to prevent these fights. All it takes is one time and you may have a serious injury or infection to deal with from the fight. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is a hard dilemma. If her kitten is under 6 months I would keep it indoors and just let her out. All indoor/outdoor cats are at risk for predation, injury from other animals and cars and death. I wouldn't expect a mother cat to be able to protect a young kitten from a car or a larger animal. At some point Monti will need to be let out and fend for himself. Billu may be less interested to go out if she was spayed and you may want to consider neutering Monit so there is no mating between the 2. Billu will eventually stop looking for Simba. I wish you the best!

It is most probable that the male cat is the father of the kittens. As long as your mother cat and kitten are safe and the male cat is not harming them I would not be too concerned. However, keep in mind, that the Mother cat cat can become pregnant again within just a few weeks of giving birth. If you do not want her having any more kittens then you should have her spayed as soon as possible. Keep an eye on the interactions between the male and the mother cat and as long as they are not hurting one another it should be fine. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

Unfortunately if you are planning on keeping him indoor / outdoor, it is very difficult to keep him away from other stray cats. I would recommend ensuring his vaccinations (Feline Leukemia, Rabies and FVRCP) are all up to date to prevent transmission of these diseases. There are motion activated sprinklers you can get that will startle cats and keep them away from your property and you can find these online quite easily. Really, keeping him indoors is the only 100% way to keep him away from stray cats. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

If he seems healthy now then the chance of survival is good. Although, there is always a chance he gets exposed to an infectious disease and/or trauma if he is outside, again. Make sure he is up to date on all vaccines, especially if he is going to be put outside again.