User:JamieN19/sandbox


 * 1) Birth and the first months
 * 2) Raising the offspring
 * 3) Leaving their mother

Birth and the first months
The House Cat (Felis catus) is one of the most popular pets. Because they are bred often, it can be closely spectated how they raise their kittens. They Usually give birth to 2-6 kittens during a year, in which they can get pregnant 2-3 times. The Mother-Cats Gestation Period lasts for around 60 days. After giving Birth to their young, the mother stays with them for about 24 to 48 hours, while they are still fragile. The Kittens feed off of their mother’s milk for about 1-2 Months, which contains antibodies, which protect them. The mother usually only hunts close to where the kittens are staying. During this Period, the mother uses up to 3 times the energy they usually need. After this period is over, the mother starts teaching their young how to hunt for themselves.

Raising the offspring
Most cats teach their about 2-month-old kittens how to hunt for themselves, so they don’t always need to be with their mother. Before she lets them go hunt alone, she allows the young to play with each other, letting them learn how to fight. The young learn how to hunt by accompanying their mother during her hunts, so they can learn some techniques from her. Even after they learn how to get their food, they stay with their mother to get milk from her alongside the food they hunted.

Leaving their mother
After being old enough for mating, which is after about 7 months, they start to leave their family and move to another territory. For the most Cat-species, the young leave after 1 year. Many female cats stay inside the territory of their mother, so they can still be protected by her. Some even take over some parts of the territory already controlled by their mother, which leads to many philopatric territories. Resulting in nearby Cat families being closely related.