THE MYTH OF FELINE CRUELTY

                I’ve heard a lot of people say they hate cats, or are actually afraid of them, because they think cats are “cruel”.  When asked how cats are cruel, they’ll usually repeat the stereotyped claim that cats torture their prey by “playing” with them, or that tomcats kill kittens.  Needless to add, such folk don’t know much about cats. 

                First, when a housecat pounces on a mouse, or a pride of lions attack a zebra or antelope or giraffe, the cat is not “playing”;  the cat is getting its dinner, and is deadly serious about it.  Understand that cats do not eat prey that is still alive.  Before taking a single bite, the cat wants to be absolutely sure that the prey is dead.     

For lions, who hunt in groups, this is fairly easy;  the whole pride pins down the prey and an experienced hunter – usually the oldest lioness – grabs the prey by the throat and bites down hard.  The whole pride will then pause for long moments, waiting to see if the prey moves.  If it does, the lioness bites down harder or even rips the throat completely out.  Only when the whole group is certain that the prey won’t move again do they fall to rough-butchering and eating the carcass. 

                For housecats, who are solitary hunters, the process is a little more complicated.  The cat sneaks up on the rat or mouse, then pounces, grabs the prey by biting the back of the neck and gives a mighty head-shake, which is intended to break the mouse’s neck.  If the prey then moves, the cat will give another fierce head-shake.  If the prey doesn’t move, the cat will set it down and watch it for several seconds, then poke it with a paw or even bat it around a bit, waiting to see if it moves.  Only when the cat is sure that the mouse won’t move again will it start eating, or perhaps store the carcass in a secure place to eat later, like a leopard.

                In any case, the point is not to be cruel to the prey but to be certain that it’s safely dead.

                As for tomcats, or lions, killing their young, the reason has nothing to do with eliminating rival genes or getting the females into estrus again;  it’s the result of pure ignorance.  A young inexperienced lion, or tomcat, actually doesn’t know that a nursing cub or kitten is a member of its own species.  A nursing cub or kitten doesn’t look, sound, or smell like an adult.  From the tomcat’s/lion’s point of view, this is a strange, small, squeaky creature whom the female keeps close but for some reason hasn’t killed and eaten yet.  With a cat’s natural curiosity, the young tom/lion will try to examine those strange creatures to see if they’re good to eat.

                Among lions, females will often baby-sit each other’s cubs, so the young aren’t usually left unguarded.  The mother or babysitter will drive off any lion who gets too close to the cubs, but sometimes the female is distracted and the lion gets a chance to examine, kill, and try to eat the cubs.  If the lioness catches him at it she’ll promptly teach him, in no uncertain terms, not to try that again.  It usually takes only a few such lessons for a lion to realize that killing cubs is not a good idea.  As the cubs grow older, start eating adult food and taking on adult shape, the lion will recognize them as fellow lions, often befriend and even play with them.  Only when the males reach sexual maturity will the lion chase them off to go find prides – and amenable females -- of their own.

                Among housecats, females are usually solitary and rarely have such a baby-sitting arrangement.  This makes the kittens more vulnerable to roaming tomcats, and the females are necessarily more careful about hiding their kittens.  They’re also much fiercer about guarding them.  A tomcat who comes into a female’s territory and gets anywhere near her den can expect to be forcibly and noisily driven off – not just away from the den but clean off the female’s territory, at least until next mating-season.  Again, as the kittens grow older and take on the look and smell of adult cats, the tom will often befriend and play with them, though the female will generally keep watch on him until the kittens stop nursing completely.  A tom who has once seen the youngsters grow up is unlikely to ever kill kittens again.

                Cats, large or small, are not cruel by nature.  They can be cautious about their prey, and the males can be ignorant about their own young, but cruelty doesn’t enter into it.  Anyone who has studied the creatures, or seen a pride of lions or cluster of cats lying huddled together, sleeping or purring, knows what affectionate animals they can be.

--Leslie <😉))><