Do cats recognize their relatives even after long separation? They do it a bit differently than you might think

Cats are not only good observers, but their memory is also impeccable. Throughout their lives, they are able to remember places, people and things that happened. It is therefore exciting to think about whether mothers recognize their kittens, brothers their littermates or fathers their successors after a long absence.

In the following, we will discuss how exactly cats recognize their relatives. After all, if you think about it, it can have serious consequences in terms of reproduction if they are not aware of their kinship. Let’s get into it!

Do male cats recognise their own babies?

Different circumstances of birth can affect how male cats see their own offspring. Feral and stray cats living on the streets live in colonies. Which mainly consist of queens (sexually mature female cats) and kittens. Males are more likely to try their luck alone. It is rare, especially in the wild, for tomcats to take part in raising the kittens. They enter the life of the colony almost only during the mating season.

This means that they will not necessarily be able to identify their own litter based on smell. The story is further complicated by the fact that cats, like dogs, can be fertilized by more than one male during mating, resulting in a mixed litter. However, superfecundation is much more common in solitary strays than in colonies.

So it is up to females to avoid inbreeding. And they do this by trying to avoid mating in their own group. Of course, this does not make the process of procreation any easier. But judging by the number of stray and feral cats, it does not cause a huge problem. In addition, according to some studies, females somehow get to know their male relatives in order to avoid mating with them.

All these conditions do not apply to the breeding of purebred or indoor cats. Due to the close proximity and the limited number of male cats in such cases, the father is most likely to recognize the kittens.

Can females identify their own kittens?

Cats are particularly observant mothers, and this includes the fact that they can identify their kittens from afar based on their smell. But the reverse is also true. If a kitten (even the one whose eyes haven’t opened yet) is placed between two mothers who are able to breastfeed, the kitten will go to its own mother based on its scent.

However, if the mothers are separated from their kittens, after a few weeks – as their scent changes – they no longer recognize them. They become strangers to each other. How long a mother cat remembers her kittens also depends on her social or family status. If the group continues to live together, the female cat will always remember her offspring. And it usually will continue to treat them as kittens.

And what about the fraternal bond?

As we explained above, female cats recognize their male relatives in the wild, whether they are fathers or brothers. This is based on smell in order to avoid inbreeding. If cats live together as siblings, their scent is also the same, so they never doubt for a minute that they are related.