Cat instincts and monogamy are incompatible.
A cat’s instincts mean that its most important task is not a relationship with another cat, but the use of intimacy for purely procreative purposes.
This is the most important task of cats, and to fulfill it they look for the most compatible male during the heat phase.
After intimacy, cats move away from the male to begin the pregnancy cycle.
We cannot compare the social life that humans lead with the life that cats have led and have led for centuries.
Humans have become monogamous because of our social reality, which is that the state is responsible for our safety and for meeting our basic needs, such as food, while we, on the other hand, work to be able to fund the state and pay for food.
This complex way of life has caused most of our instincts to be no longer necessary.
We now look most for security and stability. Whether it’s security at work or in our personal lives.
Because of this new form of priorities, we have begun to allow ourselves to be more romantic. We can afford to be monogamous.
Cats, on the other hand, especially wild and non-domesticated cats, do not instinctively seek stability.
Cats do what their instincts dictate, and so their only priority when dealing with another cat is to get their young.
Are there monogamous cats?
But not all cats have the same problems, plus with different lifestyles, cats have different priorities in their lives.
We just talked about feral and house cats that may spend time outside the home, but what happens to purely house cats?
Purely domestic cats learn that they don’t need to hunt for food and that there is a certain security and stability in their lives.
Although their instincts continue to work, and this is why cats continue to hunt for insects at home, they are only playing the hunt, not doing it for food.
This different lifestyle allows some flexibility in their interactions with other cats.
If, for example, we take two cats, one male, and the other female, once they are both old enough to start having sexual appetites, which is about six months, the likelihood that they will have a monogamous relationship is quite high.
But we can’t afford to fall into thinking about human monogamy when we talk about cat monogamy.
When a cat starts her heat and spreads her pheromones, the male will try to saddle the female.
And since the male will have no competition, he will be the one to impregnate the female.
After the fertility phase is over, they will live together again as before, playing together, taking care of themselves, etc.
Monogamy, while not non-existent in the animal world, is much rarer than we might think.
If any animal does have a monogamous relationship, it is usually not just for ideological reasons, but also for reasons of loyalty and safety.
Most animals, including cats, cannot afford a monogamous relationship, nor is it on the list of priorities.
The most instinctively important thing for all animals, including humans, is procreation. Without this instinctive and evolutionary priority, we probably wouldn’t exist today.
This instinctive need has caused us to evolve over the centuries to reach our current social reality.
But the fact that a cat is not monogamous does not mean that it is a selfish animal, just that it is unsustainable.
We cannot try to use our way of life to explain the way of life of the other animals in this world.
How do cats mate?
When your cat is “in heat,” she is in the fertile period of her reproductive cycle and is looking for a mate.
Cats in heat howl loudly and incessantly in an attempt to attract a male to mate. They may also pour strong-smelling urine on the walls or furniture in an attempt to show their availability to the male.
Cats are remarkably social creatures, although the range of sociability varies.
However, some cats form very strong bonds and become what is usually called a bonded pair of cats.
These cats become dependent on each other and need to be snuggled together to ensure their happiness (and even their health).
