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I've got 6 kittens. Mom, dad, 3 tom kittens and one female kitten. They are now 1 year old.

The female one is neutered.

First Dad left me, then another kitten. Why is obvious. One of the kitten, a big one, terrorize all his brothers.

Finally another 1 year old kitten is gone and I panicked. Now, every day, I got to travel 400m, calling that "lost kitten" and pretty much bring it back to the house. Which is kind of silly.

All because my biggest kitten is mean to him. Yet, there are plenty of other kittens that do well and just stay outside my house just fine without picking a fight with my biggest kitten.

Why? They are brothers and used to play together. I mean, I am nice to my own bro, we hunt for mates together. Why is my tom cat so different?

Basically I want to ask why one of my tom cat is much more mean to his own brother than to other tom cats.

Elmy
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user4951
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2 Answers2

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Here are some good resources to read about cat behavior:

For this answer I will recite the article The social structure of cat life

A cat’s territory consists of a core area, or den, where it feels secure enough to sleep, eat, play and potentially enjoy social interaction. This forms the hub of the territory which is the area beyond the core area that the cat actively defends against invasion from others. Beyond this lies the home or hunting range that constitutes the extent of the area over which the cat will roam.

This means every cat has their own territory and will fight off any cat comming into their core territory. From your description, I'd say your tomcat has declared your home to his territory and fights off all of his brothers.

Feral cats (cats which live without help from man) can and will form small colonies based around available food sources. This does not inevitably happen, and some will live singly, but it is not uncommon for small groups of co-operating females and kittens (matrilinear colonies) to develop.
[...]
Male cats are not commonly part of the small colonies, and they tend to exist on the periphery with large territories that may overlap several groups of females.

This means that female cats sometimes live together, but male cats usually don't. If they are neutered, they don't produce as much male hormones anymore and act more like a female, so neutered male cats may live together in a group.

Aggression most commonly occurs as male kittens reach sexual maturity and are excluded from the group, or between males and females as the tom ‘patrols’ his territory. [...] Mature males interact differently, and this is usually characterised by agonistic interaction, avoidance or tolerance, and not by friendly interactions.

This is what happened with your cats. One (the troublemaker) probably has more male hormones, so he is more dominant and aggressive to his siblings. He decided that he doesn't want to live with his family anymore, but that your house is his territory. Instead of leaving the house and letting the other cats live with you, he makes everyone else leave the house.

Elmy
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I am cat mom to 2 neutered males/littermates..I think of them as twins because it was just the 2 of them and they look quite a bit alike. They were inseparable before puberty always playing, sleeping and doing everything together. Then one reached puberty before the other and things started changing. Once they were both in puberty, it was difficult for a while. I was finally able to get them both fixed thankfully and they both calmed down much easier to deal with. But they never went back to exactly how they were as kittens. One seems to be the alpha but interestingly,it's the other that has more of a tendency towards aggression. Overall they are both very sweet and well behaved cats. its very rare they will fight. If they do, it's usually the non alpha who will start it and half the time, it's when his brother is sleeping! I make sure to give them both equal attention, treats, toys etc. and there is always at least 2 food and water bowls, 2 litterboxes and many sleeping/hiding places to choose from

https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/sexual-aggression-in-neutered-cats/

Sarah
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