Paternal cat?

[Darky]

Hullo!

I was just wondering, is it normal for male cats (neutered ot otherwise) to be very paternal towards new kittens?

My cat Honey was at first terrified of the kittens, but has since grown very attached to them, especially Lemon. They follow each other around and Honey is constantly wrapping his paws around Lemon, pushing him to the ground and cleaning him for ages (with the occassional bite) and then they fall asleep together. (Lemon also often attempts to clean Honey)

Apparently my parents caught Honey actually attempting to mount Lemon one night, which seems incredibly bizarre because Honey is neutered. :? I've never seen him do this though, only the affectionate behaviour.

Was just curious as to how common this is. C:

[dandysmom]

Not too common, but some males are quite paternal. And neutered males do sometimes attempt to mount another cat, sex irrelevant; again, not something to worry about IMO.

[Shelley123]

Awww Honey sounds lovely, perhaps he is a new man ;)
I like the names too.
Dont know wether cats are the same as dogs, but dogs sometimes mount other dogs as dominance behaviour

[kado]

Guinness is realy paternal to all the kittens. He saw them when they where a couple of days old sniffed them and walked away. He washes all the cats except kado. Kado has also another habbit and humps my dressing gown he doesnt mount the other cats and was neutered 4yrs ago.

[alexgirl73]

My Broxi was extremely paternal to Cooper as a kitten, and they are still very close today :) Him and Teddie have a love/hate relationship though. She loves him, he hates her :lol: