The tomcat’s courtship of a female can last several days, with interruptions. The female is decisive. When it is in heat, it calls the local cats and lures them with its smell. The tomcat in whose territory the female shows willingness to cover has home advantage. Nevertheless, other tomcats, attracted by the calls of the female, invade the foreign territory. The lure is stronger than their fear of the keeper. Of course, this quickly leads to conflicts among the tomcats. Her aggressive screams are misinterpreted by laypeople as love screams. Serious fights rarely occur in this context, however, since the female attracts all attention and thus reduces the tomcat’s willingness to fight. The challenge for the tomcat is now to be able to wait long enough: If he approaches the female too early, he will be punished with a paw swipe. The winner is the tomcat who was the best at approaching each other step by step.
Even during the act of procreation, the tomcat has to fear the cat’s sharp claws and therefore grabs it firmly on the back of the neck with its teeth. What he makes use of is the carrying handle of a mother cat, which forces the young to remain motionless.