Why does my cat lick the other cats' butts?

[s***@gmail.com]

Ok, so I have a male cat, neutered, approximately 1 year old. I am
currently fostering 4 kittens that are around 7 weeks old. Well my cat
keeps going around to all the kittens and licking/cleaning their butts.
I cannot figure out this behavior. Worse still, one of the kittens
started peeing while he was doing this. They don't seem scared or
upset about it, though. Why does he do this?!?

[Popess Pantiara Evokovitch]

Post by s***@gmail.com
Ok, so I have a male cat, neutered, approximately 1 year old. I am
currently fostering 4 kittens that are around 7 weeks old. Well my cat
keeps going around to all the kittens and licking/cleaning their butts.
I cannot figure out this behavior. Worse still, one of the kittens
started peeing while he was doing this. They don't seem scared or
upset about it, though. Why does he do this?!?

AWWWW! Your male is being a good foster mother to your kittens. That's
what the mother would do with them. It's the equivalent of the father
changing diapers. It's the only way the kittens can keep their butts
clean when they're so young. Well, even if this behavior confuses you,
don't hinder him from cleaning them because the kittens need to be
exposed to this behavior so they know how to clean themselves when they
get older. Is he grooming them all around or just cleaning thier butts?
If he's not grooming any other part of them, groom the rest of them
yourself by rubbing them gently, stroking from the head towards the
tail, with a towel so they'll know when they're older that they need to
clean all of themselves and not just thier butts. I had a cat that
never learned to groom himself and he got so nasty and dirty that my
dad made him live outside. I think the only reason to stop the behavior
would be if your male got overzealous and their butts started getting
red and rashy. Then I'd seperate the kittens from the male and take the
kittens to the vet. In the meanwhile, thank your male cat for keeping
your kittens clean.