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[qoonpooka]

At the risk of invoking Rule 34... my (apparently lesbian) cats have produced kittens (or maybe they adopted or something).

I'm pretty sure I'd remember placing a (F)ertility Clinic while I was building my fortress...



(This was achieved by purchasing one cat and one kitten at embark.)

Traders brought no animals with them (not even in cages).  So unless there's a lynx out there getting frisky with my vermin control these cats have superpowers.

[smjjames]

Cross species mating doesn't exist in the game... yet.

Still, that is really wierd. Maybe one of the other merchants had a male cat with them.

I think virgin cat births without any apparent male have been reported. Especially since one was bought as a kitten and so couldn't have been impregnated before the merchants arrived.

There is also the possibility that they suddendly evolved parthogenesis.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenetic

[qoonpooka]

Cross species mating doesn't exist in the game... yet.

Still, that is really wierd. Maybe one of the other merchants had a male cat with them.

I think virgin cat births without any apparent male have been reported. Especially since one was bought as a kitten and so couldn't have been impregnated before the merchants arrived.

There is also the possibility that they suddendly evolved parthogenesis.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenetic

I'd laugh, but apparently it has been induced in mammals.  Your theory remains the most sensible, by ockham's razor.

[KenboCalrissian]

This may not be relevant, but I notice they both own the same dwarf.  Just pointing it out.

[Footkerchief]

Maybe one of the other merchants had a male cat with them.

I think virgin cat births without any apparent male have been reported.

Yeah, it's probably one of these two.  The "virgin births" are due to the cat arriving pregnant.  All female creatures the game generates, such as the cats you bring when embarking, have a chance of being pregnant.

[qoonpooka]

Does that include the female kitten? Is it possible to be born pregnant? (I ate the male, so if not I should be good until someone shows up with a pet.)

Also, there's only one caravan that can reach my site, and it brought no animals except for a cow in a cage and the pack animals leading the caravan.

[smjjames]

Tribbles are born pregnant apparently I think, but I don't think its possible in real life. At least for Terran life forms anyway.

As for the male, are you talking about the kitten or some other male cat because as far as we know, it only takes an instant to get pregnant via spores and around 9 months before birth.

[qoonpooka]

Tribbles are born pregnant apparently I think, but I don't think its possible in real life. At least for Terran life forms anyway.

As for the male, are you talking about the kitten or some other male cat because as far as we know, it only takes an instant to get pregnant via spores and around 9 months before birth.

Kitten, within ten seconds of birth.

[qoonpooka]

Well the assumption that it was the male kittens that were making their mother pregnant has now been blown out of the water.

A litter of all female kittens was born and I expected this to be the end of the cycle...

Couple of seasons later the mother popped out another litter anyway.  Seems cats are just always pregnant if possible.  Next time I'm bringing toms.

[Grek]

Tribbles are born pregnant apparently I think, but I don't think its possible in real life. At least for Terran life forms anyway.

Some species of aphid are born pregnant.

[moocowmoo]

One of the funniest thread titles I've ever read heh.

[smjjames]

Tribbles are born pregnant apparently I think, but I don't think its possible in real life. At least for Terran life forms anyway.

Some species of aphid are born pregnant.

Oh, didn't know that. Its a form of parthogenesis I guess. The tribble thing was just a bit of Star Trek geekery, but they could have gotten inspiration from aphids.

[Roostre]

Maybe it was the merchants' cats. But can't you just embark with male cats? Then the unexplained kitten births are their problem.

[qoonpooka]

Maybe it was the merchants' cats. But can't you just embark with male cats? Then the unexplained kitten births are their problem.

You can't choose the sex of your cats.  The way to get two male cats is to embark with two cats and two kittens, lock them in cages immediately after embarking, then release one cat and one kitten.  Then check the gender of the two you just released.  This lets you know which cage has which gender of what cat/kitten.  From there it's a (very easy) logic puzzle to figure out how to get the females caged, and the males free.

Then sell the females to the first caravan.   I usually get a litter of kittens by Autumn and try to pull the males out.  2-6 cats is fine.  20-60,000 is not.

[assimilateur]

You should always try to cull your population to leave only males, and not females, if you want them to keep from breeding. That way you're safe not only from this weird shit you're experiencing right now, but also from what is usually to be expected, i.e. a male arriving via caravan or immigration and instantly impregnating your already-adopted female cats.

That said, can cats even adopt anyone without an explicit preference for them? I don't know as I haven't embarked with cats in a long time, and the only ones I'm getting are already pets.