I have two cats. There’s Ebeneezer (intentionally spelled with two E’s), a 13-year-old neutered male, and Lunafreya, a 10-month-old spayed female. I’ve had Ebeneezer since he was a few weeks old, and I adopted Lunafreya in November of last year, and they’ve known each other since then.
Most of the time they get along and co-exist just fine. A couple times a day, though, Ebeneezer will sneak up on Lunafreya from behind and bite the scruff of her neck, sometimes hard enough that she audibly meows in distress. On occasions, he’ll pin her down and position himself over her as if he was going to mount her. He can’t mount her, of course - he has no testes and hasn’t had them since before he would’ve gone through puberty, and even if he did, he couldn’t successfully mate with her as she’s been fixed as well. Typically it ends with Lunafreya fighting him off and his deciding to go and be a grumpy old man somewhere else if I don’t separate them myself.
I have no intention of giving either of them up, and separating them isn’t an option as my living space is very small. Anyone ever had a similar cat problem who can recommend a way to curtail this behavior?
I’ve had the same experience. What I was told at the time by my vet was that it was dominace behavior, not mating behavior per se.
Sorry about not having any advice for stopping it. I never did figure that out.
Yup, it’s a “Me in charge!” thing, not a sexytimes thing. Rabbits, mice and chickens** do the same, with even females “mounting” other females. There may not really be anything you can do about it.
** and probably others, those are just the ones I personally know/witnessed
Yes, it’s a dominance thing. As Lunafreya gets older she may one day decide she’s HAD it with his crap and tell him so in no uncertain terms. Or maybe not, it’s hard to tell.
You can ask your vet about getting a compounded paxil cream that gets rubbed on the ears once a day, that may help Ebeneezer mellow out a tad. There are also calming collars that I know some people have had success using, but frankly their odor is offensive to ME, so I can’t imagine what the cat thinks wearing it 24/7.
The other option which can work but is hard (on us as humans who love our cats and want them around us) to do is to separate Ebeneezer for a couple of weeks, and keep him only in one room or even in a big crate. Give the female the run of the house, and somewhere in the early stages of separation do a seriously thorough cleaning. The idea is to get all his scent out of the house and let hers dominate. Let her feel like the space belongs to her, and that she’s not a newcomer. After a few weeks introduce them slowly again, and hopefully she will have gained confidence and he will feel less lordly.
I guess I’ll just put this out there. My neutered cats enjoy sexual activity. Every now and then ( not like a regular heat) my female neutered cat goes into what I’d have to call a “false heat”. She displays all the typical signs . During this time and only during this “false heat” time my Male neutered cat will mount her and go at it. My female
doesn’t object until he gets into the actual spot and then she growls and screams. He jumps off and she begins flailing around and rubbing the carpet and licking her paws obsessive. This goes on for just a few minutes and then all is back to normal. A cat story of sexual deveation. I actually never stopped and noticed until we moved to a new house. I can’t figure out how to stop them. They need to “get a room” but I won’t give them the money to support this feline f****ng.
That female behavior is totally normal, because the feline penis has barbs on it (Yes, that’s right; Google-image it) and that’s also how the girls act post-coitally.
I once had a spayed female who would mount a neutered male. She was definitely in charge, and let him know it.
We had a geriatric castrated male cat that suddenly began doing sexual behaviors involving dog toys (stuffed animals). He would mount the toy and give it the old college try. Turns out he had an adrenal gland tumor that was secreting testosterone or some other androgen. His age (19) and comorbidities (controlled hyperthyroidism and chronic renal failure) made surgery a no-go. He eventually was euthanized when his kidneys shut down.
she has been in ‘his house’ for only about 130 days.
This is just dominance behavior. He is trying to make it clear to her that it is his territory, and she is only allowed to be there unmolested if he is in charge. Let them be; they’ll settle this themselves.
Making sure the older male cat feels like he has his own area like a comfy, high spot he likes. He may feel his territory invaded.
Playing and affection towards him might help. He could be like an older sibling who feels replaced by a younger, cuter one who gets more of the attention.
Perhaps 2 litter boxes would help.
Feliway/Comfort Zone diffusers or sprays seem to have helped with mine.
You could also shoo him away and use a water pistol.
