# Why is my neutered male cat mounting my female cat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387 "2003-02-20T19:15:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohanDane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@JohanDane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohanDane)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/1 "2003-02-20T19:15:25Z")
I have a female cat/kitten who is going through her first heat. My first indication that she might be in heat came when she started acting sort of slutty…my second indication came when I caught my neutered 2 year old male cat mounting her…and then I caught him doing this again and again and again. Why is he doing this? he has no balls. I thought neutered males were supposed to lose their sex drive. Any cat experts out there? ---
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/2 "2003-02-20T19:27:21Z")
Just speaking from long experience with cats here, but I think its just habit. At one time in his life that action was automatic and irresistable…now I think maybe he just does it from memory, sort of what’s supossed to happen in the cats mind even if nothing comes of it. My cat has been neutered for over a year now and will still occasionally hump the blanket which he loves so dearly. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/3 "2003-02-20T19:31:48Z")
It’s also a sign of dominance, which is what cat relationships are all about. Alpha cat and all that. When our alpha female gets wired up on catnip, she’ll occasionally mount our other female cat. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/4 "2003-02-20T20:21:12Z")
My former kitty used to like to hump certain blankets and towels. He was neutered at six months. I often wondered how he’d react if anything actually TOUCHED him there. (I have mental pictures of him clinging to the ceiling upside-down, with his fur all puffed out!) And one of our family dogs, the dominant one, occasionally will mount the other. They’re both male. And you should get her fixed, you know. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/5 "2003-02-20T20:24:41Z")
You sure he was neutered correctly? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CzechHistory411](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@CzechHistory411](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CzechHistory411)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/6 "2003-02-20T21:24:53Z")
I am on a first-name basis with a female shih tzu who, although spayed, regularly enjoys mounting a stuffed toy tiger, much to the chagrin of her devout mother and much to the delight of the rest of the children. This behavior is popularly attributed to her being a slut (the dog that is, not the mother). Ain’t aminals keen? – CH ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/7 "2003-02-20T21:55:53Z")
I am intrigued by the description of a cat acting slutty. I have a mental image of your cat in high-heeled boots, leaning against the corner and swinging her tail. I have known many fixed animals to still try to hump other things, animals, people, etc. In fact, I have never known a male dog that didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/8 "2003-02-20T22:33:48Z")
Yep, even neutered males will mount a female in heat. I am not sure why, instinct? I don’t think it’s a dominance issue, in my experience spaying the female will stop the behavior. Some animals will mount for dominance (I think that is more common with dogs), but I think the reason for your cat’s behavior is the unspayed female. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/9 "2003-02-20T23:40:55Z")
Our old spayed female bassethound used to mount another female spayed bassethound…Weird. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/10 "2003-02-20T23:55:12Z")
This may be a hijack, but I think it applies: > [@](#): > > \*from \* > \*\* A eunuch might have lost his testicles but still have his penis intact. He could have sexual relationships with women, and since that was the case, a eunuch of this type did not directly serve the harem women… > > Yet, even eunuchs who were totally castrated sometimes formed relationships with the harem women. There were many sex aids to be found at the marketplace. Sexual relationships with eunuchs were against all rules and a woman risked death if the relationship became known, but rules have never bound the human heart.\*\* Somewhere, I got the impression that some eunuchs were used to keep the women in harems from going nuts or revolting, since they were shooting blanks. Evidently, that is not the case. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/11 "2003-02-21T02:51:02Z")
The cat brain is more complicated than you think. The absence of testicles does not make the mating instincts go away. My cat was a stray, and I domesticated him when he was an adult. He is neutered. But, he will hump a certain blanket, complete with erect penis and signs of orgasm. He starts by pawing at the blanket as if he is a kitten nursing on his mother. I think the brain stores certain behaviors, and re-uses them. A nursing kitten paws and laps at the nipple. The adult cat during mating paws and bites on the female’s neck. Many individual actions are similar, just the result and context are different. Maybe it just goes to show how powerful the sexual instincts are. By the way, I heard that some of the “castrati” were still able to function, and were, in fact, favored by women for sexual purposes. No I don’t have a cite, though a professional music scholar was the one who told me this tale. ---
**Author:** ![Marduk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Marduk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marduk)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/12 "2003-02-21T05:19:35Z")
Two words: They missed! ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/13 "2003-02-21T08:06:52Z")
Nostalgia? ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/14 "2003-02-21T15:32:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Velma \* > **I am intrigued by the description of a cat acting slutty. I have a mental image of your cat in high-heeled boots, leaning against the corner and swinging her tail.** If you want to bring your mental image to life, you could rent [Fritz the Cat](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0068612) Or maybe not. It’s a pretty lame movie. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-neutered-male-cat-mounting-my-female-cat/156387/15 "2003-02-21T18:01:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by World Eater \* > \*\*You sure he was neutered correctly? 😃 \*\* They do make mistakes. After one of our cats came home from being neutered, he still sprayed. When we took him back in, and after he was referred to a specialist, we learned that the first vet had left a testicle behind. It hadn’t descended, and was lodged behind the kidney. It reminds me of rummaging in a spice cupboard…“Where’s that paprika? There it is, behind the oregano!”.