Dominance behaviour (neck biting/mounting)

[okuda]

Quick back story .. We've had Murphy and Winston 3 yrs since wee kittens. Charlie is a 3 yr old stray that started coming around a few months ago. We ended up bringing him in and now is an indoor cat with the other 2.

After isolation and such, they are all free range in the house. There have been a few scraps and walking away with mouthfuls of hair, but no bites or wounds. I know this is them sorting out who is who in pecking order. Murphy seems to be fine with Charlie .. but Winston .. its like he went from this placid laid back cat to one with middle child syndrome!! He hisses at Charlie for sitting in a seat that Winston walks by!!

Also another thing I've noticed is a lot of nape of the neck biting and mounting, mainly from Winston and Charlie, aimed a Murphy ... poor lad. (they are all neutered) Its like Murphy is bottom in the ranks and Winston and Charlie are tussling for top place. This shocks me a bit as I thought based on how Winston and Murphy were before Charlie came along, Murph acted like the highly strung needy boss of the house ans Winston could have given 2 hoots.

Unless they get mean I try not to interfere with it too much, cause I want them to work it out, but should I discourage the neck biting/mounting aimed towards Murph? Is this normal? How long do you think this tussle for power will last? (I have feilway) And any other ideas or advice??

Thanks!!

 

[okuda]

No suggestions at all?

 

[c1atsite]

I'm no expert but I would simply observe and do nothing because it sounds like these 3 males are simply working out the rank

Let us know how it unfolds

 

[python]

My old cat Blue (age 15/16) who is neutered will often do the nape of the neck and mounting thing. He does it with the boys and the girls.

His reason? They are on HIS favourite spot and he's learned by doing that it guarantees they will move quickly.

It's quite amusing to see the others jump down, then Blue curl up with a smirk on his face

 

[barblynnp]

I just saw my cat do this to our foster kitten. He is also neutered. Why do they do this????? It is so strange.

My female dog will also do the "mounting thing" with my male cat!!!!

What are they thinking????

 

[ryffian]

Mounting behavior is generally a dominance thing, and it does occur in males and females. (Cats have really thick skin on the backs of their necks.) Definitely something that should decrease in severity/frequency over time.

 

[ladyhitchhiker]

Is humping normal with the neck biting? Because my cat Mandarin used to pin down our cat Linus and do that. They were both fixed, but Mandarin was fixed a lot later than Linus was. He still has a little suitcase, and it's obvious he was once a boy. Linus's surgery was done at about 4, 4 1/2 months when he started to smell strange, before he could think about being a boy too much. Just kinda curious, myself.

 

[ryffian]

Originally Posted by LadyHitchhiker

Is humping normal with the neck biting?

Yes, it can be. As long as everyone's spayed/neutered, there's not a lot you can really do about it. Annoying, I know.

 

[ladyhitchhiker]

You got that right.

But now that Linus has passed away Mandarin doesn't exhibit any of that behavior. He'll play with his new sister Majel, but he doesn't do any of the humping or the mounting or dominance type thing. Does that mean Majel's in charge?

 

[addiebee]

Archie has gone back to doing this with Casper after a brief truce -- because Casper has decided he likes sitting in the cat tree in the master bedroom window... and Arch doesn't like him there.

 

[jack31]

This is the story of my life. Jack was number one, then came Harley. It was an entire year of Jack doing just this behavior to show Harley he was number one. Then came Pepper who at 9 weeks old decided she was going to be number one. After a year of her biting Jacks neck she rules the roost and Jack knows that! Jack and Harley are about equal-if Jack tries to prey in Harley Pepper kicks his butt.