Humping problem and common causes

[franfontana]

Yes, it sure does. lol

 

[cajuninthecity]

Our Kooper is about a year and a half. His hump of choice is our fluffy blankets. He started only doing it every now and then, now he does it nightly if we don't pick up unused blankets. He does not wake us up with noise but we wake up to blankets strewn across the floor. He also "plays" with himself, by that I mean that he seems to be arousing himself when cleaning or biting himself. Maybe I am over thinking this but it has become a concern. He has also not been allowing me to pet him in the past week or so, but my boyfriend can pet him. Ugh.

 

[buglet]

I have the exact problem with our cat riley (3years old). However we have tried giving him extra attention espically when he starts to paw and hump. When we try to move him he wails like he is in pain. A few months ago our other male cat died and we adopted a female cat (5year old) and that is when the behaviour starts. We have tried feliway spray, we have tried giving him toys for him to espically hump and giving him more attention then the female cat.

Is there any other ideas you can think of? We are at our wits end and have seen the vet but they said this is an uncommon thing for a male nutured cat to do.

Any help would be brilliant,

Thank you

 

[miserableoldfar]

I think you need to separate the blanket humping from the "other cat" humping.  In my experience, some cats have a reaction to polyester cloth, as is found in many soft throws and blankets.  My two neutered males do not appear to be affected by this, as my previous cat had been, but they have started humping.  This appears to be rooted in Bonkers' last trip to a new vet.  Apparently, while there, he picked up a scent that my other cat, Boris, did not recognize, and Boris viciously attacked Bonkers when he came home.  Bonkers had always been the "top cat" in the house, and Boris is a bigger, stronger, ex-feral cat that had, until the vet trip, always been very meek and docile around Bonkers, and people as well.

The Boris attacks have gradually stopped, but now Bonkers is always humping Boris and it usually ends in a hissing fit.  Bonkers refuses to use most of the house and mostly spends his time in the bedroom.  They sleep together (usually on my bed) and often wake up only to spit at eachother and then curl up and go to sleep again.   Bonkers is often nasty when disturbed from his humping activity. 

These guys are driving me nuts, but the worst behavior seems to be gradually disappearing over time.  The humping is not, however.

If your cats are humping blankets- if the blankets are polyester,  try replacing polyester with cotton and see if they stop. 

 

[brucesmommy]

I am so "happy" to read this. My Chincilla Persian is 2½ years old and started it a few months ago. At first I thought he was kneading (because he is so longhaired it was hard to see), but when I rolled him over on his back he had an erection.

This continued to go on. Only when I'm laying down he will do it on my arm or leg. When I move him he gets cranky and makes a "meeeeh" noise & at times I get a little bite.
I took him to the vet, as I was worried he was in some sort of pain as it started out of the blue. He got a hormone injection, but he is still doing it.

He gets lots of attention, so I don't think that would be it. Have any of you guys had any luck with ways to get them to stop? Or do I have to accept this is a lifelong thing?

Omg! I was reading all the posts about cats humping blankets and teddy bears, thinking "ok, so only my cat humps my arm or leg... great". Then I finally came across your post and told my little man he wasn't alone, haha! My neutered adult male Persian cat, Bruce, is the sweetest thing, but he has his way with my arm, shoulder, or leg every night before he'll go to sleep. When he was 4yrs old I brought a new puppy home, who grew to be a huge Newfoundland. I noticed him acting strange around her, climbing on her back when she was napping and making strange sounds, or grabbing her neck and biting down (and not letting go). She would chase him normally, but she wouldn't move when he acted like that and she looked scared of the cat that weighed 70 lbs less than her. We had that sweet dog for a little more than a year then she passed away. About 2 weeks afterward Bruce climbed in bed with us and kneaded my side, then my arm, then all 4 feet were moving, then the strange noises started and I realized he was humping me. It was subtle, compared to my chihuahuas that do the same thing, but definite humping. Bruce has continued to hump me every night since then, and sometimes he'll follow me around and meow until I'll sit down so he can do it during the day. I've found that if I don't let him he will get very angry, meowing angrily and sometimes doing what he knows I hate more than anything, pooping in the floor. If my boyfriend tries to touch me during it, Bruce will make like a sneezy cough sound to warn him to back off. He won't hump anyone but me, and is still the sweetest cat I've ever known so we've just accepted it as a fact of life. About 10 minutes after crawling into bed I know he'll be creeping up to have his way shortly. (I noticed from many of the posts a common breed exhibiting this behavior... Persians)

 

[dejolane]

My 2 females cats hump each other but it looks like they are giving each other feet back rubs. Bella & Thunder are so funny when they do this and then they

play  biteing each others ears.

dejolane

 

[queenbuffy]

My 5 year old boy Johnny Cash does the same thing! He seems to hump at night but mostly in the morning once I've gotten out of bed. He stays behind and bites onto the blanket and begins. I have to call him to me (usually he runs right to me) or I have to show him attention and he stops.
 

 

[cindi406]

I know these are older posts but, I wanted to share something that I found that was not first in my Google search for help. Marshall has always tried to be "Top Cat" even though he was neutered at 5 months old. He has recently begun humping my blanket which I though was really gross when his penis touched my foot.

One thing I have noted is that there are quite a few female and male cats around where I live that are not spayed or neutered. I have been catching them and trapping them to take them to my vet to have them spayed or neutered. Since it is Spring, there was a female in heat that kept coming over to my house with the boys following every time her owner let her out and breeding in my driveway.

I lived in Florida for years and happen to personally love the outdoors and leave my windows cracked during the day for fresh air with a small gas furnace running to keep my home from getting too terribly cold. At night I shut the windows and turn on the regular heat. My cats love to look out the windows and feel a bit of fresh air. I do this for them, as well.

I read a post from someone who said that due to many cats breeding in the Spring, this could bring this type of behavior on even in neutered male cats. So, based on what has occurred here recently with Marshall, I would think this to be the case with him.

They are still boys even when they are neutered. They probably are still aroused by a female in heat even if she is outside.

 

[mistersmom]

Thank you so much! I moved in with my new husband 1-1/2 years ago. He had a neutered male cat. I had an old neutered male, a puggle, and was still caring for my daughter's little neutered female. As long as she was around, she ruled the roost but my daughter finally got an apartment where she could have her cat and took her off. My husband formed an attachment with my neutered male, Mister Kitty.  His own cat never jumped up on the bed anymore.  Then a few months ago, his cat started grabbing my neutered male and trying to hump him. When we first saw it, it didn't look like either cat was unhappy with it so we let it go. But Mister has gotten to the point where he guards his rear, and was so angry and upset late yesterday that I thought he had cystitis or something very painful. This morning he allowed me to pet and examine him - and no guarding behavior at all. He let me touch him everywhere - no tenderness or anything. He does keep his tail down over his bottom. So I think he has had it with the humping!  We've scolded the other kitty but now I understand better - we'll start giving him a lot of attention.  Thanks so much for covering this. As you can see, it really applies in our situation.

 

[catspaw66]

Welcome to TCS, mistersmom.  Why don't you start a thread in New Cats on the Block and introduce yourself and your cats?  You will get many more readers that way.  Be sure to put some pictures of the cats in there with your post.

 

[franfontana]

Oooooh, thank you so much! 

This makes lots of sense to me and it IS when it happens most around here as well.  As I think about it, it's the only time my son pee pee's the front hall closet.  Mind you, this little fart-knuckle was neutered at 10 weeks.  He has a very high hunt & prey drive, given the fact he's an Egyptian Mau. 

Again, I thank you very much for this information.  So you know, there are some topics, such as this I put an alert on so that if anything knew is posted I get an email stating so. 
 

 

[reaproop17]

Hmm, my cat does hump, but when I try to do what you thought it was ;it wanted attention, it meowed and hissed at me, he does this to a stuffed monkey toy. If we try to clean it he will claw us. Is this a sign of somthing? Please reply.

 

[zoessential]

Thank you for this post. I see it was some time ago, 2006, but I have had the same problem with my 2 1/2 year old desexed male cat, and we have just introduced a new cat into the household, so I am going to give this humping little cat a lot more attention from now on.  Thanks again very much.

 

[miaandloki]

My cat Loki, a 2 year old male who has been fixed since he was 4 months old is bumping my microfiber blanket. The one I snuggle up in on the couch. I wanted him to stop doing it to this specific blanket so I gave him his own in his "fortress" made of cardboard. He will not do his thing on his blanket and it seems the only time he does this action is when I'm snuggled up in the blanket. Now I don't think its an attention this due to the fact that if I try to pet him he will bite me. This is not an aggressive cat mind you, normally he's purring and sleeping on me or next to me and just being a love bug. I want the humping to stop but I have no idea of how to break him of this behavior.

 

[zoessential]

Hello MiaAndLoki,

My cat started doing this when he was 2 1/2 and he had been neutered at six months and I got him a big fluffy pink rabbit that he gave all his attention to. That was about five or six months ago now and although he does still hump his little pink rabbit it is very rarely now, so I don't know if that might work for you, but you also need to have him checked with his vet to make sure that there's nothing wrong physically, and if he's all clear then perhaps a soft toy might be the answer for Loki too. My cat was humping the other cats and so I waited until he was doing it and then just slipped the pink rabbit under him and moved the other cat, and he just kept going and then he went looking for her, so you may have to do that to transfer him across to the rabbit or whatever soft toy you have. It's worth a try. Regards Zoessential

 

[paradise4ever]

thankyou so much for your article, our cat Micky who is 8yrs old, has just returned home after a huge 3mths,

when we moved after 12days he could not be found, 3 mths later a lady a few blocks over found our missing flier 

and Micky is now home, he has been back for 2 weeks, but has started humping my daughter when she is in bed, 

we rang the vet and they had never heard of it, but your article really helps to see what is happening here,

thank you so much, how are you now getting on with your cat??? 

we thought to not give him attention when he does this, trying not to reinforce negitive behaviour, but have you found that the extra attention has still

continued to help. Micky is very attached to my daughter and hasn't wanted to leave her since he has come home, but also will not come out of her bedroom,

he doesn't want to go into the rest of the house. So we know it will take a while for him to settle down, but all in all he is happy, and of course we are very happy to have our cat home,

when we really thought after 3mths he was gone forever. 

thanks heaps!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[allenkm]

My cat humps after a play session with his "bird wand." When he finally catches and kills the toy he jumps it. Always wondered about this behavior.

 

[zoessential]

Hello Paradise4ever,

My cat Vincent, who was the humper, has virtually stopped humping now. I just gave him the pink, fluffy rabbit and took no notice of him and now the rabbit has been totally forgotten.

With your daughter perhaps if you got soft toy like I did (Vincnet's pink, fluffy rabbit isn't huge, but it fitted Vincent for size - get somthing that will be a reasonable size for your Micky too), as I was saying if you got a soft toy for him too and when he starts to hump just gently put the soft toy under him and see what happens. When I put the fluffy, pink rabbit under Vincent I did give him a little bit of an idea what to do by just gently rubbing it under him. Anyway that's what I did to transfer Vincent from the cat he was bothering over to the soft toy and he took to it straight away.

I hope this is a help to you and how wonderful that you got your baby back after three months! Well done.

All my cats micro chipped so if they are lost there's a better chance of getting them back again, and all of mine are desexed too; is your Micky neutered too? He needs to be if he isn't.

Good luck

Zoessential

 

[zoessential]

Paradise4ever,

P.S. Have just been thinking about what your vet said in regard to not having heard of it before... I think that you need to find another vet. It's something that a vet aught to have at least heard about before. My vet actually has a cat that also started humping at the age of 12, it's common and needs checking out, as in Micky's case, to see if he may have a unriary problem etc. for one thing, but by what you have written it sounds like he is feeling very insecure after having been lost for so long and it will be something that he will eventually get through... but find another vet and take your cat along to get him checked over, because I'm not a vet and to begin with you do need to discount any real health problems he may have. 

That's all.

Warm regards

Zoë

 

[mycatsmom]

My two-year-ok'd neutered male Eli humped like crazy when he first came to live with us. My husband had cancer and was preparing for an unrelated brain surgery and was anxious about that. Then a little over a month later my husband had a stroke and never came home from the hospital. Eli was the one who found him. After my husband died and things were stable for a while he stopped humping. Then my other cat Maggie, whom Eli loved, became I'll and six weeks later she was gone...and he humped again. I have a new kitten that I m introducing him to gradually and I hope when things settle down that e stops again. It seems to be a response to stress.