Humping problem and common causes

[zoessential]

Dear MyCatsMom,

Just wanted to say how sorry I was to hear of your sad loss and to offer you my heartfelt condolences.

I wish you and Eli happiness and love and here's to success with your new kitten.

Sincerely

Zoë [emoji]9829[/emoji]

 

[shoshanna]

Sammi has done this to an acrylic fur type throw that I have since I got him.  The vet said it was trauma related after the circumstances that he was in as a kitten.  (litter mates killed and then first owner not being a very kind person)  He told me that other than using Feliway or some calming agent that was herbal (he does not agree with using antidepressants on cats either) there was not much that could be done medically.  The solution with him has been just to make him feel as loved as possible and not be punishing or rebuking him for a behavior that is not really harmful.  He started it more frequently when Mickey was brought into the house for a few days but it is pretty much over now.  I am just glad that I am retired and have the time to spend making them feel that they are important in my life.  Convenient?  Not always but considering what they add to my life by being loving companions and friends, the time I spend on them is worth it.  

 

[extratoemama]

My cat is going to be 4 this july. Hes nurtured as well.
In recent weeks he's gotten into the habit of humping my pillow and blankets. He starts by kneading it and then starts humping and purring. If I try to move him he just howls and then starts again. Hes doing it at least 4 times a week. I heard that spraying him with a squirt bottle will help him stop. But I'm not sure if punishing him for doingwhat male cats do is right.

 

[zoessential]

Dear Extratoemama,

Please don't punish him, it's as you say he's just doing what comes naturally.  My two and a half year old nutered boy started doing the same thing to all my other cats so I got a fluffy, pink, rabbit toy doll and when he started to hump the others, or looked like he was going to, I pushed the rabbit undeneath him and he transfered his humping to the toy rabbit. It's a big rabbit and he was happy with that and after a time he stopped humping as often and now it's about once a month.

So if you can transfer him to a soft toy animal that will help the situation.  He's not doing any harm and it's quite naturally, even though he's been nutered, but I can understand how it could be annoying on your pillows etc.

Also you might like to get him checked over by your vet to make sure he's not having any problems with his urinary system or anything else.  Is there any blood or any discharge that you have noticed at all? It's worth a check just to make sure he's not ill.

I hope this helps.

Regards

Zoë

 

 

[shoshanna]

I will say that the idea of spraying him with a spray bottle does not work unless he is a cat very different than my Sammi.  All it did with him was make him furious and he usually attacked me very viciously.  I did not punish him for "humping" his blanket or anything else as I would have felt horrid doing it because he was such a very insecure little mite when I got him and any self soothing  behavior was warranted in my humble opinion and it did not really hurt anything.

I had him checked by the vet and he simply told me that he was doing just that, self soothing as he was insecure.  Now he does it less because he has settled in and unless I do some major changing in his life, he does not feel the need to do it anymore.

 

[extratoemama]

Thank you both.

I don't feel like punishing him is right. Its what's in their instinct. But I will go get him checked out just in case.
I haven't noticed any blood or anything abnormal in his per. But its better to be safe than sorry!

 

[malt]

My boyfriend's old cat used to do this. He was very, very attached to my boyfriend's sister - they had grown up together, they got him as a kitten when she was a toddler, and he slept on her bed every night and loved to cuddle with her. When she wasn't around and he was missing her (if she was at school or sleeping over at a friend's house fr example), he would hump her dressing gown, duvet, clothes; things that smelled of her. They didn't reprimand him for it because it was harmless and none of them really minded. He was also spayed. Cats are funny creatures! 

 

[snowrosie]

I've just read through this whole thread so far as I have 'a humper', bless him, but there's one issue that hasn't really been discussed.

What about ejaculating??? I'm not bothered about my cat humping, but I really don't want him ejaculating on things around the house. All those people who just put up with their cats humping, do you really not mind having cat ejaculate on your clothes/blankets/pillows?!

I understand that castrated cats will still ejaculate, there just won't be any sperm in it, is that correct?

And also - sorry to be nasty - but what does the, ahem, discharge look like? Is it white?

 

[zoessential]

Snowrosie, as far as ejaculation goes I've never really noticed anything. I suppose there's some, but it's infinitsimal and there's no smell... he's just a little cat... it's not like he's peeing with lots of fluid coming out. My little man is very clean and afterwards he does wash himself, but there are no stains on his bedding or his little pink bunny rabbit, Gwendolyn. So really as far as I can see there's no real harm done. I hope this helps.

 

[denice]

My neutered male will occasionally do this with my spayed female.  Both were fixed while still kittens.  Alice used to always allow it but she sometimes swats at him and tells him off now.  I never thought about this, I never noticed anything on her afterward.  I always thought it was more a dominance thing.  He has never humped objects though only Alice.

 

[kstonya]

I am having the same problem I have a male cat that was fixed as soon as I could and he is now going on 13yo. He has started humping different towels that we put on the floor in our bathroom. When he humps the towel he will cry and hump more. He will drag the towel all over the house. We are a multi-cat and dog household. All of the cats and dogs are fixed. I have no idea what started this.

 

[megwynne]

Ty all. I feel so much better now. I must say that my 10 year old male neutered Himalayan has been "needling" blankets for a long time... it has morphed into humping behavior. He does it fairly often with very soft blankets. There is one particular blanket I refer to as "girlfriend." Lol. This cat CANNOT possibly get more attention than he already gets. He is somewhere around "Egyptian Cat-God" at the moment, and (I am a ABA behavioral therapist, I understand the concept of looking for cause/changes triggering behaviors) there is honestly nothing that precipitated the onset of his humping. If you interrupt him or even move the blanket, he gets pretty mad. There is a certain MAD meow he will make. Occasionally he gets a little too "randy" when needling, purring, & humping with all four feet going... he sort of knocks "girlfriend-blanket" off the back of the couch, and then makes the MAD sound and looks at ME as if to say, "Fix it! I'm not DONE!" I'm really glad to see it's not just my crazy boy who has these issues with blankets... or started at a later age.

 

[kittymama5588]

I adopted Jax at a shelter when he was 2 about six months ago. I'm the center of his world, he follows me everywhere, lets me hold him as long as I want. I can rub his belly... the gentlest cat ever. He even is patient with my children who the other cats are afraid of. (I also have another young 7-month old male and 2 older females).

He gets tons of attention and has a cat flap to a big beautiful backyard. But every night he comes and gets between me and my boyfriend, sometimes 3 times a night and gets really very affectionate with me, kneading into my neck (ow) and putting his wet nose to my cheek. Then one night I realized he was actually getting busy! I could feel him jerk his hind quarters. Luckily it only lasts a few minutes.

I don't want to be his hump buddy. I'm going to try your suggestions of blowing in his face or giving him a toy to hump instead. But he really has this thing for me, he is kind of obsessed with me. I've never seen this before - I've only had 1 male cat in the past, all the rest were females. But it's a relief to read the comments here and see that it's "normal" and not to worry about. It's fine but I don't want him humping ME and I certainly don't want to be awoken every night with claws making biscuits into my sensitive neck...

Thanks for this post, I've learned a lot.

 

[kstonya]

We have found that our cat Smokey will hump towels. We put a towel down in the bathroom and when we have the Lab outside or as soon as we send him outside we can see Smokey start dragging a towel around. We have a tub of old towels and they sleep in the tub. We use the towels on the floor for cat messes and for the bathroom floor. There is times we see him drag more than 1 towel together and it looks like he is two timing, or how ever many towels he has at the time. I have tried giving him more one on one but he is only tolerant of a little loving. His Brother Dusty gives my husband a massage every night. He used to give me throat massages before I got married. I am not sure if he is humping or not. We collect the towels on a regular basis and wash them.

It could be Jax is feeling that your boyfriend is taking over his place with you. You might have to let him know that it is not OK at that time to get  between you and your boyfriend. just like a kid he has to learn when you need him to wait until later. giving him Time during the day and let him know that he is not allowed between you on the couch.

 

[rosie1979]

Sneezy started humping a stuffed animal when he was unfixed at about 5 months old. I called the shelter to advise them about the romance and they told me he was too young and it was "learned behavior" from the dog most likely.  I have a chihuahua-jack russell that humps pillows. Since getting fixed I have only seen Sneezy doing it once or twice. He did try to mount the dog once or twice before getting fixed but to be honest I don't blame him for that since the dog was trying to do the same thing to him when I put the harness on him for some reason. My animals crack me up.

 

[kstonya]

My female Chihuahua humps one of my cats regularly and Smokey humps a towel everytime he can. He starts yowling sometimes at night and when ever he is humping. My husband tells me he can sometimes hear him during the night and when we wake up the towel will be whereever Smokey got done with it. Sometimes he will pile the towels up and it looks like he is trying to  hump two at a time.

 

[redmisaki]

Hi, I don't know how old my cat is, he is male and neutered

I've been reading the forum a bit and well I kinda understand the jumping part but yea

So my cat like just jumped on me and I started to pet him, I then went back to my game. He then suddenly bit me just below the wrist, hard to nearly draw blood

This was not the first time he's done it, and I shove him off and stuff if I could get my arm free

Before it was humping blankets, but now it's now escalated

And I realize, I am the only one he does it to, if I'm under a blanket he will come and hump the blanket I'm under

Anyways whyyyyyy

Btw we do have another male cat, younger but the older one already made it clear he's the Dom

 

[amanda mosley]

I have a neutered male cat also and he was fixed about 4 months into his life.He is now almost 2 years old just started the humping behavior.I was in a deep sleep and my cat started licking my hand.Then lightly nibbling on my wrist.The next thing I knew as I began to wake up he was backing up on my arm and humping it.I was in shock!!!I tried shacking him off and he too started making these weird noises.It was just too weird!!!I have never saw this before and was checking on the internet to see if this was normal and I ran into your post.Thanks for letting me know there are others with the same problem.I am hoping he will not do it anymore but if he continues to do this behavior then I will take him to the vet.

 

[kaoritokyo]

My estimated 5month kitten Fi (adopted 2month ago)began hump my arm shortly after I adopt him.
I can tell difference between playing and humping cause he bites my arm differently.(not with his teeth,with lips)
And his penis is out!
I wonder how it happened..Of course it's too early to nerter him.(Vet recommend 10months old)
I try to stop him saying "No humping!"(As I'm Japanese,saying in English is less awkward Fi learns as signal )And he began to learn,but it also stop him being affectionate to me.And when he is affectionate,he turns on!

I adopted him only 4days later my 19years old male cat Su passed away.Even I love Fi,he's so different from Su,(never humped on anything)I just don't know how to deal with him.
Fi is very high energy kitten,I play and play with him,Hoping make playing forget humping thing.It's so awkward!

Is there any chance he will forget humping after Fixing or ageing?
(I lost this site for a while,now I'm back.)

 

[kaoritokyo]

P.S In Japan,we tend to Fix male cat later than western.
But 10months (1st cat Su was Fixed at 5months old),which Vet suggested for Fi,makes me feel worry.Sounds too long.I'll keep talk to vet considering Fi' s urinaly system development.

Also,I agree with "they are doing because it makes them feel good."
.But I don't want to be kitten's girlfriend
But there might be insecure issue in my kitten 's case,cause there were lots of my 1st cat's smell when he came home.