I Just Caught My Neutered Male Cat Trying To Hump My Male Dog!!!

[inkysmom]

Ridiculous!!! I neutered this cat at six months old, he never sprayed or acted sexually mature at all. He's seven years old. When I took him in as a starving three month old kitten literally off the streets, I had seven cats and a large dog. Now five of the cats have since died of age and illness, mainly cancer, between 2015-June 2017, and the dog I had that he was very bonded to died almost exactly two years ago. I have a new dog for less than two years who he hated and tortured at first but now they're buddies and affectionate. The one cat left is thirteen but very energetic and playful for his age and has always been his best buddy, they used to gang up on the others and chase and torment the other cats and we're both dominant bullies. They cuddle up together all the time but also fight more since it's just the two of them. Never draw blood and share food and treats fine.
So over the years I'd occasionally catch this cat trying to hump one of my very passive female cats she'd always run away from him and hide and vocalize distress if he bothered her so I'd protect her.
I'd also catch him doing this to my feral cat Inky. Over the years as Inky got tamer and slept on my bed with me all the time, I'd see it more. I can't day if it happened more or if I just saw it more because this cat Ruby and Inky were always in the bed with me. Usually Inky would just tolerate it until I noticed and stopped Ruby, or sometimes Inky would get pissed and attack Ruby and even chase him across the apartment.
Inky died last June. Ruby I'm pretty sure wouldn't try this with my other cat as this cat is pretty dominant and wouldn't put up with him. He'll just walk over when Ruby's curled up in his favorite spot on the bed and literally sit on him and shove him over to get my attention or petting, when I open a can if Ruby's already eating, he'll come over and eat to and shove Ruby over. For treats if I give him his own treats he'll sit right next to Ruby and steal Ruby's treats while he's still eating by using his paw to slide a few at a time over to his pile. So I'm pretty sure if Ruby tried to hump him he'd get attacked and it wouldn't work.
The new dog and Ruby are buddies now but the dog was petrified of Ruby for the first six months because Ruby used to torture him and attack him every chance he got. The dog's 85 pounds and Ruby's 8, lol. The dog supposedly had a high prey drive per the shelter and does chase rabbits and squirrels and rats. So the first night I brought him home from the shelter I kept him on a leash. Ruby got to close to see him and he lunged and Ruby scratched his cornea and attacked him every chance he could for six months. I kept putting limits on Ruby and finally they got to be friends. But the dog is very passive around both cats and they're in charge.
So tonight I look over and Ruby's on too of the dog's side, teeth firmly in his neck humping away! The dog's just lying still looking stressed.
I extricated his skin from Ruby's teeth and told Ruby no and banished him to the floor iol.
I don't want Ruby to push the very patient and tolerant dog beyond his limits and get hurt if the dog does decide to defend himself and bites or snaps. With such a size difference he could easily accidentally hurt or kill Ruby.

 

[margd]

Ruby is almost certainly expressing his dominance over your dog. He's not alone in treating his canine friend this way - I was surprised how many similar examples I found when I ran a search. I even found a YouTube video showing a cat behaving exactly as you describe Ruby behaving, even down to the bite in the neck.

I think your concern for Ruby's safety is justified but unfortunately, I don't know if there is a way to eliminate his drive for dominance, or change the form it takes. The first thing that comes to mind is to have Ruby's testosterone levels checked. If they are higher than usual for a neutered cat, you could ask your vet about treating him with an anti-androgen. Anti-androgens, also called testosterone blockers, are a class of drugs that prevent androgens like testosterone and dihydrotesterone from producing their biological effects in the body. I honestly have no idea if this would put an end to Ruby's behavior, I'm just brainstorming here.

For now, the only thing I can suggest is to keep Ruby and his doggy buddy separated unless you are there to rescue your dog (and Ruby) from Ruby's unwanted attentions. I'm especially worried because of your dog's history as a prey hunter. Ideally, you should step in before Ruby gets to the teeth-in-neck stage and follow up with something that Ruby would normally avoid. A very short time-out might work - just pick up Ruby and sequester him elsewhere (the bathroom is a good spot) for just a few minutes, long enough to break his focus.

Here are a few articles that might be helpful.

The Dos And Don'ts Of Cat Behavior Modification
How To Safely Introduce A Cat And A Dog
Solving Cat Behavior Problems: The Key Ingredient

Good luck! I hope you can find a good solution so that Ruby keeps his paws to himself!

 

[inkysmom]

Thanks for your response and helpful advice. Ruby is definitely very dominant around other cats and dogs. I haven't seen him do this to any other animal since Inky died last June. He did this to Inky who was easily twice his size periodically for years. Inky was feral and got along with other cats well but would occasionally have enough and attack Ruby and chase him around the apartment. He didn't usually attack or fight but he could hold his own. Ruby also I think did this to the submissive cats I always stopped him if I caught him.
He never did this to my last dog, an Akita pitbull mix. They bonded and became very close but in the beginning when Ruby tried to bully him and scratch him and chase him away from his own food and crate in his room my last dog would bark and snap and get my attention that I needed to intervene. The dog had resource guarding issues when he was young which I carefully trained and I always fed him separately. Riby got very firm nos and long tomeouts for intruding on the dog's space or food.
This is the very first time I've seen him ever do that to any dog, or seen him do that at all since Inky died. He and this dog have been sleeping cuddled up and this dog has been licking his scabs from his chronic allergies and Ruby will go to him and rub against him.
I said no very firmly and pulled him off the dog and dropped him firmly on the floor last night. He came back a second later standing on his hind legs rubbing against my hands climbing back on the bed trying to be next to me, in the furthest end away from the dog and stayed away from him ever since.
Later my other cat hissed and cuffed the poor dog in the face when he stretched out in his sleep. I said no bad and then said off the bed!!! He resisted and tried to stay there digging his claws in and I said no off!!! Now!!! So off he went! Then I made a big fuss of saying poor puppy and patting and cuddling the dog and having him stretch out into the whole space so both cats would see clearly not to bully their brother.
As far as his prey drive, he lunged at Ruby the first night and never again. He's never hurt any animal. He chases rabbits and things that run, including my horses but has never caught or attacked or even bitten anything.
He reacts the same when he sees another dog as he does when he sees a cat, rabbit, squirrel, bird, horse, whatever. I let him sniff a parrot once and he just gently sniffed it even when it whistled and squawked at it. He's very gentle and passive with small dogs and little puppies, he just rolls on his back and let's them chew on his ears. He's not at all possessive about food or toys and will just drop them and walk away and gets scared if little dogs bark at him. He's only ever fought larger male dogs over a year ago. He seems more curious to meet other animals and chase if they Rin to attack and kill, or he would have by now, ive had him almost two years. He never fought back at all when Ruby used to torture him, just hide in his crate and cower. The worst he did was bark. I had two other formerly feral cats too and get couldn't even go from room to one without getting cuffed and swatted. So he'd stay in one room trapped until I rescued him.
Ruby's going to be getting some much firmer verbal scoldings and longer timeouts if he tries that again!