Male and female cats.

Question
I have 2 cats, brother and sister, aged 18 months. They have both been speyed/neutered when they were 6 months old, but over the past couple of months the male has become aggressive towards the female and will often grab her by the scruff of her neck and pin her down as if he were trying to mate with her. Sometimes I'm not sure if he just wants to play but is too rough as he is quite a bit bigger than her. She's quite frightened of him and hides from him, which is really sad as they used to be the best of friends and spend all their time together and cuddle up to sleep together. Any idea why he is behaving like this? Many thanks, Jayne. X

Answer
Jayne,


There are quite a few neutered cats (usually starting about 3 years old) that start showing tomcat behavior. Some cats have a strong 'male mentality' and though they physically can't do anything they mentally can. Usually the cause for this behavior is that the neutered cat smells a female in heat somewhere in the neighborhood (even if they are inside cats) and react to it. I have been told about neutered males that will hump other cats in the family (as yours is doing) male or female, dogs, peoples legs and arms, and stuffed animals.

When he does that don't get mad at him or scold him because it's nature and he doesn't understand what he is doing wrong. But also don't pet him because that can get him more stimulated. Try to distract him with food or toys. He should quit doing it after all the poor unspayed females around are bred.