I'm new here and I apologize if this topic has been discussed already; I did a search and I also checked the stickies but didn't see anything quite right.
Do male cats go through some sort of puberty, and if so, at what age? I have a male cat, approximately 5 years old. Very sweet and while he's playful, he's respectful. Oh- when he was a kitten he lived with my 3 dogs and I think developed a play style that may be a little rougher than some cats (certainly far rougher than the 2 older cats my husband had when we got married, about a year after I got my cat).
Thomas, my cat, likes to play and while he'll grab my arm and bunny-kick and even sort of bite, he's gentle about it and rarely breaks skin- if he does, it's with his front claws and mostly b/c I haven't trimmed his claws recently. He's actually very good about having his claws trimmed- he usually whines/growls a little but he sits calmly and lets me trim his claws. I guess I'm trying to say I don't think of him as agressive toward people or other cats.
He's developed a new behavior though that I don't understand. When I'm sitting on the couch with my arm on the side, Thomas will often come up behind my arm and grab at it with his paw. A couple of times when he did that, I assumed he wanted to be petted (okay, I'm making him into a little person rather than trying to understand his cat behavior, I know) so I'd pet his head and ears. But when I put my arm back down, he'd grab at it again. If I don't do anything, he often leans down and bites at my arm- not a "real" bite at this point- mostly just opens his mouth grabs my arm. When he does this, I've grabbed him up, plopped him in my lap, and loved on him with my full attention for a few minutes, and for some reason this either is what he wanted, or he decides I'm a complete idiot and will never understand what he wants and he leaves me alone.
Sooo... fast forward to December (sorry this is so long); my stepdaughter claims that twice Thomas sidled up to her and made humping motions against her arm?!? Now I'm wondering if that's what he was after when he was grabbing at and biting at my arm.
Could this be misdirected sexual behavior? Dominance? Or is it just general playful/dorky kitty behavior? And I realize that my lack of "discipline" for the cat has led to whatever it is he's doing... he's just always been gentle in using his teeth and claws so I've never thought of him as agressive, so nobody in the family has worried about it. Mostly we're just curious about what this little cat is after.
Any info or suggestions as to what's going on would be greatly appreciated!
TIA,
Meredith
Do male cats go through some sort of puberty, and if so, at what age? I have a male cat, approximately 5 years old. Very sweet and while he's playful, he's respectful. Oh- when he was a kitten he lived with my 3 dogs and I think developed a play style that may be a little rougher than some cats (certainly far rougher than the 2 older cats my husband had when we got married, about a year after I got my cat).
Thomas, my cat, likes to play and while he'll grab my arm and bunny-kick and even sort of bite, he's gentle about it and rarely breaks skin- if he does, it's with his front claws and mostly b/c I haven't trimmed his claws recently. He's actually very good about having his claws trimmed- he usually whines/growls a little but he sits calmly and lets me trim his claws. I guess I'm trying to say I don't think of him as agressive toward people or other cats.
He's developed a new behavior though that I don't understand. When I'm sitting on the couch with my arm on the side, Thomas will often come up behind my arm and grab at it with his paw. A couple of times when he did that, I assumed he wanted to be petted (okay, I'm making him into a little person rather than trying to understand his cat behavior, I know) so I'd pet his head and ears. But when I put my arm back down, he'd grab at it again. If I don't do anything, he often leans down and bites at my arm- not a "real" bite at this point- mostly just opens his mouth grabs my arm. When he does this, I've grabbed him up, plopped him in my lap, and loved on him with my full attention for a few minutes, and for some reason this either is what he wanted, or he decides I'm a complete idiot and will never understand what he wants and he leaves me alone.
Sooo... fast forward to December (sorry this is so long); my stepdaughter claims that twice Thomas sidled up to her and made humping motions against her arm?!? Now I'm wondering if that's what he was after when he was grabbing at and biting at my arm.
Could this be misdirected sexual behavior? Dominance? Or is it just general playful/dorky kitty behavior? And I realize that my lack of "discipline" for the cat has led to whatever it is he's doing... he's just always been gentle in using his teeth and claws so I've never thought of him as agressive, so nobody in the family has worried about it. Mostly we're just curious about what this little cat is after.
Any info or suggestions as to what's going on would be greatly appreciated!
TIA,
Meredith
