Cat meowing to go outside?

As some of your know, I adopted a 3 year old male cat from the shelter recently. He was neutered about 3 months ago and still humps stuffed animal. I observed that his penis was erect while doing so. Neutered animals generally still humps, but shouldn't they be unable to maintain an erect penis?

He is also meowing constantly to go outside today (new behavior). I suppose he was probably an indoor/outdoor cat before getting caught and neutered by the shelter people, and this time of the year he's probably in heat (can a neutered cat be in heat?), and wants to go out and find some girls. I want to keep him indoor at all times. Anything I can do?

Note: to see whether his behavior was sexually motivated, I played a video of female cat in heat. He got so excited that he stood on his hinge legs and lifted his body up from the floor to watch the video, eventually jumping onto the table to investigate. He rubbed at the screen and looked behind the monitor, and was dismayed that she wasn't there!

You are wise to keep him inside.
This does not sound normal to me.
I wonder if he could have a urinary tract infection.
Maybe he should be checked by your vet.

I live by a busy subway track in NYC, he would get killed in no time.

If he was recently neutered he could certainly remember how it all goes and react like he's whole. I doubt he's in heat... he just wants to find something that is in heat.

Maybe get him checked out and watch that he doesn't spray...

You need to establish a history with a vet anyway....
did the shelter give you a coupon for a free check-up with a vet?
If not, call the shelter, if you don't have a vet already, and ask if they can refer you to one.
It is always good to have a baseline check up.

Yeah, I am going to make an appointment to see a vet soon. They did give me a coupon, so that's good.

Originally Posted by yiplong

Yeah, I am going to make an appointment to see a vet soon. They did give me a coupon, so that's good.

Click to expand...

Exellent....I would do it soon. You can discuss your cats behavior with the vet and also rule out an infection.
Please let us know what you find out.
Plato

meanwhile he's humping my stuffed dog.
while I wait for my vet to see him, this won't turn into any litter box problem would it? He hasn't sprayed or anything so far, but I am afraid he should start doing it.

It's not unusual for neutered males to "hump" stuffed animals. I wouldn't fixate on it if I were you. I do agree he should be seen by the vet to rule out a URI. I was not aware that males went into "heat", I thought they reacted to females in heat.

His neutering may also have been botched, i.e., they didn't get everything.

Yes, definitely a vet visit is in order.

More then likely he was a full tom and breeding cat before he was picked up. At that age and experience he could retain the mentality of a tom even if he was neutered. Most cats get the hormones out of the system by 2 months after being neutered, but apparently he still thinks as a tom.

As long as he's not spraying in the house, I would not worry about it. But I'd keep him inside for his own safety. Hopefully in another few months he will be much better.

If there are any stray unspayed females outside, he will continue to think as a tom and want out to mate. Try redirecting him with other toys, etc.

Originally Posted by yiplong

Note: to see whether his behavior was sexually motivated, I played a video of female cat in heat. He got so excited that he stood on his hinge legs and lifted his body up from the floor to watch the video, eventually jumping onto the table to investigate. He rubbed at the screen and looked behind the monitor, and was dismayed that she wasn't there!

Click to expand...

Of course your cat is going to react to the sound of a cat in heat; any cat would show a reaction to that awful wailing, whether intact or fixed, male or female.

He meows most intensely during dawn hours, waking me up this morning around 4.

I hope you can play a video with sound.

This little cartoon on YouTube is what my early mornings are like.