Owners of Male Cats: Help!

Hello!

My brother brought home a cat on Saturday, and unfortunately it looks like it's not going to work out for a variety of reasons. The cat's name is Chip — he's a tuxedo cat, about 1 year old, and very very sweet. I've offered to take Chip if my brother can't keep him, but I'm having second thoughts due to a factor I had not considered before this: the cat penis.

I've only had female cats before, so I have never encountered a cat penis and I reeeally don't care to. Those of you who have male cats: How common is it for you to actually see your cat's penis? I've read that it typically comes out when the cat is happy and kneading, which Chip is doing literally all the time. I spent most of this past weekend with him and although he was constantly kneading, I didn't notice anything (but I didn't think to look and see if his D had emerged). 

I know this is a horrible, weak, shallow thing to base this decision on, but I am really uncomfortable with the idea of my cat getting a boner anywhere near me. I also plan on getting female cats at some point in the future, and am also not super into the idea of him trying to mount them.

Chip is neutered, but I'm not 100% sure when he had the procedure done. My brother has all his medical records so I can check if that will help. He's a very sweet cat and I would absolutely prefer to keep him with me than send him back with the girl my brother got him from and never see him again. But I really don't think I can ever be fully comfortable with him if this is going to be a thing. I'm just worried that I would never feel comfortable with him and that I might even accidentally end up discouraging happy behaviors like purring or kneading because I'm afraid his penis is not far behind.

Can any owners of male cats shed some light on this? How big of an issue is it really?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I've had male cats almost exclusively for 30 years now (only two females in all that time). I can't think that I've ever been aware of a kitty penis in all that time.

The only incident I can think of with a visible penis is with my greyhound I'm the first couple of weeks after I got him. He was neutered the day before I brought him home from the shelter, and very early on he got over excited and it showed. Once the hormones had had a chance to settle, it was never a problem.

As to the possibility of mounting/humping a female, that is highly unlikely to happen. I've only ever heard of it in cases where a sexuall experienced tom was neutered late in life - and then only with a female who was in heat/pseudo heat (very occasionally a spay goes slightly wrong, and the cat still exhibits heat despite not being fertile). I can't promise there won't be the occasional wrestling match - just as kittens will play fight, but that is a (highly entertaining) possibility regardless of sex - I've seen it most often in littermates brothers who'd always played together this way.

I really wouldn't let this worry put you off taking this sweet boy in if your brother can't keep him. Chip sounds adorable, and girls and boys often coexist much more easily than multiple girls do.

I had a male cat once, was neutered too. He seemed to be very fond of a stuffed animal that was on my mother's couch and humped it from time to time, but didn't really ejaculate or something, it seemed to be more of a behavioral thing than sexual urge. We gave him that animal then and he was happy with it, never started to hump us, like dog would

That was really the only difference I noticed to female cats, nothing big. Oh and I didn't really see any penis coming out.

Okay, um, no male cats do not get boners from being petted...that is you do not turn on cats in that way. 

He will stick it out if he needs to bathe himself, but unless you are staring at that very moment at the right angle you ain't gonna see it.

And he will let it out to pee, so if you have a habit of staring at cats as they urinate you may see it, and he may see you staring, and he may tell other cats you are weird.

Also, cats tend to stick it out to have sex. So to be clear they have sex with other cats, generally females, and if you do not have a female cat...and you yourself are not a female cat, then you will not be seeing that.

By the way, a cat's penis is very small. It has spikes/hairs on it, and looks nothing like a human's. 

I have had a mail cat for eight years i have seen it at the right angle when he has been cleaning himself. this is not something that happens evry time just once in a blue moon. Male cats can be very loveable. If he is fixed and you get a female you will be fine i have two femals along with my male and he has never tried anything with either of them. Give this boy a chance

I currently have a male and 2 female cats. And before them I had 2 make cats, so I've owned 3 male cats in my lifetime (all neutered) but not once have I ever seen any of their penises, and the male I have currently plays with my 2 females (who are spayed by the way) but has never tried to hump or mount them.

In other words, you will be fine. It is extremely unlikely that you are ever going to see his penis unless you are staring him down while he is peeing or while he is cleaning himself down there.

No, your cat will not get a boner while kneading on you or any other human. He shouldn't get boners at all if he's been neutered.

Henry was neutered as a kitten. I got him when he was 8 years old. I am happy to report that I have never seen his equipment and have absolutely no desire for that to change. If the flirtatious Queen Lilith (spayed) doesn't do it for him, I certainly never will. 

Hehe, no, cats aren't like dogs. With dogs, you can expect to see "the red rocket" fairly often, neutered or not (it's not really an erection, just, um, kind of like his fly is open, hanging out ). You rarely see this with cats. I have a lot of cats and have only seen a cat's penis once, when one of them was cleaning himself. I didn't even know what it was at first! That's how rare it is. So don't worry about that.

As for humping, after neutering it's not really sexual, and females do it too. Not all cats hump things, but some do, both genders. I guess if it bothers you, you could ask if he's in the habit of humping things. If he's not, he probably won't start now. Make sure your females are spayed before they go into heat, or he'll attempt to "help them out" when they're miserable in active heat. Other than that there shouldn't be any cause for humping.

Willowy said:

Hehe, no, cats aren't like dogs. With dogs, you can expect to see "the red rocket" fairly often, <snip>

Click to expand...

I don't really have anything substantive to add to the discussion.  I just wanted to say that the "red rocket" cracked me up.  I'm adding that to my list of great phrases I've picked up here.   

I have a male 1 year old fixed cat. I have two other cats that are both female and I've never seen his little winky wink. He is a short-haired fellow and he likes to plop his fat self in front of me and clean his bo-bo hole. You won't see it, I promise. My little kitty is always around me, always following me and he'll sit on my head if possible. Never seen his diddly-do. If you did see it, it would be too small for you to figure out that it's his winker poppin up.

Sorry if I missed it, but it is a bit unclear to me: do you constantly see it and it bothers you, or do you think you'll have to see it constantly and it will bother you?

Because if you do not see it out constantly, but just think you will have to, then like people above posted - chances are you wont see it.

But if what you are trying to say is that it is constantly out right now and you can see it all the time, then I'd strongly suggest to bring him to the vet.
For it to be sticking out all the time is not normal at all. It should be retracted. And it doesn't get retracted as it should, there are serious health problems and he needs to be seen by a vet.

Hi, everyone! I'm new to these forums and I'm not quite sure how to reply to everyone at once so you'll be notified, but hopefully this will suffice!

My brother has officially decided not to keep Chip, and I have decided not to take him. I already have my parents' three cats living with me while they are trying to sell their house, and in my apartment building we're really only allowed to have two (the manager knows about my third cat and said it's okay), so we would have to find somewhere else for him to go until my parents' cats move back in with them at the end of July. I think all of that would be way more shuffling around and stress than Chip deserves and he will be better off finding a home where he can go immediately. My brother got him from a girl on Craigslist and she loves him and seems very determined to find him a great home, so I'm not worried that he's in any danger by leaving our care. I really hope the girl will just keep him, as she loves him a lot and so does her English bulldog, but she would have to work something out with her landlord.

Anyway, thank you so much for all your help! I promise my decision not to keep Chip didn't have ANYTHING to do with the concerns I brought up here. I have actually decided that when I do adopt my own cats, I will try to get a mixture of males and females. It's so unfair that male cats are often overlooked or rejected in shelters because people like me have these weird unfounded biases, and I am ashamed to have formerly been part of the problem. But my eyes have been opened and I am now 100% on board with male cats! Thanks, everyone — and here's a picture of Chip, in case anyone wanted to see. He's such a sweet boy and I know he'll find a great home, but I'm really going to miss him.

.

He is beautiful!  I have a male cat very similar to him. He does occasionally get a bit rough with my spayed female. He is neutered and has been since 5 months of age. Sometimes he appears to be trying to mount her but I am not sure if he is just showing her he is Top Cat. The vet said that even tho he is neutered he may still have a bit of testosterone which could give him ideas. Honestly it doesn't happen often. I have never seen his penis and I don't intend to. He is a very sweet boy at the age of 12 now.

Honestly, some female cats seemed not to want hugged, and males loved it. 
I figured as when I was 13 all female cats, Queens, were feminists who did not want held down. 
"Independicat."
Males just seem to think "HE LOVES ME! YEAAA!!" And go with the flow.
So I am glad the OP has learned a lot from our experiences and is open to males and females now.
Every cat has a different personality. No 2 same.

This thread was a hoot....a true emergency. Too cute haha.

It's too bad his fate is unknown... he's a handsome fellow.

I have been seeing a lot of females in the shelters so I wouldn't think males are being passes over. If/when you get a male make sure you get him fixed because if you don't and he decides to stick his bum in your face.... well you wont like it haha. But like others have said, I only saw my male cat while he was cleaning himself a couple times and I had him for 15 years. 

Because Cats said:

 
This thread was a hoot....a true emergency. Too cute haha.

It's too bad his fate is unknown... he's a handsome fellow.

I have been seeing a lot of females in the shelters so I wouldn't think males are being passes over. If/when you get a male make sure you get him fixed because if you don't and he decides to stick his bum in your face.... well you wont like it haha. But like others have said, I only saw my male cat while he was cleaning himself a couple times and I had him for 15 years. 

Click to expand...

Actually we did not fix any of the indoor only cats we had and the males did not cause any problem until one day they did get outside and some stupid tom cat lifted his leg. The two fluffy brothers looked at him, then each other, and I thought....ohhhhh nooooo....
 

Davey said:

 
Actually we did not fix any of the indoor only cats we had and the males did not cause any problem until one day they did get outside and some stupid tom cat lifted his leg. The two fluffy brothers looked at him, then each other, and I thought....ohhhhh nooooo....
 

Click to expand...

 All I know is that when I first met my Husband my male cat love to stick his furry "balls" in his face haha. Once he as fixed it was just getting a cat bum in your face. He didn't like to share me and looked for ways to show it.... ah memories haha

Awee...cat balls are the best! Sometimes a black cat is born with white balls! I always thought of em as like Christmas tree ornaments. Such a shame the girls do not have decorations too.

Chip is a handsome cat. He deserves a good home. Like the others, I've only seen Mingo's wee-wee when he cleans himself after peeing. It's very tiny.