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So my seven year old, neutered, male Napoleon has sudden deciding he's going to mount my four year old, spayed, female moggie. I'm assuming it's a dominance thing since they're both neutered. I haven't seen him bite her scruff or anything, but I haven't seen him display this behavior since before he was neutered. I don't think he was fixed late either. It was put off briefly when we first got him and our other Napoleon (who's a week older) because we considered breeding them once. That, of course, was when we thought the other cat was a female(good thing we decided not!). But I don't think we waited for long at all. A few weeks, maybe a month or so and we got them as kittens. Ember's spay wasn't put off at all. She was spayed as soon as possible and we've had her since her birth.
As it is, I can only think of once that I saw Ash(cat mounting Ember) mount Frost(other male Napoleon). It was kind of funny because Frost was laying on his back like he tends to do. But in all four years of having Ember, I've never once seen him even try to mount her. Until about two weeks ago. Ember was laying on top of the cat tree. I don't know when he got up there with her or anything because I didn't see it. I just saw her tail lashing rapidly and thought she was watching a bird. Then I saw his tail up there as well, but didn't think much of it because they do sometimes lay together up there. But when I got up I saw he was on top of her, but it only lasted a moment. Then he just flopped down on her and started grooming himself. She didn't try to get away until he did that. Then she got out from under him and took off.
Well, the other day Ember was in the dining room meowing like she tends to do. She does this quite frequently and will usually talk to me with her sad, broken sounding meow, but refuse to come to me for petting. She wants me to get up. I was mostly ignoring her(she's taken to doing this several time a day), but then I hear Ash started meowing with her and it wasn't his usual meow. It was short and rapid, more like hers. I looked over to see him with one leg over her, but she got away and ran to my room. He followed her into the hall, but when I got over there he was sitting in the hall and she came out of my room. I also suspect he did it again that night because she was meowing(again) and I heard his short, rapid meows too. Of course, I was trying to sleep so everything was dark and I didn't have my glasses on. By the time I was going to go check on them, Ember was walking into my room.
Today there was a similar situation though. Ember, once again, was meowing in the dining room. He joined her and ran over to her, she ran into the living room. He couldn't get on her, but was right behind her. She just flopped down when she reached the living room though and kind of acted like she wanted to play. He just gave her a weird look and sat down. Then she suddenly took off and started batting a little ball around.
There was a time that they were playing too, but I wasn't sure if he had started trying to mount her or if he actually wanted to play. He went up behind her, but she moved before he could do anything and they've both learned to bite inappropriate places
Anyway, I'm mostly posting out of curiosity. Is it normal for a cat to suddenly start mounting after over six years of nothing? And almost four years of living with this female cat? What would cause it? He's never been a very dominant cat. Both of the boys are rather laid back and it doesn't take much for him to start cowering in a corner. We have had issues between him and Ember because Ember is very sensitive and tends to lash out at him when she's uncomfortable with something(new smells, stress, etc.). Due to this, he often loses confidence and I have to work on building his (and hers) back up.
Also, what should I do about it, if anything? The first time was weird, but not particularly concerning. She wasn't trying to get away from him and the only sign of irritation was her lashing tail(which she still could have been watching a bird). And I thought it might be good if he asserted some dominance. I thought maybe she wouldn't lash out at him so much. But the past couple of times she's tried to get away and I don't like that. Admittedly, I am a bit overprotective over her. She tends to be a skittish, easily frightened cat who runs off growling when she hears people outside. She's a lot better now than she was, but I'd hate to go back to how things were. Because of that, I'm always trying to avoid everything that could possibly make her feel insecure or lose confidence.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
As it is, I can only think of once that I saw Ash(cat mounting Ember) mount Frost(other male Napoleon). It was kind of funny because Frost was laying on his back like he tends to do. But in all four years of having Ember, I've never once seen him even try to mount her. Until about two weeks ago. Ember was laying on top of the cat tree. I don't know when he got up there with her or anything because I didn't see it. I just saw her tail lashing rapidly and thought she was watching a bird. Then I saw his tail up there as well, but didn't think much of it because they do sometimes lay together up there. But when I got up I saw he was on top of her, but it only lasted a moment. Then he just flopped down on her and started grooming himself. She didn't try to get away until he did that. Then she got out from under him and took off.
Well, the other day Ember was in the dining room meowing like she tends to do. She does this quite frequently and will usually talk to me with her sad, broken sounding meow, but refuse to come to me for petting. She wants me to get up. I was mostly ignoring her(she's taken to doing this several time a day), but then I hear Ash started meowing with her and it wasn't his usual meow. It was short and rapid, more like hers. I looked over to see him with one leg over her, but she got away and ran to my room. He followed her into the hall, but when I got over there he was sitting in the hall and she came out of my room. I also suspect he did it again that night because she was meowing(again) and I heard his short, rapid meows too. Of course, I was trying to sleep so everything was dark and I didn't have my glasses on. By the time I was going to go check on them, Ember was walking into my room.
Today there was a similar situation though. Ember, once again, was meowing in the dining room. He joined her and ran over to her, she ran into the living room. He couldn't get on her, but was right behind her. She just flopped down when she reached the living room though and kind of acted like she wanted to play. He just gave her a weird look and sat down. Then she suddenly took off and started batting a little ball around.
There was a time that they were playing too, but I wasn't sure if he had started trying to mount her or if he actually wanted to play. He went up behind her, but she moved before he could do anything and they've both learned to bite inappropriate places
during play
from Frost. But she flopped down on her back and played with him though she seemed very squirmy. I don't know, it's kind of hard to explain. She might have been trying to get his attention because he didn't seem all that interested in playing.Anyway, I'm mostly posting out of curiosity. Is it normal for a cat to suddenly start mounting after over six years of nothing? And almost four years of living with this female cat? What would cause it? He's never been a very dominant cat. Both of the boys are rather laid back and it doesn't take much for him to start cowering in a corner. We have had issues between him and Ember because Ember is very sensitive and tends to lash out at him when she's uncomfortable with something(new smells, stress, etc.). Due to this, he often loses confidence and I have to work on building his (and hers) back up.
Also, what should I do about it, if anything? The first time was weird, but not particularly concerning. She wasn't trying to get away from him and the only sign of irritation was her lashing tail(which she still could have been watching a bird). And I thought it might be good if he asserted some dominance. I thought maybe she wouldn't lash out at him so much. But the past couple of times she's tried to get away and I don't like that. Admittedly, I am a bit overprotective over her. She tends to be a skittish, easily frightened cat who runs off growling when she hears people outside. She's a lot better now than she was, but I'd hate to go back to how things were. Because of that, I'm always trying to avoid everything that could possibly make her feel insecure or lose confidence.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.