Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:
My cat was given a vasectomy at a early age. While he cannot spray and he is an only cat he humps thing frequently and we find a small spot on the floor that appears to be just a drop the size of a pencil eraser. For some reason the vet that first neutered him did not remove testicles is beyond me but would having the testicles removed at his age of 3 now stop the attempt to spray and hump things?
~ Jerry
Thomas: Well, honestly, Jerry, we have no earthly idea why a veterinarian would give a cat a vasectomy instead of neutering him!
Bella: That’s just about the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!
Thomas: And Bella should know because she says lots of ridiculous things.
Bella: Thomas, that’s not nice! *weep* I think I’ll just go hide, now that I know you hate me.
Thomas: Oh, come on. You know I don’t hate you, now stop being ridiculous.
Bella: *wail* Just wait until Mama gets home. I’m telling on you!
Thomas: Silly girl. Come over here and let me give you some love. You know I don’t think you’re ridiculous. Now, come and help me answer Jerry’s question.
Bella: Okay. *pout* But I’m gonna ask Auntie Hannah to give you a spanking.
Thomas: You know she won’t do that.
Bella: A girl can wish, though.
Thomas: In any case, Jerry, if you do have your cat neutered, it should definitely put a stop to the humping and attempts to spray.
Bella: Because your kitty still has his testicles, he still has all those male hormones running around inspiring him to do that — and maybe even to run away and try to seek out female cats in heat, which can be very dangerous.
Thomas: And of course, cats that remain un-neutered are at a greatly increased risk for cancers of the reproductive system, so we do recommend you get him fixed as soon as you can.
Bella: After neutering, it will take about three weeks for all the testosterone to get out of your cat’s system, but once it does, you should find yourself with a calm and loving cat who won’t be humping and spraying and trying to find some ladies to love.
Thomas: Trust me, being neutered is no big deal. I’ve been neutered forever, and honestly, the surgery didn’t even hurt that much.
Bella: We could say lots of things about people who think their cats are going to be depressed if they’re neutered because they’re somehow “less manly,” and all of those things would be in the form of hisses and growls.
Thomas: Long story short, Jerry — give your big guy a few weeks after his little snip-snip, and you should find yourself humping and spraying-free.
Bella: What about you other readers? Have you ever heard of a cat getting a vasectomy? Have you ever had a cat you thought was neutered and then it turned out he wasn’t? Have you had to have a vasectomized cat or a cat with undescended testicles neutered? How did your cat’s behavior change afterwards? Share your stories in the comments.
JaneA Kelley is a punk rock cat mom and award-winning blogger. She is a regular columnist for Catster Magazine, and she and the Paws and Effect Gang share a home in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
I have a male cat who still humps things. I dont know when he was fixed but many vets these days have 3 procedures for males: testicle removal, vasectomy or a simple shot.
I agree, how silly to just do a vasectomy! I have never heard of that!
When I got my kittens back from their neuter surgery I did think that they hadn’t actually done the procedure because their, ahem, equipment still seemed to be there. I called in and was told that the vet’s procedure was to remove the testicles but leave the sacs, which would eventually shrink and reabsorb.
Is there any chance that the “vasectomy” was actually that procedure?
Ok..I’m dying of curiosity to know why it is that the vet decided to use vasectomy in the first place *scratches head*
I’ve had a cat who was spayed, and it didn’t stick…she ended up being spayed three times :D
Apparently, they’d forgotten to take out the second ovary the first time around and then after that, they found some ovarian tissue in a place where it’s not supposed to be, that was still producing hormones.
After that, she finally stopped rolling around my carpet and putting her *** in my face.
As for males when they get neutered – it is possible that they keep some of the previous behaviours, depending on the situation and the age. The older the cat is when he gets neutered, the more likely it is he has developed a habit to exhibit the behaviour that typically comes with being sexually mature. That’s why some tom cats, after being neutered will still routinely spray, for instance. The drive becomes less, but the habit remains. Depending on how long it’s had to become ingrained, it can take a while to subside, and to untrain. If this does present as a problem, it is possible to distract them with something positive (a toy, a treat, attention) to interrupt the behaviour and break the habit.
If possible I would take him back to the original vet and let him know what’s going on. You wanted him neutered to stop all this and it’s never stopped. I wonder how many other of his clients cats have done this and maybe the poor cat was taken away or dumped somewhere. I work with a TNR group and “Charmaine” was supposedly spayed when he checked her so I released her in her neighborhood. Lo and behold she had kittens a couple months later. Another vet said her ovaries were hidden and they thought she was spayed. A note of wisdom here: Any cat found outside is probably not spayed so the original vet should have looked harder for those ovaries. I can only imagine what some of these vets are charging for an incomplete alteration.
My cat sprays outside and has been neutered since before he’s come to live with us. Cats can still spray after being fixed. I also have a neighbor whose male cat started to spray while under a lot of stress from some construction going on next door. So stress can bring that on. And territorial instinct doesn’t go away just because they’ve been snipped.
I’m not sure about vasectomies so I can’t address that.
I have a 5 month kitten who started to hump. Is that normal? His not fixed yet. Our vet says he needs to be 6 months old. He humps blankets or plastic bags and sometimes gets our hands to be playful to bite and humps. Also in the middle of the night he will hump our blankets while we’re sleeping and wakes us up. What should we do? Is it anything to be worried about ? Please advise
All this humping is most likely due to the fact that he’s not neutered yet. The behavior will calm down once you have him fixed–although it may take a few weeks because of the gradual decline in your kitty’s testosterone levels. Good luck!