My kitty has a Real Bear

April 9, 2008 11:21 AM

I can't believe I'm asking this filter: I think my cat has an intimate relationship with his lovie. Is this normal?

I have a 2 year old male cat. I have had him 1 year; the humane society neutered him when I adopted him. In an unrelated incident a few months later, I got a plush polar bear (a Klappar Isbjorn) from Ikea, thinking it would be a good tv pillow. Kitty decided he was fond of it and started kneading and sucking on it, much like a kitten would on its mother. I surrendered the bear. A few months later, the sucking stopped but the kneading continued, and now he is definitely humping the bear. My usually not-very-purry kitty purrs loudly during and afterwards goes and licks himself (on the floor, by my bed). My questions:
1)Is this normal for a neutered animal? I had always thought the humping instinct in neutered animals was a dominance thing.
2)Is there any reason I should discourage this? Seems to me it's between him and the bear.
3)Should I obtain a back up bear?- this one is getting kind of, um, flat.

posted by pointystick to Pets & Animals (22 answers total)

I've known many male cats to hump things (blankets, pillows, whatever) no matter when they were chopped so, yes, it's normal.

Even those with no testicles need some love sometimes.
posted by Stynxno at 11:26 AM on April 9, 2008

I'm not sure if it is "normal" or not, but it isn't too uncommon. I don't know why they do it but I've seen cats makin' sweet love with plush animals before. Getting a back up bear might not be a bad idea; who knows if your kitty will like it as much, though. My cat seems to be very finicky about his toys and turns his nose up at "replacements" on a regular basis.

I don't know of any reason you should discourage the activity. Maybe even put on some mood music and light some candles? Seems like he's having a gooood time.
posted by Justinian at 11:28 AM on April 9, 2008 [3 favorites]

I thought my neutered cat was weird for suckling my fingers, one after the other, before he'll go to sleep at night (so, for the purposes of answering, I think neutered animals do continue to do some very strange things), but now I'm concerned that might develop some humping behavior as he enters his second year... note to self: remove all humpable objects from the house.
posted by socratic at 11:30 AM on April 9, 2008

My ex-GF had a cat whose lovie bear, was actually completely flattened after two years of lovin'...he would spoon it to sleep too! No harm, no foul.
posted by schyler523 at 11:36 AM on April 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

*extra commas suck*
posted by schyler523 at 11:37 AM on April 9, 2008

I once lived with a cat who had a long term relationship with a sheepskin. The sheep was no longer in it, but that didn't seem to bother him. Awkward human reactions were insignificant in comparison to the obviously immense pleasure he got out of nookie with his sheepskin. You could hear the purrs in the next room. He's now gone to kittie heaven, where I hope there are lots of sheepskins.
posted by arcadia at 11:49 AM on April 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

Had a neutered cat with a very kinky attachment to a throw blanket. He liked it most when he had an audience. At first it was kind of freaky but then again, how much fun does the typical indoor cat get to have? So the blanket became the cat's personal blanket and we let him swing with it however he needed/wanted to.

Normal? Depends on your idea of cats & normal. Unusual? Apparently not.
posted by contessa at 12:00 PM on April 9, 2008

My (neutered male) cat does this too, but to...our other cats. It can't help but bother me because they don't seem like willing participants. I wish he had a stuffed animal to love instead!
posted by lagreen at 12:03 PM on April 9, 2008

One of my cats attempts sweet, sweet love with my foot on a daily basis. His brother attempts sweet, sweet love with his head. Is it normal? I don't know, but they're definitely happy (and soft).
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 12:04 PM on April 9, 2008

(Oops..both 7 year old neutered males)
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 12:04 PM on April 9, 2008

I just wanted to chime in and say that my 8 year old male, neutered cat does this to a stuffed jaguar cat I received years ago. He makes all kind of noises, drags it from one end of the bed to the other, mashes it down and humps away.....usually staring at me and purring at the same time. At one point it freaked me out, but I've grown accustomed to it over the years. If I am on speakerphone with my boyfriend the cat will usually stop whatever he is doing and start doing his business with his stuffed lover.
posted by jessica at 12:18 PM on April 9, 2008

My super fat kitty used to do this to our other cats. Mostly he would rest his obese floppy belly on their backs and make slight humping motions while purring, drooling and staring into middle distance while blinking dumbly. It was slightly disturbing to come upon unexpectedly but it didn't seem to disturb the humpee kitty much because they wouldn't get up run away. He also had the woolsucking habit as a kitten/young adult. Cats are so odd sometimes.
posted by hecho de la basura at 12:44 PM on April 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

My friend's cat had a feather duster that he made his girlfriend. My sister's male cat tries to get in on with his sister. My male cat has never done anyting like this, at least not that I've seen in the 17 years I've had him. They are all neutered, I guess some are still just freakier than others.
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 12:50 PM on April 9, 2008

One of my cats used to do this to a particular stuffed animal, but stopped some months later - I think he started about a year after being neutered too.
posted by sluggo at 1:03 PM on April 9, 2008

My father's neutered male (now passed on) had his own humpbear. He wore the fabric on that thing down to nothing and had a good time doing it. I've heard similar stories from many other cat owners. Completely normal.
posted by LeeJay at 1:19 PM on April 9, 2008

This one time, I was awakened by my neutered male cat using my HAND as his lovey.

Ew, ew, ew.
posted by Addlepated at 1:58 PM on April 9, 2008

Previously.
posted by puddleglum at 2:23 PM on April 9, 2008

1.) Cat Pie Hurts: you cracked me up!

2.) I had a neutered male cat who would mount a little stuffed walrus whenever it was out, so mostly I kept it in a closet or something, and would take it out when I wanted to be amused. I think it's normal.
posted by FlyByDay at 6:29 PM on April 9, 2008

My cat has destroyed many pairs of shoes by humping them to death. He loves feet. He used to do it to an old sweater I had, but he seems to have grown out of that and now concentrates solely on feet (yeah, sorry about the pun).

I tried replacing both the sweater and the shoes with other soft clothing that I didn't still want to wear, and it didn't work. He completely ignored the replacements, so I guess it's to do with both smell and texture.
posted by indienial at 6:32 PM on April 9, 2008

Response by poster: Thanks to everyone for reassuring me that my kitty is normal (at least in this respect) - I think everyone here has a "best answer". And also thanks for the laughs, too.
posted by pointystick at 8:04 PM on April 9, 2008

Strangely enough, I have a FEMALE cat that loves her stuffed gopher very much. It was a puppet a relative bought for my son, but the cat appropriated it one day when he left it on the floor. After seeing her 6 pound body drag it out of his bed - it is bigger than she is - we gave up and let her have it. The jokes just come too easily.
posted by QuantumMeruit at 9:42 PM on April 9, 2008

My spayed female dog assaults, then rapes, her teddy bear. Sometimes she's in a gentler mood, then, she simply seduces it and walks away afterwards.

Occasionally she strays with her doggy bed, but it's generally the teddy bear that sees most of the hot lovin'.
posted by Savannah at 4:52 PM on April 13, 2008