Question re: neutered males and spayed females

My 3 boys were neutered approximately 2 months ago and the 2 girls were spayed last month. We have a problem going on here in the house with the boys continuously pinning the girls down and . . . . um . . . . . going at it so to speak. The poor girls just lay there and cry. I have tried squirting them with a squirt gun which doesn't bother them in the least. Tried rattling a can with some coins in it but they think that's a toy to play with so that doesn't bother them either. Is this normal for the boys to be doing this after being neutered. It's to the point where the two girls hide behind my dryer because the boys can't get to them back there (the girls are much smaller than the boys and can fit into tight places). These are the 5 kittens that I kept from Angel's litter. They will be 10 months old on the 17th of this month.

The boys aren't spraying, just pestering the girls. They have even gone so far as to try to do it to Angel (who is their momma). She puts them in their place, but the 2 girls don't - they just cry and run from them as soon as I get the boys off of them.

Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated.

 

Lynnee and I have already talked about this, and Im glad she's posting for suggestions.

I think the best thing would be for the girls themselves to Smack The HE*** out of them, but since they won't stand up for themselves.. you have to find a way to make it unpleasant for them. I think they're doing it out of habit, and to dominate the girls...What was the nursery rhyme about the little boy who kissed the girls and made them cry??? LOL, sorry... it isn't funny, I know.

I'd give the Feliway a try and find some disciplinary action that isn't painful of course, but makes the whole Gang Rape Game not fun any more.

 

It's normal. It can be both a play and a power thing. Remember, too, that neutering a cat does not make him "un-male" - that's a wired brain thing. The neutering reduces (not always eliminating) the sex drive, and, of course, he can't reproduce.

Just to be safe, however, get your vet to check them. If anything was missed (like an undescended testicle) then enough hormone is still circulating to cause this behaviour. That goes for the females, too - they may still be producing pheromones.

To read : http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m ... _88575972/

http://www.messybeast.com/cat-sex.htm

(Everyone should read that second article - it's great!)

 

Way back in '95 my brothers, Gett and Trouble (read that get in trouble!) would fight each other and it was so bad we had to separate them. Back then you didn't alter until 6 months of age. After they were altered it took a few months for them to finally stop fighting.

I don't have proof but I always figured it took that long for the testerone in their system to level out.

I don't think it would hurt to call the vet and just mention it. But I think it is probably just alpha, play stuff. However I'm no expert.

 

Maybe you could try to direct their energy elsewhere, like to a furry blanket or stuffed animal? My neutered male, Bandit, did not lose his sex drive with neutering. I bought him some very soft fleece blankets (the softer they are, the more he likes them) to "love," and they work out very well. Every once in a while, he goes for my female, Gabby, but she's the dominant cat so that never bodes well for him.

 

Thanks so much for the insight guys. Karen, I read both of those articles and the second article hit the nail right on the head. It is not only a situation of the boys attacking the girls, but they will also mount each other and now I know that this is a dominance issue - they are all the same age and from the same litter so I'm sure now what is going on is just that - who is going to be the big man of the house.

Thinking back to how Max reacted when he started to get better and the realized the kittens were in the house, he would stand sort of over top of them and move his back end as if he were mating (but he would never actually get on them). It's all making sense now that I do have a dominance situation going on in the house having 4 males and 3 females.

I have also spoken to the vet and they said the same thing, that more than likely they are trying to determine the pecking order in the household and it should soon stop as soon as they determine who is head honcho. She also stated that since there are more boys than girls, this brings out more of a dominance situation with the boys.

I guess we just have to let them determine who is boss and hope that the two girls start to stand up for themselves. I am going to get some Feliway as Katy suggested and see if I can't tone this down just a touch so the girls can come out from hiding.