Why does my neutered male cat nurture stuffed animals like babies?

Male cats will tend to do this behavior if they have not been neutered. If your cat has been neutered I would check with the vet who performed the surgery to ensure that both testicles were retrieved at the time of the surgery and that your cat does not have a retained testicle or is what we call a cryptorchid. Some cats fail to descend a testicle and it remains in the abdominal cavity. One of the signs that this has happened is latent "sexual activity such as "masturbation activity" such as your cat is doing. Not all cats who do this have retained testicles, but it can often be the case. If you and your vet know for 100% certainty that he had both testicles removed, then this may just be a behavior that your cat does. Your vet may have some suggestions to dissuade your cat from doing this, but it is generally nothing harmful and the cat is just acting out, will finish and there is nothing else to it. If the cat did retain a testicle, the vet can go in surgically to remove it. It is important to remove the retained testicles because they can become cancerous. I myself have a cat who does this (he had both his jewels removed successfully) so we just call it making "dirty biscuits". There really is no reason for his behavior, he just does it... But I made sure that there was no medical reason first! :) Usually I have a nice water bottle on hand and that seems to work great :)

Hello, & yes, this may be normal behavior for a young neutered cat. In most cases it is an appeasing behavior, or attention seeking. If when Duncan does this & it helps him settle, & he is doing no damage to himself, toys or the environment, then let him be. He may need more enrichment & toys to occupy him, using food toys are a good idea. Most cats quit within a few minutes. Do not punish him or take toys away as this may make the behavior worse. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Kittyanu is masturbating. It's a normal behavior, and he's learned that it feels good. If he kneads on you and starts this behavior, immediately put him down and ignore him to teach him you do not like that behavior and you will ignore him if he does it.

Hello. Not embarrassing, especially to a veterinarian. Yes, stress could be a trigger. You might want to try a calming pheromone in your room called Feliway, & if Kiski is not to be used for breeding, do consider having him neutered. This will not change his loving, happy disposition, but may help if this is partially caused by his sexual needs. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Male cats that are neutered after they reach sexual maturity are more likely to continue to exhibit behaviors that were caused by testosterone even after they are neutered. These behaviors can include urine marking and humping types of behaviors. That is one of the reasons that we recommend neutering before sexual maturity. If the shelter neutered him before you adopted him, then I would not doubt that he is neutered, but you certainly can have your veterinarian examine him just to be on the safe side. Cats that have testosterone in their system will have physical characteristics that your veterinarian will be able to determine on exam. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello! Boo boo is very cute! He's just a little confused. Many cats will try to nurse if they were weaned from their mother too early. I'm not sure if you know his history but that is the most likely cause. More unlikely, but possible, is that his hormones are giving him confusing signals and he is getting the urge to nurse from that. Hope that helps!

Your cat might have something going on with his mouth or teeth, or may have a urinary tract disease or some other metabolic issue. If he is losing weight, you should have blood work and a urine test done to make sure he doesn't have an infection or other issue causing him to stop eating as well as he was. Otherwise, the increase in wanting attention is not necessarily a bad thing or a sign of illness.