Help! My male cat thinks my arm is a female cat!

We have two cats, brother and sister. Sylvester and Molly are 4 years old. We just moved into a new house about a month ago and since then Sylvester is acting very strange. He thinks my left arm is a female cat and despite all efforts to stop him, he-how should I say this - humps it every night in bed.

He has become very possessive and if my husband tries to get him to stop he growls at him and lets out three harsh meows and continues. I can't shake him off of me either as he also gives me these harsh meows. After he is done he cleans himself up down there (not that anything has happened) and then sprawls across the bed and just purrs.

The first time or two it was quite amusing but now it is getting ridiculous. He is getting rougher and I'm getting quite scared of him when he acts this way. Even during the day if he sees me heading upstairs he runs up to our bed and meows that awful meow.

We don't want to close our bedroom door at night as Molly likes to sleep in our room. Last night I slept with my arms under the pillows but that didn't deter him. He went for my leg instead.

He was neutered as a kitten. We are wondering if he wasn't neutered properly or what?

Has this happened to anyone else or is my cat just very strange?!?

Thanks.

K.

This has actually happened acouple times to me with a cat my friend had given me.. He wasn't neutered. I was getting annoyed at what he was doing. At first I didn't know what was going on. But I find it helps to keep a spray bottle with water in it near your bed, and if he tries, then just spray him with the water. Most cats don't like water, so that should scare him off quite fast. It worked for me. After doing so for about a week, I no longer needed to keep it near my bed. I wish you luck with this.

The move probably stressed him and could account for this, and any other strange behaviors. The humping probably soothes him. It could be worse - he could be spraying in the house!

The squirt bottle is a good idea, but make sure it's just a fine mist and not a stream of water.

I'll try the water tonight - just a bit worried as he gets quite angry if you try and get him off.

I have seen him spray a few times outside at the new house and at our old house. It surprised me as I thought nuetered cats don't spray - all my other male cats that I've had never sprayed.

The people who lived here before us did have two cats, but he didn't seem to react to them when we moved in. Could he just be picking up their scent now?

Anyhow, will try the water and let you know what happens.

Thanks!

K.

Yes, neutered cats certainly can spray. They do it to comfort themselves when they are stressed. Having intact cats hanging around outside can cause this.

Your cat sounds quite thin-skinned and easily stressed, so I'm hoping that spraying him doesn't increase his stress and make his behavior worse.

If this continues - the aggression, humping, spraying - you might want to consider using either a natural calming substance, like Rescue Remedy, or meds from the vet. This would only be for a short time until he calms down.

You might also try the feliway diffusers in your bedroom - sometimes it really helps to calm down this kind of thing.

My 3 neutered males are all sexually active,or they think they are,humping blankets,pillows etc....two of them even try on each other.
Also when I take them outside with me,they spray on my cedar-bushes,but we do have strange cats coming in the backyard at night,who probably mark my cats territory.
Neutered males still get "those" feelings,they just are not able to make babies.