Understanding Ragdoll Cat Humping: Causes, Signs, and Solutions

Michael Strange, who lives in Australia, is a great friend and mentor.  He recently shared this story about his 2 year old seal mitted Ragdoll cat, Valentino.  I wanted to share in case anyone else has experienced this – and perhaps we can have a discussion.

“Two weeks ago I bought Ella a Kong Kickeroo for her birthday, neither she or Valentino showed any interest in it until this evening. Ella gave it a few swats, but she was still not enthralled. At first Valentino ignored it, however after whacking him gently a few times he had a bit of a play with it. Then he got more and more excited, and eventually clamped his jaw tightly where the toy tail meets the stuffed body. He then carried it around the house like it was a dead rabbit or bird, his head held high as proud as can be, and he would not let me take the toy. After 20+ minutes of trying to find “the perfect spot” to take his make believe kill (he went *everywhere*, bathtub, cupboards, …) he finally got stuck into it with bunny kicks while making air cookies with his paws. That’s when I finally got out the camera and filmed for ages. For an hour he did his rolling and kicking, all the while getting more and more excited (and agitated) because he really wanted to make love to the toy but it wasn’t big enough. So he improvised and tried to make love to me! My arm, leg, and at one point he even tried to mount me from behind “doggy style” so to speak. And during all this time he kept his jaw clamped like a vice on the toy. Eventually I got the Kickeroo away from him and he had a quick groom then fell asleep near Ella on the bed.”

I then asked about whether or not Valentino has ever tried to mount Ella and Michael replied:

“He’s never tried to mount Ella, she’d beat the crap out of him if he did! He’s only tried mounting my arm once before – about a month or two ago. Beyond that he’s showed no interest or need to hump cushions, rugs or anything else. Valentino was desexed before he was 3 months old. My parents Birman, also male and desexed young, showed no humping instincts until he was about 12, when he one day fell in love with my throw rug. A week has now passed and the Kickeroo is again of no interest to Valentino, maybe it was just a one night stand!”

Michael read more about it here: Humping Problem and Common Causes

Watch the full length video that Michael mentions above:

Or watch just a portion of it: