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Cats/Male cat behavior

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Expert: - 1/10/2012


Question
I have four male cats. They have all been neutered.  One cat which is 4 years old is very agressive and likes to beat up on the others. He is constantly picking fights and stirring up trouble. I have noticed that although he has been neutered, his testicals appear larger than the other three males. I was wondering if this could be the cause of his agressive behavior. Is it possible that when he had the surgery they did not do a thorough job of removing them? I know that is an odd question, but the other three are considerably smaller in that area than he.

Answer
Alison,

Difference in size of cats is the same as differences in the size of people. The older cat is the dominant cat, and some dominant cats like to assert themselves periodically. We mere humans do not understand the rules of cat inter-relationships, and we tend to ascribe human emotions and motives to cats. Cats do not think like we do, and, I have found over the years, the best thing to do is to leave them alone with their inter-relationships, accept them, and not try to understand them.

As to incomplete neutering, it is doubtful, but the vet could always test the level of male hormones in the 4 year old and see if it is out of kilter. It sounds to me as if the ways these cats interact is very normal.

Best regards... Norm.

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Norman Auspitz

Expertise

I can answer most non-veterinary questions about cats. My particular expertise is pedigree cats, breeding and showing. However, I am versed in feline behavior, cat breeds and their characteristics, general feline husbandry, and the like.

Experience

I judged for the Canadian Cat Association from 1975 until 1982. I am currently an approved allbreed judge for the Cat Fanciers'' Association (the world''s largets cat registry), and have been judging for them since 1991. I have been breeding pedigreed cats since 1971 and have been exhibiting pedigreed cats in shows since 1970. I obtained my first pedigreed cat in 1970 and have never looked back. In 1971, I obtained my first Abyssinian which has become my primary breed. In addition, I have bred Manx and Persians. Currently, besides the Abyssinians, I am also breeding Maine Coons.


Organizations
Cat Fanciers'' Association, inc. (CFA) and the Manx, Maine Coon, and Abyssinian breed councils. I am currently Abyssinian breed council secretary.

Publications
Cat Fancy Magazine, The Abyssinian Chapter in The Cat Fanciers'' Association Complete Cat Book, and Articles for various editions of The Cat Fanciers'' Association Yearbook

Education/Credentials
I received a B.S. from Drexel University in 1968, a M.Math from University of Waterloo, in 1970, a Ph.D. from University of Waterloo in 1975, and a MBA from McMaster University in 1980. I received my approved allbreed judging status in the Cat Fanciers'' Association in 1999.

Awards and Honors
We have produced a number of Cat Fanciers'' Association (CFA) National winning Abyssinian and Maine Coons. We have produced a number of Abyssinian and Maine Coon Distinguished Merit females (an award for a top producing cat), including the first Distinguished Merit Abyssinian in the red (sorrel) color. I am the CFA Abyssinian breed council secretary and belong and/or hold office in a number of cat clubs. I am also a member of the CFA Judges Association.

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