Our family has a dog and four cats. The dog's name is Brutus, he's male, 6 years old and a Boston Terrier/Beagle mix. The cat relevant to this question is named Smudge; he's a male gray tabby cat, and is about a year and a half old.
Over the past week, Brutus has been unusually interested in Smudge:
- Brutus has been whining more frequently, but only when Smudge is near him.
- Brutus has been chasing Smudge around more.
- In response, Smudge usually jumps somewhere that Brutus can't physically reach (e.g. atop furniture, or behind a futon).
- Brutus has been sniffing Smudge's ass more, and trying to hump him more frequently.
Facts that may be relevant:
- We let Brutus roam around our backyard, but we also walk him daily. No formal limits on how long he's out there, but it's rarely more than half an hour at a time.
- All of our cats are indoor cats, and none have gotten out recently.
- Brutus has tried to hump the cats before, but not to the extent I'm describing now.
- All animals have been eating without any problems.
- All animals have been relieving themselves without any problems.
- This means that there have been no accidents, and there is nothing unusual about anyone's poop or urine.
- All pets are friendly towards each other, and play or cuddle regularly.
- This means that none of our pets have been violent or confrontational; there has been no scratching, hissing, barking, growling, or biting of any kind.
- We recently had Brutus vaccinated for rabies. He's got a clean bill of health.
- Brutus is not fixed, but all four cats are.
- Brutus has never humped people or objects, to my knowledge.
Here's my question: Are my pets okay? Might one of them have a disease? Should I bring any of them to the vet?
