Why won't this ocelot do anything but breed?

I have several raw fish and have been trying to tame an ocelot. However, every time I get it to approach and feed it a fish, it simply wants to breed. I am playing on SMP, and have tried logging in/out to see if maybe the texture just didn't change, but it appears the ocelot is simply un-tamed. The wiki confirms that this should tame the ocelot.

Is this a bug or a change? How can I tame this ocelot?


Here is a screenshot of my second attempt. This time, unlike last, clicking with the fish caused the ocelot to also flee. I am not sure if this is the same ocelot or not.

lascivious ocelot


Solution 1:

According to Minecraft Wiki > Ocelot#Taming:

When the fish is held, the Ocelot will slowly approach the player, and when it stops, right-clicking raw fish on the Ocelot will begin to tame it. The Ocelot will begin emitting hearts when fed, but is not actually tamed until it changes to a cat. Taming an Ocelot is likely to take more than one fish, sometimes up to five.

If Right-clicked and nothing happens, then:

  • The player is chasing it.
  • The player is not within 5 blocks of the Ocelot.
  • The player or the Ocelot is in a minecart.
  • The Ocelot cannot escape (if it is on a structure that is more than 4 blocks high).
  • The player has already moved or taken damage from a hostile mob.

And in Minecraft Wiki > Ocelot#Trivia:

If you fail to tame an ocelot, it will still show heart particles. Dinnerbone states that it was because they like you for giving them fish, but still want more. Studying the game shows that they are actually going into breeding mode, and if there are two such ocelots in the area they will spawn a baby.

(Emphasis mine)

So, it is true that ocelots will want to breed. To really tame it, you shall keep on giving it fish until it is finally tamed and turns into a cat. Also, prevent moving or rotating the camera too quickly. If it is not accepting fish, it may be frightened or it is too far from you (see above).

In the screenshot you provided, it seems that the ocelot is more than 5 blocks away from you. This might be the cause of it not accepting more fish from you (since you can't give it fish when it is too far away). Also, it looks like being frightened by you. If you have moved or rotated the camera, that would explain.

Solution 2:

Keep using fish. The fish are used for both breeding and taming, but it takes a few fish to successfully tame one. After a few fish, you should have a tamed ocelot.

Solution 3:

In one of the most recent updates ocelots will no longer become cats and be tamed. You can find stray cats in the wild or tame cats that randomly spawn in villages but sadly ocelots will only breed if you give them fish.