"Tuxedo cat" thread

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Do you have a "tuxedo cat" or do you see one regularly? If so, post a picture and tell about its personality. Scooter, shown below, is my neighbor's cat but I pet her every day. She is very friendly and extremely affectionate to anyone who will stop by and pet her. She meows almost constantly in her tiny little scratchy voice (she's 14 years old now) and she will meow, purr and roll around all at the same time when someone is petting her. She just eats up the attention. Her owners give her plenty of attention and say that she has been that way all her life. After exactly 15 minutes of being petted, she gets up and walks away. Do you have a "tuxedo cat" and if so, what is their personality like?

[spinbaby]

1. Ours is named Tennessee

After Tennessee Tuxedo. An adopted neighborhood stray. Even though we had him neutered, he still likes to get out there for some yowling and fighting on warm summer nights.

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6. great name

[distantearlywarning]

2. I have a longish-haired male tuxedo cat.

He has very startling bright yellow/orange eyes, and white whiskers.

He also has a tiny little squeaky voice, which is surprising for such a large male kitty.

He's very intelligent, taught himself to fetch at about 12 weeks old. He's the kind of cat who is a "one-person" cat, and has bonded very intensely with my husband. With people he knows well he's extremely affectionate and sweet (throwing himself down and rolling around asking for belly rubs is a favorite activity), but tends towards timidity with strangers. He's also quite timid in new situations. With other cats, he's definitely a beta-type - his brother, our big stripey kitty, runs the household and our tuxedo just pretty much goes along with whatever his brother wants. Overall, he's kind of the little kitty nerd of our house - smart and shy and tends to get beaten up by the jocks. :-)

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4. Thanks

That's cute

[suninvited]

3. I had a tuxedo cat for 20 years

and she had the most amazing personality. She thought she was a dog, loved to go for car rides (where she would stretch out across the back of the drivers seat or across the back window) and take walks to the store with me. She would sit outside the door waiting for me to come out.

She wasn't afraid of anything. If she were napping on the vacuum cleaner and I turned it on she would just continue to lay there and look up at me like I was disturbing her nap.

After my children were born, she became a watch cat and would guard them night and day. Almost all of the candid shots of my kids growing up have one thing in common: that tuxedo cat in the background.

I got her when she was four weeks old in 1979, her mother died while she was a baby and I had to bottle feed her for a couple of weeks. She died in 2000, both of my children were grown by then.

RIP, Genghis Khan aka Gingy

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5. Thanks, that is really interesting.

What a great cat

[Tripper11]

7. Here's our Gizmo....a real trouble maker too!

[zanne]

9. I love Gizmo!

What a champ!

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10. Looks like a fun cat!

[Tripper11]

12. Yeah he's a piece of work alright.

He absolutely loves laying in my wifes lap in the evening and even when he's "asleep" I will walk by and he'll take a swipe at me...only me though!
So we have these little wars, I bug the hell out of him, he does the same to me....it's fun!

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13. My cat often takes a swipe at me when I pass by

but I think it's really just to get attention. He usually misses, and I stop to pet him.

[Tripper11]

16. Oh Gizmo has gotten me more then a few times!

Little bugger.

[mainegreen]

8. I have a tuxedo cat. She's neurotic and hates everyone but me.

She'll run away from everyone but me. However, she must always be less than three feet from me at all times. Also, if it's after dinner, she must spend all of the remaining evening vigorously rubbing her head against my hand until she has thoroughly irritated me.

She's a good kitty.

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11. So I guess they all have different personalities

[Tommy_Carcetti]

15. My sister has a cat like that.

Very loyal and loving to her, but rather untrusting and skittish towards anyone else.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

14. The best cat I ever had was a Tuxedo cat

Her name was Basil. We first saw her hanging around my dad's garden. She was a wild cat, and would at first run whenever we got near her. However, we would leave food out for by the garage, which she would eat. Slowly, she would hang out more around the house, and had indications of being slightly more friendly. Finally, she would approach me and take food out of my hand.

Still, up to this point, she was a bit skiddish. Then, one afternoon we came home and found her sitting in our garage with three newborn kittens. Despite her maternal insticts and hesitancy, we couldn't keep our hands off the kittens and enjoyed seeing them play. However, my parents not wanting to have four cats as opposed to one, we placed the three kittens up for adoption through an ad in the newspaper, and they quickly found homes within 2 days of the ad going out.

After her kittens were adopted, Basil was rather depressed about it. She would meow at our front door during the middle of the night. Feeling bad for her, I would take her inside and pet her and calm her down. It was then that Basil really warmed up to me.

After that, Basil was the most loyal and loving cat ever. When I would come home from school and walk down from the bus stop, she would run--not walk, but run--over to me. I would sit down and she would go right into my lap and purr. When I would take her inside at times, she would sit right beside me. I remember her having an affinity towards potato chips. I would eat a chip and give her a chip, and she would eat it right up. When it came time to clip her nails, this cat that was once a ferel cat would never give me the slightest of problems.

Unfortunately, because she grew up in the wild, she did not take well towards living inside. She never liked using the litter box, preferring to go outside instead. As such, she remained mostly an outside cat. And unfortunately, our house was located along a rather tricky turn on the road. Horrifically, one day Basil apparently was unable to get out in time from a passing car. Everyone in my family was very sad, but I was the most devestated of them all because that cat really did love me, and especially me. I was amazed that she was once a wild cat, but became probably the most affectionate domesticated cat I could ever remember. Along with my ever faithful Golden Retriever I had growing up, she was the best pet I ever had, even though I only had her for a little over a year.

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17. Awww

That's a sweet story and heartbreaking at the end, but still very nice. I'm glad you took her in, she was a very lucky cat!
Thanks

[applegrove]

18. Mine is very affectionate and love to cuddle & purr. He does have a bad

temper and will lash out if he gets mad. Mostly that means biting and since he only has one fang he can't get any traction on his bites so they don't hurt. Needless to say nobody in my family will allow him to visit with them. But I love the guy for the good parts of his personality. They more than overrule his orneriness.

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24. I'm sure he is lovable.

[deucemagnet]

19. Not a great picture, but...

...this is my cat, also named Scooter (but a boy). He's about seven or eight years old, happy, playful, affectionate, and a little weird.

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25. He's cute!

[Flaxbee]

20. We have Ivan, 18 pounds of sharp-dressed man!

He's huge, no fat, just muscle. Incredibly large head. Blew into our yard, literally, during Hurricane Ivan 3.5 years ago and he had a horrible upper respiratory infection. Antibiotics, shots, and neutering made him well and an absolute sweetie pie. I think his brother or cousin hangs around occasionally - the cousin is totally feral, terrified of humans, and he's a long-haired tux with silly markings on his face (Ivan is a short haired tux). Poor guy - I can't even rattle the doorknob to put food out without cousin running off.

I need to get my act together and get photos loaded onto my website so I can post pics of him.

Anyway - back to Ivan: He is extremely friendly, though I think he was abused before we found him. Has a broken (healed) rib, and when he first came to us, he would bite every time I'd set him down, and he played really, really rough. He'd also flinch if I moved my hands too fast. Poor sweetheart. Those habits are mostly gone, now, and I think he trusts us completely.

He'll come to you if you whistle.

When Novi (we have 7 cats) brought us her three girl babies (all of whom we kept, including Novi, their momma), Ivan was very protective, and went so far as to bring the ladies a bunny rabbit for their dining pleasure (it upset me, but he was being a provider). He also taught the girls to hunt - would bring them a half-dead mole or mouse and teach them how to pounce, etc. The girls are strictly indoor, now, but when they were young we let them roam a bit until they got too hard to catch. :)

And when the kittens started to explore, and one in particular would climb a tree and meow pitifully about how she could never ever come down, so Ivan would climb the tree to within about 3 feet of her, meow at her until she came to his level, then he'd back down a bit and meow again until the kitten came toward him again, and Ivan would repeat that until the kitten(s) were out of the tree. I saw him do that not once, but twice.

He's a wonderful guy. Loves my Ivan Tuxedo Boy! :loveya:

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26. Ivan sounds like a super cat.

[regnaD kciN]

21. Panda (1985-1996)...

...the ultimate Tuxedo Manx. The perfect feline blend of pestiness and affection combined. I still miss her so much...

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23. My sister had a cat named Panda, which looked just like that except longer hair

[mitchum]

22. We have a 14 lb male tuxedo cat

I'll try to post a photo in a bit

He is devoted to me (follows me around like a dog)
Strangely for a cat, he likes music. Stranger still, he prefers jazz.

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27. My cat will listen to any music, as long as it's not loud.

[Orsino]

28. I call Delilah a bandit cat...

...seeing as how she wears a mask and cape, and thinks nothing of stealing my DU chair:

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35. She's beautiful

[skooooo]

29. Clawdette....

..is a sweet girl. Was trying to find a pic of her to put up, but can't find it right now...

[ET Awful]

30. Garcia

Named after Jerry Garcia :P.

He's a bit rambunctious and gets into tiffs with the other cats, but to me he's super friendly.

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36. He's cute!

And he has mischevious eyes.

[malta blue]

31. Kobe 4/05-6/24/2007

Our Kobe cat was hit by a car in front of our house. :cry:

He was a great kitteh and tolerated anything from his beloved Little MB.

Kobe was adopted by Mr MB when he escaped from the animal control officer collecting all his siblings as strays.

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37. He was beautiful.

[ebdarcy]

32. My tuxedo cat was named Spunky.

Back when I was in middle school, my aunt took in a pregnant stray. She had five kittens, three of which were tuxedos. Two of the tuxedos were polydactyl and their legs were crooked. My grandma took them to the vet to make sure they were okay and that it wouldn't cause them any future problems. My Spunky was one of those kittens.

She was a doll. She was smart and sweet. She slept on my chest every night and curled in my lap when I read or watched tv. She wasn't my only cat, but she was my baby. She got out just once during a move and ended up pregnant. The pregnancy seemed normal, but at the end, she gave birth to two still-borns and two live, but extremely, sick kitties. She wanted nothing to do with them and we ended up bottle feeding them. We named them Lightning and Squeakers. Only Squeakers survived. Once Squeakers got a few months older, Spunky and Squeakers became inseparable. Squeakers looks almost exactly like her mom, except Squeakers is gray and white.

Spunky died on Christmas Eve in 2002. She had shown no signs of being sick. When I woke up the next morning, I found her on the floor. I don't know what happened. She'd had a check-up a couple of months before, and everything looked fine. She was only 11 years old, and I still miss her.

Squeakers is now 13, and she acts a lot like her mom, except that Squeakers is mean to everyone who isn't me. I don't have any pictures uploaded, so I can't share.

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38. Awww.... thank you.

[KamaAina]

33. One of the kitties who lives in the used car lot behind work is a tuxedo

no pictures, sadly. There are about six cats living back there. Across the street is a homeless shelter. Yesterday morning, I came by there, and one of the women who is usually found outside the shelter was feeding them. She had a can of cat food, and was spooning out little piles for each cat!

After the little tuxedo finished eating, I came up to him for a brief cat fix. Since he is a scrawny little fellow, who was born in Hawai'i, is part black and part white, and I love him, I have named him "Barack". :-)

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39. Great name

[Sheets of Easter]

34. Ivy.

Named because she was found in a patch of poison ivy at my wife's grandmother's house. She is the "oops baby" of the family, as we didn't plan on taking in another cat at the time. Not only is she loaded with charm, but she's a fierce killing machine as well. My late, great betta learned that lesson the hard way.

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40. I see she has her own throne.

[Sheets of Easter]

41. you would think.

:D

She is in a constant struggle with her older brother over the comfy spots in the house.

[amerikat]

42. Buddy

[Sheets of Easter]

43. "You see this dresser here? It's mine. All mine."

"No, you can't have any." :D

[TrogL]

44. got one - purr monster - drowns out the TV

[Runcible Spoon]

45. The best feline friend I ever had....

rest in peace Monsignor Scrappington 1999-2007 :cry:
He was more like a dog than a cat. I raised him from very small kittenhood and he was extremely affectionate, and sometimes needy. He would cry out if he got locked outside the room at night. I could pick him up and wear him around my neck, at the computer or just randomly around the house. He was always really "floppy", just about anyone could pick him up and put him on the lap for a good purr session. He was a great joy and comfort to me. He died of kidney failure last year, leading me to believe he was a victim of the petfood poisonings. I may never know what killed him, but I will always know why I loved him!

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49. How beautiful he was

[MissHoneychurch]

46. Miss Sophie

She knows she is beautiful and she is a total love bug. It is one of AirmensMom's cats but she will love everyone who comes and pets her. And there is no chance to sit or lay down without her using you as cushion

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50. She's beautiful and I love that picture on the bench

That's how I want to retire.

[Lorien]

60. She's a real beauty!

you two have so MANY beautiful furkids! :loveya:

[catzies]

47. I made a lolcat of my tuxedo baby Mogli (5/30/2000-3/6/2008) for Caturday

(He had an equally adorable perfect tuxedo twin brother who sadly is deceased too.)

This is in the frame of his photo urn:



He was my very precious very special boy and I still miss him every day.

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51. It just makes me want to rub that furry stomach

[emad]

48. I've got a Tuxedo Maine Coon but she's got terrible dandruff right

now and I'm ashamed to post a piccie oher her in such a state!

Still trying to figure out how the hell I'm to give her a bath with anti-dandruff shampoo.

Short of clipping off 3/4 of her coat, doping her with some form of Kitty-Rohypnol and dumnping her in the tub I don;t really know what to do.

Great pics on thsi thread though...

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52. If I were in your situation I would just take here to a groomer who knows cats well

I have never, ever been able to give any of my cats baths.

[yellowdogintexas]

53. Presenting the Late Scamp Queen Bitch of the Universe

edited to add: she lived to be 17 and was a great cat. Ruled the house and the other cats with an iron paw, definitely the alpha cat in the house no matter who came and went.

miss that silly cat

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56. And beautiful too.

[yellowdogintexas]

63. Thank you. nt

[Skittles]

54. my Texan Tuxedo, Riff Raff

he is a hairy devil and the most ill-behaved pet I've ever had.....he's trouble but so beautiful and entertaining it completely redeems him:

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57. He does look like a real character,

with a voice like Thurl Ravenscroft (who sang "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and voiced many Disney cartoons and some rides)

[sakabatou]

55. My neighbor has one

[Lorien]

58. My sweet old boy Miro:

My mother found him crying in the street. Apparently someone had dumped a box of kittens out in our neighborhood and most found homes-except skinny, and very noisy, Miro. She told me that if I didn't take him then he would go to the pound, so of course I took him home. He started to eat, and eat, and eat...he was a normal weight in not time, but then just kept getting larger! The vet said that eating disorders are common among cats that spent part of their kittenhoods starving. By the time he turned three he looked like a feline ottoman. My little half turkish Angora rescue Peewee adored him. They looked so odd together; 32 pound Miro next to five pound Peewee!

When Peewee passed Miro stopped eating for two weeks. In desperation I brought home Oberon as a new companion for him, he wasn't too sure about Obie at first, but it didn't take long before they were best buds, and Miro resumed his chow hound ways.













Miro passed away in late 2006 at age 17 of an aggressive form of cancer. The vet said that he only had two months at best, but he battled it without complaint for nearly a year (thanks to healthy food and acupuncture, which he loved). He may be gone, but he'll never be forgotten!

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61. Great photos!

And a touching story too. Fantastic job

[yellowdogintexas]

64. Miro and Obie...cute. Is that Puck in the bottom picture? Looks too

small and shorthaired to be Obie

[Lorien]

65. Yep, that's the little Puckster as a kitten

see adored Miro, who was as patient as could be with her (and she could be trying, believe me)!

[bluesbassman]

59. Leo on a hot night.

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62. What a character

[Seedersandleechers]

66. My ex-bf

had a beautiful tuxedo cat named Tao. Tao loved to swim, ride in cars, and we would take him camping with us. I loved Tao more then the ex.

[harmonicon]

67. no picture

One of my girlfriend's neighbours has one, but I don't know who - I just see it outside of her apartment building. It drives our dog crazy - the first thing she does when she goes out is look for that cat. They've had scuffles before. The kitty is really sweet otherwise... I think it gets some joy out of tormenting the dog, even though it does make it fear for it's life a bit.

[Kat45]

68. There's a tuxedo cat in my neighborhood who acts exactly like that.

And there's another one, a Hitler cat, who is not particularly friendly.

[SoDesuKa]

69. Tuxedo Twins

I met a pair of Tuxedo cats earlier this evening, young ones. I bent down to say hello but they were too timid. One of them was tempted to check me out but the other one gave him a vibe as if to say, You jerk, that's how cats get killed! So I just went on my way. Their loss.