The different personalities of cats and a question

[zen_bohemian]

I have 3 cats. The oldest (14) was adopted from a shelter, and is very loving and wants constant human attention. The middle cat (6) a pet shop cat, is also very loving. The baby (7 mos) is totally different. She was a rescue at 4 weeks' old. She doesn't like to be picked up, she wants down, and doesn't want to be held for very long. She wants to be in the same room as us, and seems to enjoy our company, but doesn't usually come to us and want to be petted unless she is hungry. She entertains herself and keeps herself quite busy, and has bonded well with the other cats, and seems to be quite happy in our home. Do you have cats that are completely different in personality? I am secretly hoping that she will grow out of this not wanting to be picked up and cuddled phase.

[rurallib]

1. We had a torby that just hated people

She basically hated every living thing - never got on with the other cats. She was the most independent thing I have ever seen. We had her for ten years - got her as a kitten. She never grew out of it.
But I really liked her - i would pick her up every day and pet her while she growled warnings of impending doom my way.

[zen_bohemian]

2. yikes...ours snarls every once in a while, usually when I try and pick her up while she is in the

middle of her rowdy time of day.

[david13]

3. It takes time. They don't change overnight. It takes years.

I have a rescue from about 10 weeks old, and she loves to be held and carried around. But at times she cannot be held, and must have her freedom.
My older cat never used to be able to be held, or on the lap. It took him about 2 years to learn that he liked the lap.
And, as he got older, he started to need a warm place; thus, the lap.
My little one also entertains herself; she loves to play on her own.
Don't try to restrict her freedom. Just be gentle and after a year or two, she will accept being closer.
dc

[zen_bohemian]

4. Thanks n/t

[kedrys]

5. All of mine are related and have totally different personalities

Socrates, Plato and Evie are 9-year-old siblings. Neutrino and Quark are also siblings, born 14 months after the triplets. All five have the same dad.

Socrates is the scaredy cat. Although he's the biggest of the bunch at 25 lbs, anytime the doorbell rings, he has a complete freakout. If I have some people over, he won't come out until they've been there at least an hour. Then he'll stick around until everyone's given him a 5-minute scratchie.

Plato is the very interested cat - he'll come check out what you're doing and eating, and he'll sit next to you for hours, but you can't pet him or he'll leave. The rest of the time, he's completely aloof, but if you pick him up, he'll purr like a maniac.

Evie is the boss. She's a willful little thing who will retaliate if she doesn't get what she wants - she once piddled on the bed right in front of me when I refused to give her a bite of my breakfast bar. :rofl: She does more kitty flops than the rest of the horde combined.

Neutrino is apparently part squirrel. She's the smallest of the bunch, but also probably the smartest. She likes walking on people and gets away with it because she's so light and never uses her claws. She runs the kitchen - she'll elbow all the other cats out of their bowls if she feels like it.

Quark, aka Dave The White, is the velcro cat. He speaks dog - his usual vocalizations are short little barks. He'll follow you everywhere, will let you scratch him for hours, but he doesn't like to be picked up. He usually stays out of the other cats' occasional arguments.

As far as their interpersonal dynamics, that would probably be an entire book. :)

[zen_bohemian]

9. cats are the most interesting animals

They are almost human-like at times

[Demoiselle]

6. I've had (and have) a ton of cats, and

I've never known two to have similar personalities.
I love the little furry bastids.

[Arugula Latte]

7. Me too. No two kitties were/are remotely the same.

They are endlessly fascinating and wonderful.

Kitties... :loveya:

[zen_bohemian]

10. I do too, that is why I have 3 :)

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Yes, cats have different personalities. Also, the breed can make a difference too. My old Pickles

was almost impossible to hold as a whipper-snapper, but now in her ripe old age of 16 I can hold her for nearly a whole minute at a time. LOL (She loves pats, though, so she will stick around for that. Also loves to sleep on my head at night.)

[zen_bohemian]

11. Our youngest is a Persian, I have heard before Persian's have a personality all their own...

the middle one and perhaps the most gentle and easygoing is a Maine Coon...the oldest...not sure, just a mix breed.

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. Mine are (well, were in the case of one of them now) half Coons. But I think he

was the more easygoing by far. Also, he was an orange ginger boy and apparently they are very mellow and sweet as a lot.:)

[Skittles]

13. like you.....

my 12 yr old kitty who I got as a kitten from the pound is a total lap cat; I could pick him up and literally walk around with him all day and he'd be content. The feral stray I adopted is content to be around me but NEVER jumps into my lap and truly dislikes being picked up.

[astral]

14. I would love to have more than one cat, if it weren't for the catbox thing.

I believe it would be nice for my cat to have a companion or even two. I have never had more than one cat at a time and went without a pet at all for some years.

Being a rentor in a realy uptight kind of town, it is hard to find a place that is both affordable and allows pets. Reading this thread makes me think two cats are better than one! : )

Mine's such a lovey-dovey mellow sweetie-pie.

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. Two are better than one _if_ they don't hate each other. I don't think we can get another

one now. Pickles just won't deal with that. (Or she will, by going to the bathroom in all the wrong places.)

[zen_bohemian]

16. I have been really lucky about the bonding of my 3 cats

the oldest goes thru a period of hissing at the new cat, but they have never marked or acted out (knocks on wood ha)

[GreenPartyVoter]

21. Pickles even hated her own brother, at least whenever he went to

the vet. LOL He always came back smelling wrong to her, and so she'd have fits and conniptions. Otherwise, they were generally lovey-dovey and would play and give each other baths or take naps together.

She was in the middle of one of her snits like that this past week when we had to take Pretzel in to be put down. I was so sad that she didn't want to say good-bye, but there was no reasoning with her and I didn't want to stress him out further by having her around him. :cry:

[zen_bohemian]

17. dupe

[applegrove]

18. Two of my cats don't want to be held though one of them will sleep on me at night. The other

one constantly wants to be around my father but never wants to be touched or petted. Sometimes I cannot resist and pick her up.

[SOteric]

19. I previously had an older cat

(now passed) who was a little kvetch, but a real cuddle tart. He grumped about and fussed at every occasion but he loved to be picked up, cuddled and stroked. StirFry, by contrast never much cared for being picked up and still doesn't, - and I wouldn't exactly call him a cuddle tart. But he ~DOES~ love his regular evening snuggles and gets cranky if I stay up too late and don't come to bed in time to indulge him. I am the only one he shows this cuddly side of his nature to, and it's always on his terms.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

20. Yes, they all have different personalities.

I think they are as individual as people.

Milo (7 years old), a big furry white and orange cat (alleged by the shelter where I got him to be part Turkish Van), is a total lover. I got him when he was about seven months old, and he's been velcro kitty ever since. He not only doesn't mind being picked up, he actually demands it, and if I ignore him he launches himself at my torso, forcing me to catch him and carry him around. As long as you keep petting him he won't go away. If you stop petting him he nudges your hand with his forehead or grabs it with his paw.

Jeoffry (5 years old), a handsome, sleek gray tabby, is also a shelter cat; I got him when he was about 10 months old. He is a little skittish around strangers, and sometimes lets the other cats boss him around. He can be very vocal, and his voice is unusually melodic. He doesn't like to be picked up, but he does like to sleep on my lap and enjoys being petted. He also likes licking me until he just about rasps my skin off.

Pixie (3 years old) was born on a friend's farm, and spent the first 4 months of her life in their garage with her mother and sister. The humans did socialize the kittens, though, so she is quite friendly. She's part Siamese, with blue eyes and dark ears and tail but no points on her feet, and brown blotches on her back and sides. She's small and oddly fluffy for a farm cat. She prefers not to be picked up, but will pester for ear skritches, especially when I'm trying to sleep. She rarely meows, but has an interesting repertoire of trills, hums and chirps.

As to my cats who have passed on (RIP): Charles was good-natured and friendly but dumb as a box of hammers; Alice was a shy little lap cat; Teddy was smart, friendly and outgoing; Woody was cuddly and loved to sleep on my neck. All the cats I've ever had were totally different in all kinds of ways.