Comment on cat personalities
I've been become an old guy who spends most of his time with a couple of cats. I've had 40 years of owning cats and so I think I'm a little bit qualified of commenting on them.
At this moment I have two Russian blues. I have those particular cats because they don't cause allergy reaction in me. All other cats do.
The cat I've had over the last 7 years can only be described as skittish. I got her from a Russian blue rescue. She was about a year old then. She spent her first year outdoors and therefore she fought for her life. She's underweight at 6 lb and it took me 6 months before I could pet her and another 6 months before she was a lap cat and then another 6 months before her first meow, another year until I could hear her purr ,etc etc etc. She's a wonderful cuddly affectionate lap cat now. But it took a lot of effort. And every interaction with her is a trust building exercise for at least a minute before I can actually snuggle her.
If she's sitting in my lap and I shift she goes on full alert. If I move more than an inch she will leap and be gone.
She came with a name but I forgot it. I never had a cat that answered to its name and I didn't bother with this one so she's been "here baby" ever since.
The next one showed up as a kitten. M was annoyed that my cat was my cat. Perfectly reasonable. My cat was bonded to me and she would not go near M. So M said she wanted her own and we got another Russian blue as a 3-month kitten.
We named him Luna. We thought he was a she but the vet corrected me. That's fine. We stuck with the name Luna.
The first month Luna was here M's father was also here with his weiner dog. This dog would jump and attack my baby cat and that meant my cat spent that month in the bedroom hiding.
This kitten would attack the dog. This kitten would take control and ride the dog. This kitten would hide underneath the furniture and jump out and slice the dog. The dog was terrified of this kitten. No, I didn't record any of it for YouTube.
Occasionally this kitten would interact with the 7-year-old 6 lb cat. It would do it in a playful/ predator fashion. This kitten had 100% confidence.
This kitten would bounce between M and me as far as affections. If there was any moment of decision I would always toss the kitten at M. Bond with her damn it. Don't make me the bad guy.
He learned well. He absolutely enjoys both of us but he prioritizes her. He might spend 5 minutes with me in my lap and then jump and snuggle her for 5 minutes and then come back to me and he will sleep on either of us. But he knows she's the one to go to between us.
If he is sitting on my lap while she sleeps in the bedroom and the bedroom door opens, he will skyrocket to get to her.
He turned into a 16 lb muscular monster. When he comes to walk up my chest, I have to think whether or not breathing is worth cuddles. I've learned to shove him off to the side as he snuggles into my neck.
He runs and chases my baby cat. He does it affectionately to start off with but then he wants to take control and cats get nasty when they go into that mode so there's a bit of fighting. My baby cat knows that if she's within arm's reach of me such as sitting on the arm of the chair I'm sitting on, he can't attack her. I become an aura of protection. But sometimes I look the other direction and he launches and it's just amazing.
The reason I started dictating this was the fact that that he's been lying in my lap. I have a very relaxing huge chair with an ottoman and he's stretched out. I needed / wanted to get up and get something and I did not want to disturb the cat. But then I realize he does not get disturbed. He owns the place. So I simply say: stay there. I'm coming back. And I get up and I do it. And I come back. And he knows that I will never sit on him or hassle him in any way. He has absolute confidence.
I like that. I like the fact my cat feels secure. I wish the other one did but she was raised in the danger zone.
At this moment I have two Russian blues. I have those particular cats because they don't cause allergy reaction in me. All other cats do.
The cat I've had over the last 7 years can only be described as skittish. I got her from a Russian blue rescue. She was about a year old then. She spent her first year outdoors and therefore she fought for her life. She's underweight at 6 lb and it took me 6 months before I could pet her and another 6 months before she was a lap cat and then another 6 months before her first meow, another year until I could hear her purr ,etc etc etc. She's a wonderful cuddly affectionate lap cat now. But it took a lot of effort. And every interaction with her is a trust building exercise for at least a minute before I can actually snuggle her.
If she's sitting in my lap and I shift she goes on full alert. If I move more than an inch she will leap and be gone.
She came with a name but I forgot it. I never had a cat that answered to its name and I didn't bother with this one so she's been "here baby" ever since.
The next one showed up as a kitten. M was annoyed that my cat was my cat. Perfectly reasonable. My cat was bonded to me and she would not go near M. So M said she wanted her own and we got another Russian blue as a 3-month kitten.
We named him Luna. We thought he was a she but the vet corrected me. That's fine. We stuck with the name Luna.
The first month Luna was here M's father was also here with his weiner dog. This dog would jump and attack my baby cat and that meant my cat spent that month in the bedroom hiding.
This kitten would attack the dog. This kitten would take control and ride the dog. This kitten would hide underneath the furniture and jump out and slice the dog. The dog was terrified of this kitten. No, I didn't record any of it for YouTube.
Occasionally this kitten would interact with the 7-year-old 6 lb cat. It would do it in a playful/ predator fashion. This kitten had 100% confidence.
This kitten would bounce between M and me as far as affections. If there was any moment of decision I would always toss the kitten at M. Bond with her damn it. Don't make me the bad guy.
He learned well. He absolutely enjoys both of us but he prioritizes her. He might spend 5 minutes with me in my lap and then jump and snuggle her for 5 minutes and then come back to me and he will sleep on either of us. But he knows she's the one to go to between us.
If he is sitting on my lap while she sleeps in the bedroom and the bedroom door opens, he will skyrocket to get to her.
He turned into a 16 lb muscular monster. When he comes to walk up my chest, I have to think whether or not breathing is worth cuddles. I've learned to shove him off to the side as he snuggles into my neck.
He runs and chases my baby cat. He does it affectionately to start off with but then he wants to take control and cats get nasty when they go into that mode so there's a bit of fighting. My baby cat knows that if she's within arm's reach of me such as sitting on the arm of the chair I'm sitting on, he can't attack her. I become an aura of protection. But sometimes I look the other direction and he launches and it's just amazing.
The reason I started dictating this was the fact that that he's been lying in my lap. I have a very relaxing huge chair with an ottoman and he's stretched out. I needed / wanted to get up and get something and I did not want to disturb the cat. But then I realize he does not get disturbed. He owns the place. So I simply say: stay there. I'm coming back. And I get up and I do it. And I come back. And he knows that I will never sit on him or hassle him in any way. He has absolute confidence.
I like that. I like the fact my cat feels secure. I wish the other one did but she was raised in the danger zone.