Social Cats

[Mer.kitten]

How social is your cat? Like with other people?

Honeybunny seems to just love being in the mix. Earlier tonight i had some people over-me, the bf, a friend of mine and a friend of his. The tv is up with an action movie playing, people are talking loud, bottles clinking, people gesturing, phones beeping.. and theres Honeybun, sat on the floor next to the couch, right in the middle of everything, enjoying the party

The door to my bedroom was ajar so she couldve gone and chilled on the bed, shes got a cathouse in the living room for privacy, or she couldve hung in the kitchen.. but no, she wanted to be right in the mix, with the people it just makes me wonder what goes on in her little kitty mind.. i mean shes a cat, why would she choose to hang out at the hoominz party?

 

[aliceneko]

Toffee and Fudge are part Siamese, and apparently it's a Siamese trait to be nervous and skittish around strangers - which is how Toffee and Fudge are when I have human guests. They immediately run to the end of the garden or hide behind the sofa if they're indoors. If the guest/s are staying for a long while, they'll gradually re-appear from hiding and start to sniff around the new humans in their home until they get used to their presence.

 

[Jem]

All of my cats are/were completely different.

Fritz (who was the oldest, he's since passed), was the perfect example of the happy fat cat. But he would not go to people, he would meow until you came to him. His meow was one of a kind, and when he did it, you could not help but laugh and go to him. He was such a good kitty!

Toby, our current oldest (20), is and has always been our little attention hog. It does not matter if you are a stranger or not, if you so much as look in his direction, he takes that as an invitation for attention. The second you touch him, you're his best friend for life and he will not leave you alone. If anyone stops petting him, even the cable guy found this out, he will paw at you leg or whatever he can reach, because he's not done yet! That poor cable guy....I swear he was at our house for at least a half hour longer than he needed to, because Toby kept wanting more love.

Then there is Chewie, he's not scared of people, but chooses to be in a quiet room when we have people over. Our nieces will go find him to pet him, and he's fine and will purr, and even lets them give him belly rubs, but he's not much for socializing with others except us.

Then there was Hank, he has recently passed. The poor thing had sever anxiety and fear of everything unfamiliar. (Not the reason for his passing) The thing is, he chose "fight" over "flight". He was very quick to aggression if someone walked by or went near him. he even stalked a friend and tried to attack him after he made the unfortunate decision, after we warned him not to, to stare him down. There were a few people that he eventually tolerated coming to the house, IF they left him alone, and would simply hiss if he felt they were too close, instead of attack. The thing is, he was the most affectionate cat with us, and very interactive and playful, would play fetch, and hide and seek. He was a terror to the world, but an amazing boy to us.

 

[Aieko]

I currently have two kitties, Jasper and Echo. They have two different reactions. Jasper would die for attention, if you just meet eyes with him, he'll come running over and start rubbing against your legs, if you don't pick him up, he'll start meowing loudly and if you STILL don't pick him up, he'll start scratching you.

Echo, on the other hand, will hiss at you even if you just stand up..watch out for flying cats because this big fella will lunge at you, claws extended. He's very friendly towards me, but not anyone else. On Halloween yesterday, we had a few kids come up and knock on our door, he slowly crept down the steps and jumped at their faces, hissing and scratching both kids. Then after I tended to the kids, he sneaked upstairs and proudly sat on top of the table. He's a little rascal, but I love both of them.

 

[Mer.kitten]

All of my cats are/were completely different.

Fritz (who was the oldest, he's since passed), was the perfect example of the happy fat cat. But he would not go to people, he would meow until you came to him. His meow was one of a kind, and when he did it, you could not help but laugh and go to him. He was such a good kitty!

Thats too funny, he sounds adorable

 

[RajaNMizu]

Both Raja and Mizu are very social. Raja will run in and greet everyone, look for pets and hang out if we have company. Mizu goes on patrol, checking everyone out at ground level and watching them. When she's ready, she will pick someone to hang out with.

 

[1 bruce 1]

The house colony varies.
Queen Bee is aloof, and so is Baby Girl. Queen Bee's brothers are schmucks and considers eye contact from strangers a marriage proposal and won't leave them alone. They can be charming, or annoying.
The main colony varies. We have 3 cats out of 6 that are annoyingly friendly (even to people who don't really like cats, which is cool because a lot of people have decided not all cats are hateful and lazy and walk away with a different attitude in heir head), and 3 of them that are more aloof but will eventually "court" visitors.
The first three will happily play with people and engage people they don't know. I love this.
Don't trust the one girl though. If she likes you, she'll pee on anything you set down. God that's embarrassing...
2 of these 6 are kind of weird to handle. One day they don't mind brushing or ear or teeth checking, then the next they'll shred your face if you reach for them or walk towards them. They're weirdos, but they're OUR weirdos.
Imagine my horror when a cat loving guest arrived, saw one of these face shredders hanging out on an end table and immediately placed their arms around him and gave him a huge hug. I squeaked "...don't..." but the cat settled, purred, kneaded her arm and was a doe-eyed blinky faced thing that resembled a sweet 6 week old kitten.
(Forget that he almost severed my arm a week before because he was itching real bad and I wanted to check his skin. Jerk.)
I don't think the lady heard my vocal cords go up 3 octaves, and neither did the cat. Sometimes they do surprise us.

 

[Father of furbabies]

Shade is a total fraidy cat and will go hide when a stranger comes into the house while Noka will sit nearby and observe them for a bit before deciding to go somewhere else or examine them. She seems to base her attitude on how the big dog (Rebel) reacts to the strangers. If Rebel is aggressive or defensive then she goes hide somewhere but if he is friendly and welcoming, she will come check out the strangers.

 

[Saber_Wing]

I wouldn't go as far as to say Hawkeye is social, but he's not afraid. He'll sit, and hang around company like they're nothing. He's not as fond of receiving attention from them. He was partially feral, and still isn't super fond of attention from people he doesn't know or trust. You can look at him and hang around him, but be careful where you touch him.

Neji is a giant fraidy-cat (literally, he's huge ). You have to come to my house a few times consistently before he'll come out of hiding around you. He won't make his presence known around people he isn't familiar with. He's a sweetheart though, so once you have that trust, you can love on him.

Oliver mostly hides too. He'll appear more often than Neji does, but mostly just out of necessity. Needs a drink, or to go upstairs, etc etc.

 

[Purr-fect]

Greg and Arnold, although brothers born together, have very different prdsonalities when it comes to guests.

Greg (named for being Gregarious, will come to the front door to meet strangers. When we had a christmas work party at home, Greg actually came into the kitchen and jumped up on a chair at the table and sat with the guests! He is curious and social.

Arnold is the opposite. He isnt scared of guests, but he wont approach them. He wont hiss, bite, scratch ect if a guest touches him, but he doesnt like it. He will usually disappear for the night, once he has glared at the guests.

The first time my wife and I met greg and arnold, when we were adopting them, greg came over to see my wife.....who immediately fell in love with him. Arnold sat in a nearby chair and stared me down. Im certainly not afraid of cats....but arnold was too big and staring too intently for me to approach him.

And yet arnold and I have become inseparable buddies and now he hates to share me. In fact here he comes now.

 

[rawlins02]

If she sees someone within 100 feet while we are walking the yard, Lexi will run and hide under a bush. At vet office, or when someone visit the house, she will hide for a few minutes, then start rubbing legs. Shy but very social once she determines there is no threat. Very vocal and social with her people.

 

[Diana Faye]

My senior who recently passed away was social in his own way. He wasn't a lovey dovey cat, and before he was mine people overlooked him for not being "friendly." He was, but respected other's space and was waiting for an invitation. It took years before he figured out it was ok to sit in my lap, but he was more content to curl up next to me instead of on me, which I loved. He was the "cool kid" who would greet everyone and just chill. He became bffs with my best friend and was always happy to see him. He was a very good host and companion, IMO. We were never not in the same room together.
I have 2 kittens now, and one does not care about anything and is happy to check out new people. The other one is somewhere between brave and wary and does not come up right away, but he's not exactly anti-social either. He's also a huge momma's boy and prefers me to anyone else.

 

[DreamerRose]

Both my cats are very loving and affectionate to me. But when someone comes in they both scatter. Lily is worse than Mingo. Mingo will reappear after a few minutes and investigate the visitors, but Lily stays in the basement until they are gone. Mingo does hate certain people - my youngest son and any vet. He is the Cat from Hell with either of those. They both get used to people who come often or stay overnight, and then they become social kitties again.

 

[Purr-fect]

Here, Greg, Mr Social, is waiting for guests
to arrive.

 

[DreamerRose]

And he's not chowing down those shrimp? He's one well-behaved kitty for sure!

 

[Resigned]

Oliver is afraid of people, but if you start to pet him, he will melt, and then be fine from then on.

 

[catlover73]

My Casey is very social. He loves it when we have company and has to be in everyone's lap. Apollo will come up to people when they are sitting down for pets but he is not a lap cat. He prefers to hang out near people instead of on them. Sonny will usually hide at first but does come down stairs and interact. He will ask guests to pet him but he is only a lap cat with certain people. Starbuck would hide any time we had company for years. She has just now started to come out and hang out in the room when we have company sometimes. She will not let our company approach her though. She will stay in the room if she is left alone and runs if people move. Starbuck has just recently decided that our friend who cat sits for us is allowed to pet her. She waits until our cat-sitter comes upstairs and peeks her head out from behind my computer monitor to get pets. I think the reason my cat sitter is allowed to pet her now is because she is a very patient person. She has shy cats of her own that hide from me when I visit her. She waited until Starbuck let her know she wanted to interact. We were out of town for the weekend in October and she asked for attention every time my cat sitter stopped in. My cat sitter actually hangs out and gives my cats cuddle time in addition to taking care of the litter boxes, food and water.

 

[Talien]

Mine are all different. Fresca will immediately come to investigate anyone new and happily solicit attention from them.....at least until she's had enough then she'll bat and nip at hands, and start hissing and using claws if they don't stop.

Callie may or may not show herself, but if she's napping or otherwise busy it's not a priority. She does her own thing.

Tortzilla (my foster) usually won't come to greet new people but she won't run away from them either if they find her. It's usually a good idea if she's left alone though, she gets easily overstimulated and will take it out on their hands.

 

[Pucks104]

Newman our Ragdoll kitten is very social and super chill with people and other pets. Louie will wait a bit until a new person has settled into our home and will then come out cautiously to inspect the new person. If the new person is on the quieter, calmer side Louie will stay close by but if the person is noisy or wants to move around a lot he will disappear.

 

[Shane Kent]

I have four cats, two of which used to be feral cats. Those two are still very timid so they hide when people come over. With exception to my sister in-law because she comes over often. They don't hide from her and will sit on the couch next to her. My other two cats are fairly social and will even sit on people's laps. However, they don't like loud noises or loud people so it depends on the situation. It is just my wife and I living in the house with the house being in a quiet neighborhood so they aren't used to loud situations.