I have a female longhair cat that's about 14 month's old. I've been told she's what's called a tortoiseshell. Her coloring is consistent with a google image search shows for tortoiseshell.
For all intents and purposes this is the first cat I've ever personally owned and I really don't know squat about cats. She really doesn't have any particular bad habits as far as I know but I'd like to learn more. I got her just after she was weaned. The girl I got her from said it was a week or two early - but they had some problems going on at the time and had no choice - it was early or never.
I have a 7 year old runt of a beagle as well and they get along pretty well. If given the opportunity he'll sniff her rear and she has a habit of jumping on him and play-fighting. Usually he just ignores her but occasionally he'll play-fight with her. Pretty funny to watch. The dog is pretty good with other animals, He'll even let her eat out of his food bowl while he's eating.
Here's a pic of them both from a few days after I got her.
First off, we my roommate has an old (12-14ish) male cat thats lived here for about 3 years. He decided at first glance (when she was a fumbling kitten) that he didn't want anything to do with her and hasn't changed his mind since. Occasionally she'll try to initiate some interaction with him - but he'll hiss and snarl and head off to his corner. Is there any hope they'll become friendly? They never outright fights. She gets close and he gets pissy and runs off.
We were kind of hoping that they would breed but even though she's gone into heat several times(I think) he doesn't show any interest. Is he too old? I didn't think male cats needed to *like* the female to breed - but maybe they do?
About once a month she get into a strange mood. She'll follow you around all day meowing and mewling like she wants something. Every time you say something to her she'll reply with some sort of purr, meow, mewl or other noise and will often stick her rear up in your direction at the same time. She also rolls around alot and pretty much stays noisy for 3-4 days. I assume that's means she's in heat. She started doing that around 10 or 11 months, so she's done it 4 or 5 times now.
Now she does have another odd habit. A couple times of day she tries to "Milk" me. That's the best way I can describe it. She'll come up to me and start making this purring/chirping sound and start licking me - but only on heavy clothes or a blanket. If I have a robe on, she'll go for it. Or if I'm in bed she'll attack me. She'll start licking and pushing on me with her paws back and forth and flexing her claws. As I was writing this she hopped up on the arm of my chair and did it to my shoulder for a minute.
She usually does it for 2-3 minutes then either leaves or falls asleep. It's pretty common for her to get in the bed when I go to bed and do that then sleep next to me for a few hours. If I've been away from home for a day or two she'll pretty much attack me within a minute or two of sitting down. I was gone last weekend for a halloween party. I came in sunday, sat down to relax and she came flying in, lept into my lap, chirped at me then went for my shoulder and started slobbering it up. Aside from it being odd, I don't mind except for the claws - I'll only let her do it if I have something thick on otherwise it's quite painful.
So - any idea why she does that?
Thanks in advance,
Brian
For all intents and purposes this is the first cat I've ever personally owned and I really don't know squat about cats. She really doesn't have any particular bad habits as far as I know but I'd like to learn more. I got her just after she was weaned. The girl I got her from said it was a week or two early - but they had some problems going on at the time and had no choice - it was early or never.
I have a 7 year old runt of a beagle as well and they get along pretty well. If given the opportunity he'll sniff her rear and she has a habit of jumping on him and play-fighting. Usually he just ignores her but occasionally he'll play-fight with her. Pretty funny to watch. The dog is pretty good with other animals, He'll even let her eat out of his food bowl while he's eating.
Here's a pic of them both from a few days after I got her.
First off, we my roommate has an old (12-14ish) male cat thats lived here for about 3 years. He decided at first glance (when she was a fumbling kitten) that he didn't want anything to do with her and hasn't changed his mind since. Occasionally she'll try to initiate some interaction with him - but he'll hiss and snarl and head off to his corner. Is there any hope they'll become friendly? They never outright fights. She gets close and he gets pissy and runs off.
We were kind of hoping that they would breed but even though she's gone into heat several times(I think) he doesn't show any interest. Is he too old? I didn't think male cats needed to *like* the female to breed - but maybe they do?
About once a month she get into a strange mood. She'll follow you around all day meowing and mewling like she wants something. Every time you say something to her she'll reply with some sort of purr, meow, mewl or other noise and will often stick her rear up in your direction at the same time. She also rolls around alot and pretty much stays noisy for 3-4 days. I assume that's means she's in heat. She started doing that around 10 or 11 months, so she's done it 4 or 5 times now.
Now she does have another odd habit. A couple times of day she tries to "Milk" me. That's the best way I can describe it. She'll come up to me and start making this purring/chirping sound and start licking me - but only on heavy clothes or a blanket. If I have a robe on, she'll go for it. Or if I'm in bed she'll attack me. She'll start licking and pushing on me with her paws back and forth and flexing her claws. As I was writing this she hopped up on the arm of my chair and did it to my shoulder for a minute.
She usually does it for 2-3 minutes then either leaves or falls asleep. It's pretty common for her to get in the bed when I go to bed and do that then sleep next to me for a few hours. If I've been away from home for a day or two she'll pretty much attack me within a minute or two of sitting down. I was gone last weekend for a halloween party. I came in sunday, sat down to relax and she came flying in, lept into my lap, chirped at me then went for my shoulder and started slobbering it up. Aside from it being odd, I don't mind except for the claws - I'll only let her do it if I have something thick on otherwise it's quite painful.
So - any idea why she does that?
Thanks in advance,
Brian