Female cat personalities over the lifespan

[kittytree]

I have only ever had male cats, all of whom have been sweet and perpetual kittens (although I've certainly met other male cats who don't meet that description). They didn't seem to change much as they aged, except for getting a little less active/playful.

I have also met some very sweet affectionate females (mostly young) and some very grouchy temperamental females (often older). My question is: is it fairly common for female cats to get less friendly/more irritable as they age?

To be clear, this is NOT a question about male vs. female -- this is a question about whether female cats' personalities change over time, eg, if the grouchy 8-year-old was probably a grouchy 1-year-old (and a sweet one-year-old is likely to grow into a sweet 8-year-old) or if females are more likely to change as they age.

 

[riley1]

I have my first female now.  about 1 & 1/2.  Affectionate about 10% of the time.  Other than this I don't have any experience with females.  My good friend has had cats all of her life.  She feels that females become less affectionate & playful as they get older.

 

[mani]

My girl is becoming more affectionate as she ages.  From 1 - 5 she wasn't interested in curling up with me but now she's on the bed every night and on my knee when I watch the tele. 

 

[2bcat]

Based on my experience with several female cats, there is no general statement you can make that correlates temperament with age. I've watched two senior females very closely (they lived in my house) and some others less closely. Of the two, one was cheerful enough all along and the other got more affectionate as she aged.

 

[momto3cats]

I haven't seen any real temperament changes in my female cats, although the one who was most aggressive towards other cats did mellow a bit - just a bit - with age. The one female I have now is just as affectionate and sweet as she always has been, at 17 years old.

 

[southbound]

My experience has been my males have always been more affectionate than the females especially as they got a bit older. It seems the boys always stayed babies.