Is Your Love For Cats Hereditary?

[maggiedemi]

The neighbour then gave me the cat when I moved out. I still have her now.

Interesting story! Thanks for sharing.

 

[tarasgirl06]

My mum hated animals, and she was the one who raised me. The most my siblings and I could persuade her to let us have was a fish. She did eventually allow me to befriend a stray cat and let it in the house, but my next door neighbour looked after it properly and did most of the care, including vet treatment. The neighbour then gave me the cat when I moved out. I still have her now.

My nan liked cats though. Always had loads, but neither of her kids grew up liking them. My uncle now has a cat though, even if he doesn't like it, because my cousins wanted one.

My dad's side are cat lovers though. My grandparents had loads, my first cat memory was when their cat had kittens when I was five and my dad brought me over to see them...they ended up keeping them all, although maybe that wasn't the best idea because they didn't keep up on litter duties and they weren't particularly house trained.

When my parents split up when I was 7, my dad started a relationship with my stepmum, who loves black cats. She brought one, and then they adopted a little black kitten together. I grew up with her, she lived until I was 24, although I always presumed she was immortal. 3 out of my four current cats are black, Ive always liked black cats the best. My stepsiblings have also mostly had black cats too-one had a tuxedo cat, who unfortunately ran away months ago and hasn't been found, and the other just adopted two kittens, a black one and a ginger one.

How in heck could anyone "hate animals" when THEY are animals? And humans are so much worse in all ways than other animals...except possibly chimps, whose bad behavior is so similar to the worst human behavior, and dogs...but I won't even start on dogs. Sounds like you got the smart genes -- black cats are the most beautiful, stylish, elegant, and gorgeous IMHO!

 

[Elphaba09]

My love came independently, as did my husband's. We both are from dog families. His family has two, ours had six. While married to my first husband, a cat wandered into our yard and my then 4-year-old son fell in love. He named her Frixy. I hated the name but loved the cat. We ended up adopting two older cats over the course of a few years: Leonides and Hawthorne. Frixy, Leo, and Hawthorne died of old age. After that, we had two other cats (Atticus and Severus), but theirs is a very sad story involving domestic violence.

My heart was broken over the loss of my cats. When my new husband and I got engaged, I did not have any cats. In fact, he said that he did not particularly like cats. (I was appalled!) Then, our first two cats came into our lives. Our Astrid and Estella won him over quickly. Now we have nine cats inside, a feral on our porch, and a local colony that gets our love and attention.

 

[maggiedemi]

Elphaba09 ---I love the names you picked for all your cats! Thanks for sharing their stories.

 

[Elphaba09]

M maggiedemi : Aw! Thanks! To be fair, my son also picked Leonides. He even picked the spelling of it. He was going through a "300" phase at the time. It also inspired him to name his fish Sparta.

 

[maggie101]

Is your love for cats hereditary (i.e. you come from a cat loving family) or is it something you've developed independently?
My mother's family have always been cat lovers on both sides. My great-grandfather (on my grandfather's side - I don't know my father's family so I don't know if they're cat lovers or not) had a cat called Itzmar named after his time in the Battle of Gallipoli. My grandfather had grown up with Itzmar and then a series of cats when he was a child and a teenager; and my mother and aunt have also had cats for most of their early years (my aunt used to have a cat that sadly got shot before I was born - it was a very tragic story as she'd recently given birth to a litter of kittens and nobody knows what happened to the kittens since she had given birth to them before my aunt adopted her as she was a stray) and my aunt currently owns a tabby now. Of course, my mother and I own Toffee and Fudge now.
My cousin also has two cats - my grandmother's family were always too poor to afford cats having grown up in the London slums, but she had always been fond of them and often looked after my aunt's cats when she was elderly.

Definitely not hereditary! I think part of the reason is patience and understanding. My sis and dad have no patience or understanding. My mom and oldest sis have patience,no understanding

 

[Royalty]

Yes we were not only cat lovers we were rabbit n dog lovers always had cats dogs rabbits all my life

 

[catspaw66]

Hereditary, definitely. I have lived with cats all my life. My brother and sister both have multiple cats, also.

I'm so used to sleeping with cats up against me, I have trouble getting to sleep without one or two (3)(4) purring while I pet them.

 

[Shane Kent]

Although my family always had a cat I get my extreme affection for them from my grandmother. My family treated the cat as a pet. My grandmother treated her cat like a baby. My cats are my kids and treated as such. I feel that I "learned" my love for cats from my grandmother.

This is my four little kids. Wouldn't trade them for anything in the world

 

[MoochNNoodles]

It's probably hereditary for me; although it skipped my beloved Gram. The story goes that my Great-Grandma wanted nothing more than to move to the US. Once she did; she wanted nothing more than to go back to Poland. She was a feisty woman (a lot like my Gram from the sounds of it).

She loved dogs but my Great-Grandpa loved cats and they had several of both. Being the 1920s/30s I'm sure there were litters of new ones born. But they would go back and forth; he would put the dogs out so the cats could be in. She would send the cats to the cellar so the dogs would have free reign.

It left my Grandma; who was pretty fastidious when it came to her home, not really liking any pets. My mother had a Beagle-mix growing up and he was the best dog ever; but still had to be picked up from the pound when he'd go looking for ladies.

My Mom adopted our first cat when I was 2. We adopted my soul-kitty when I was in the 4th grade and our 3rd cat came when she married my step-dad a few years later. I was cat-less for a while when DH and I first married because he is allergic. We found that wasn't an insurmountable problem.

 

[catsknowme]

Mine is hereditary! My dad, my grandmother and my great-grandmother all loved cats. My sis has cats & dogs; my brother has one of each. Their ancestors regarded cats (mostly it was about bobcats, cougar, and ocelots) as equal to humans and to kill one was tabu - they believed that how one killed a cat determined how one would/would not suffer at their own death. Also that at death, the animals that a person killed or harmed would be there to face the person who would have to get the animals' forgiveness prior to being allowed into the realm of Heaven.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Mine is hereditary! My dad, my grandmother and my great-grandmother all loved cats. My sis has cats & dogs; my brother has one of each. Their ancestors regarded cats (mostly it was about bobcats, cougar, and ocelots) as equal to humans and to kill one was tabu - they believed that how one killed a cat determined how one would/would not suffer at their own death. Also that at death, the animals that a person killed or harmed would be there to face the person who would have to get the animals' forgiveness prior to being allowed into the realm of Heaven.

You come from good folks. Mine were similar.

 

[coniferously]

My parents had one or two cats when I was born, so I definitely grew up on them. I haven't gone a day without having a cat in the house. There are a lot of regrets I have from childhood though, like things my mom and dad had done, such as declawing our cats or just straight up getting rid of them. I have 13 now because I am 110% unable to nurse a cat back to health only to give him or her away. I don't have the heart to. I believe I was born into this life with a very special gift with cats. They trust me and I trust them. One of our cats, Arthemis, she lives with my mom, was randomly at our doorstep, literally skin and bones. Vet said she would've died within the next week or less if we hadn't run across her. You wouldn't have known it then, but she is the most beautiful, all white, fluffy blue eyed girl. Literally my childhood dream cat. I don't know where she came from, but she found us, and we saved her. Cats almost gravitate towards me and I have a special knack for telling when a cat doesn't feel well, even with the smallest things (hence why I'm always so paranoid.) It's a stressful thing to deal with 13 cats, but I love every one of them individually and honestly wouldn't have it any other way.
This is Artie from about a year and a half ago. I don't have any recent photos of her anymore since we moved out and she doesn't live with us. But she is beautiful.. and a huge brat.

 

[tarasgirl06]

My parents had one or two cats when I was born, so I definitely grew up on them. I haven't gone a day without having a cat in the house. There are a lot of regrets I have from childhood though, like things my mom and dad had done, such as declawing our cats or just straight up getting rid of them. I have 13 now because I am 110% unable to nurse a cat back to health only to give him or her away. I don't have the heart to. I believe I was born into this life with a very special gift with cats. They trust me and I trust them. One of our cats, Arthemis, she lives with my mom, was randomly at our doorstep, literally skin and bones. Vet said she would've died within the next week or less if we hadn't run across her. You wouldn't have known it then, but she is the most beautiful, all white, fluffy blue eyed girl. Literally my childhood dream cat. I don't know where she came from, but she found us, and we saved her. Cats almost gravitate towards me and I have a special knack for telling when a cat doesn't feel well, even with the smallest things (hence why I'm always so paranoid.) It's a stressful thing to deal with 13 cats, but I love every one of them individually and honestly wouldn't have it any other way.
This is Artie from about a year and a half ago. I don't have any recent photos of her anymore since we moved out and she doesn't live with us. But she is beautiful.. and a huge brat.

May you be many times blessed for putting your caring into action on behalf of cats! I also was born and raised with cats and have always loved them, coming from a family that did likewise. Artie is lovely and I'm sure she knows she is very much loved!

 

[catsknowme]

You come from good folks. Mine were similar.

You have always earned many purraises for your wonderful posts! You are a blessing to any cat blessed to be in your path

 

[catsknowme]

coniferously : Back in the day, most people were unaware of the miseries involved in declawing - they trusted the vets to do only humane treatment of their pets.
and your Arthemis is spectacularly beautiful

 

[Sarahsunny]

I grew up with cats and liked them but never loved them. In college I adopted my first cat and it was a whole new ball game. I'm a cat freak now. Though my brother tells me I get it from my mom. But I like to think it was all me

 

[coniferously]

coniferously : Back in the day, most people were unaware of the miseries involved in declawing - they trusted the vets to do only humane treatment of their pets.
and your Arthemis is spectacularly beautiful

You're exactly right, but even just 12 years ago, when I got my two oldest cats (I'm 24 now) my mom insisted on declawing them because she didn't want them ruining her furniture. I dunno, I guess being ignorant to what it does to them is acceptable, but then just being selfish about belongings is another, in my opinion. There are ways around declawing, and I guess honestly it does both come down to ignorance of solutions. I don't judge anyone who does it, it just makes me feel bad for the cat, I suppose. I notice that the cats I do have who my mom did get declawed are not as active and they seem to feel defenceless against the ones who do have their claws. My most miserable cats are my three girls in the house who don't have front claws. They are also the oldest, at least by like 7 years and at most by 11, so maybe my boys are just too playful for my girls and they get chased around and are unhappy about it because the age difference.
Thank you so much, though. Artie is a very special lady

 

[muffy]

Title wave. I have a fear of drowning.

 

[tarasgirl06]

You have always earned many purraises for your wonderful posts! You are a blessing to any cat blessed to be in your path

Thank you, catsknowme . I was blessed with very kind, compassionate, loving parents and born into a family "with cat" (my big brofur was 3) so it comes absolutely naturally.