What about your cat is against the norm?

[Babypinkweeb]

There's a lot of common good advice and observation about cats, but do you have a kitty who just goes against the grain?

My 2 cats both love my enclosed litter box more than the open ones! They also seem to be super happy with just 2 litter boxes, with the 3rd one ignored for weeks now. Helps me out as I live in a tiny apartment!

 

[BellaGooch]

Two of my cats love to be picked up and love belly rubs. One of my cats is also best friends with the dog.
P.S. Great thread idea, Babypinkweeb !

 

[vince]

All of mine like belly rubs, too. Also, one of them really loves sauerkraut!

 

[Babypinkweeb]

Two of my cats love to be picked up and love belly rubs. One of my cats is also best friends with the dog.
P.S. Great thread idea, Babypinkweeb !

Maybe you have tiny dogs in disguise

All of mine like belly rubs, too. Also, one of them really loves sauerkraut!

Wow that's super unique! For a while one of my cat was obsessed everytime I ate a pomelo (similar to grapefruit).

 

[Miamha]

This thread is the most fun to read. Thanks for sharing your stories

 

[Lari]

My cat was stress grooming, right? It started when I moved in with my husband and his cat and her stomach hair started getting sparse. We bought a house and moved and I got pregnant and her back legs were getting overgroomed as well. It's common knowledge that bringing a baby in is super stressful to cats, so I was half expecting her to end up bald.

She has stopped overgrooming and a lot of fur has grown back. Apparently my cat got less stressed with a baby around.

 

[Neko-chan's mama]

We moved May 1. By 6pm that same day Neko-chan was like her old self again, walking around with her tail in the air, giving us leg rubs and demanding play time. And she only hid once for a few minutes when we ran the dishwasher. Our old apartment didn't have one.

 

[Tik cat's mum]

I have one that is classic cat, And one who loves belly rubs and plays fetch like a dog. He drops his ball next to our feet and sits waiting for us to throw it just like a dog. My husband calls him his puppy cat.

 

[di and bob]

I have my little 'chicken monster' who has leukemia and is pretty spoiled. He gets chicken, tiny amounts, about 6 times a day, really anytime we open the fridge. He is RIGHT there, meowing. He eats a chicken a week, 52 chickens a year!

 

[Babypinkweeb]

I love reading everyone's stories about their kitties!! Seeing so many cats who enjoy belly rubs makes me envious none of the cats in my life ever cared to be handled much

 

[basscat]

There's a lot of common good advice and observation about cats, but do you have a kitty who just goes against the grain?

What was the question again?

 

[susanm9006]

Even as a one year old Willow didn’t like to jump to higher places. A counter top jump is just too high for her. She also has always hated to bump into anything or knock it over so decorative items have always been safe with her.

 

[Elphaba09]

I do not think we have a single "normal" cat amongst our 12 or the other three that my son took when he bought his house.

Simon beats up dogs and glares at my neighbor's three dogs—two are Rottweiler mixes—in a very threatening manner. They do not bark at him. He stares down and growls at my husband when he and I are playing board games and my husband gets too rowdy. He has jumped on the table between us more than once. He is also very protective of Hobbit Baby.

Tara wraps her body around my head like a dragon guarding a treasure. She also loves plain baked potatoes and has a silent meow when she wants something from the fridge.

Evangeline likes her nose brushed with one of those wire shedding brushes. Every time she sees me with it, she pushes past the other cats.

Astrid is my stalker. She also likes toast so much that she will jump up and take it from me.

Freya likes to watch my husband play video games and when he is in the shower. I think she sees me as her rival. She steals his socks out of the laundry. Just his.

Fennimore thinks he is a 9lb cat when he is actually 23lbs. He cannot understand why he gets stuck like Winnie-the-Poo when he tries to go into small spaces. He also plays mama cat to the six little ones, especially Xanthippe. You would think that he gave birth to her the way he is with her.

Cassian thinks he is a dog. He plays fetch and has a favorite toy: a small stuffed lion. He also knows how to work our touchless trashcan. I swear I saw him throw away something once!

Jasper is oblivious to everything yet curious. We joke that he is a wee bit stupid. He once tried getting out of a room by going in the crack between the door and the jamb. He also likes to walk into our shower, but he does not care who is in it, unlike Freya.

Iroh is only affectionate towards me and will get a running start and then ram into my leg like a goat when I am sitting on the daybed in our living room. He also loves peas and spinach.

Xanthippe is not an affectionate cat, but she loves to sleep on my hip, lick my toes, and watch me paint. She also likes to watch my husband and me play board games. When she gets scolded for something or is just "done" with the other cats, she runs to Fennimore and lies on him.

Iris only likes my husband. When he is asleep after I get out of bed, she climbs on his pillow and lays in his hair.

Juniper likes to leap into our shoulders when we are sitting or standing. She also has been found asleep on top of the door to our bedroom a couple of times.

The three my son took were originally mine, but they had a strong bond with him and his fiancee. We thought it best for him to take the three. (They moved shortly before we found Xanthippe, Iroh, and Cassian, and shortly after we acquired Jasper, Juniper, and Iris.)

Estella, who is Astrid's biological littermate, is obsessed with my son. She knows when he comes home and waits for him. If he is late, she starts pacing and howling, depending on how late he is. When he and his fiancee go away for a few hours or a weekend, she pulls toilet paper out of the cabinet—she can open cabinets, some doors, and some drawers—and tears it up in front of their door. She plays fetch and demonstrates a bratty and possessive attitude. If my son is working on something, and she wants attention, she will start by knocking his things over. It progresses to her laying down on whatever he is doing and then turns into her taking the things he is working on and running off with them. She also has a horde of toys that she sits on to keep the other cats from playing with them. If someone is actively petting or feeding Estella and my son makes a certain noise or waves his hand where she can see him, she runs to him. She also knows how to unzip her cat carrier. We have to take a safety pin to it when she goes to the vet.

Willow, Fennimore's small biological littermate, squeals when she is happy like she is a little pig. She loves carrots.

Silas acts like a dog. He runs to the door when he hears some pulling up to the house. He meows when the mail comes, even though their mailbox is by the road. He likes to go on walks, can turn on and off the lights, can get into some cabinets, play fetch, and likes to catch flies. He is exceptionally good at catching flies.

 

[Katie M]

Selene loves belly rubs too, and I've never seen Charlie fluff up when startled or upset. It's like he's physically incapable.

 

[KarenKat]

Gohan loves bitter things - asparagus, broccoli, he gets high of off bleach cleaners. He also is mortally afraid of my husband sneezing. Just my husband - anyone else can sneeze and it’s no big deal. And Gohan has been bonded to my husband since he was rescued as a 5 week old feral kitten.

He also hates snow. No idea why as he has been indoors only since a kitten and that was on florida. I can only guess he watches it build up and feels trapped or something.

 

[Kieka]

None of my crew knocks things off shelves. With the singular exception of Nightfury knocking a Yoshi Amiibo (think palm sized stuffed animal) off the shelf only if it is in a specific spot.

Nightfury lives belly rubs and will roll over to give you better belly access.

Link can give a really good guilty look when he's been caught doing something he knows he shouldn't.

Rocket does not fit any classic cat body condition diagrams. She's short and boxy, so by a body condition scale diagram she is overweight but if you actually feel her she's borderline underweight. My vet says she isn't allowed to drop below 6.75 pounds because she will be unhealthy skinny at that point. Right now she is 7.25 pounds so we have a little wiggle room.

Rocket is a female, spayed at 6-8 months old, and the only of my three who will spray inside the house.

Rocket loves cuddling and being pet but due to early feral days won't allow herself to be picked up. She loves attention but hates most people.

Link has no food motivation or aggression. I can't bribe him with treats to go somewhere he doesn't want to go. Although he does like treats, he just doesn't care if he misses out on them.

 

[corvidae]

We thought as a household of vegetarians we wouldn't have to worry much about the cats trying to get our food, but Jem loves to grab sliced fruit or vegetables as we are preparing a meal. His favourites to run off with are carrot peels and broccoli (though we don't actually let him eat them).

 

[Silver Crazy]

Blue meows and yells and get so excited when I get home from work but wont let me touch him until he has sniffed my hands , pants legs and where ever else he can reach, sometimes he pins my hand down and licks the back of my hand. Its like I have to pass the sniff and lick inspection before he allows pats.

 

[daftcat75]

Krista loved other people. If someone knocked on the door, she'd come running to it. She wanted to answer it more often than I did. Anyone who came over, Krista walked right up for attention and pets.

She was also a quick adjuster. I didn't even know that you're supposed to slowly introduce a cat to your home or that they hate new places because that wasn't Krista. She made herself at home from the first day. When we had to move, I rehomed her for a week to make moving easier. I dropped her off at a friend's house. She did a quick survey before making herself at home on her roommate's bed. After a week, I wasn't sure I was going to get her back.

She never met a hotel room she didn't like or a hotel fridge she wasn't on top of within the first hour.

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

As I've mentioned in another post, my Juno is fascinated by the vacuum. She comes running from another room (even in the middle of a nap) to investigate and supervise.

She also thwarted my expectations of feral kittens. After doing some reading up, I expected to spend days quietly reading aloud to her in her safe room before she was comfortable with me. Instead, she exited the carrier, explored the room for a couple minutes, and then literally crawled up my body so she could rub her cheek against mine (again and again). I started to think she was never really feral until I managed to get in touch with her foster (since I got her from a different rescue that only had her for a few hours and didn't know her history).