What about your cat is against the norm?

KarenKat

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Olive was bossy. She was abandoned by a neighbor and we decided to adopt her. We were strategizing how we could move her territory to our yard. I went to go visit the yard to initiate contact and sat on the ground. She kept crawling up my chest and so I was like “you want me to pick you up?” and I did. Then I was like, “I’m uncomfortable, let’s go over to the other yard so I can sit” and she just fell asleep in my arms. About 5 min after meeting her.

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So we thought she was such a social loving cat, but once she accepted my Hisband and I she won’t come out for anyone else. She is a cat with a two-human limit.
 

danteshuman

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Jackie’s standard pick up is belly up. I usually prop him up 1/2 or 3/4 but still belly up (so he can look around.) He is 100% comfortable with it. Once he was in another car’s territory and she was ready to attack him. So I picked him up & held him belly up... walking away as the other cat scratched up my legs trying to get to him. He stayed calm the entire time and my legs got a little bloody. He knows he is safe in my arms. Not sure how much of that is because I raised him since he was a month old.

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I think maybe because he is part ragdoll? 🤷🏻‍♀️ His sister even puts up with my little niece holding her belly up...... that is not normal! Here is his sister & yes this is how I hold Jackie:
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Talien

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Fresca is easily overstimulated, and that is often at odds with her being a very friendly Cat. She wants to say hello to everyone and get attention, then often starts hissing at and scratching them suddenly. A few minutes later she will come back and want attention like nothing happened.
 

JulietteTruong

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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.
My Juliette is the same way! She’s never been a climber or a jumper. Our backyard’s fences are about 5 feet high, so she has never been able to escape. I’ve seen a few cats come and go with ease. For a while I worried if maybe something was wrong? But I think she’s just more of a ground dweller.

She’s also not much of a scratcher. Occasionally she uses the scratcher, but other than that I’ve never seen her scratch furniture etc.
 

sweet jane flash

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My Juliette is the same way! She’s never been a climber or a jumper. Our backyard’s fences are about 5 feet high, so she has never been able to escape. I’ve seen a few cats come and go with ease. For a while I worried if maybe something was wrong? But I think she’s just more of a ground dweller.

She’s also not much of a scratcher. Occasionally she uses the scratcher, but other than that I’ve never seen her r furniture etc.
JulietteTruong JulietteTruong how lucky you are with your furniture! :silver: 🌻
 

KarenKat

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Olive loves scratching her claws on things when she is excited, playful or wound up - normal.

She particularly seems to like to scratch on cloth, such as our ottomans - normal.

When she scratches, she goes at t with gusto and lets her back legs fall boneless to the floor as she drags her hind quarters around for better scratching - sounds abnormal to me.

It’s hilarious to watch though
 

Juniper_Junebug

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As it would happen, it seems that my Juno has a unique facility with the television remote, beyond what I expected of a cat.

This morning, I had a lengthy and important Zoom call, so I exiled Juno to the second bedroom ("her" room), to keep her from interrupting, as is her tendency. Part way through the call, I started to hear talking and laughing and thought my neighbors were being unusually loud.

After the call, I went to release Juno and found her watching Nickelodeon. So not only had she managed to turn on the TV but she had found a channel I didn't even know I had!
 

gilmargl

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A young female cat appeared from nowhere and, as soon as I opened the door to the terrace she rushed inside and jumped up onto the tallest cupboard in my kitchen. Without a ladder, and some help, there was no way to get her down. So, I had no choice but to tolerate her presence. She seemed to know exactly which members of the family needed convincing that she was God's gift to family life and concentrated all her attention on being extremely nice to them. As soon as she got the go-ahead that she could stay she ignored them completely.

But what was so strange about this cat: although I couldn't prevent her from jumping onto kitchen counters in order to reach her favorite perch, she never bothered touching food left on the surfaces except for .... tinned mushrooms! I would empty a tin of mushrooms, wash them and leave them to drain - only to find her with her head in the colander. Did she have to eat mushrooms while living outdoors?
 

KarenKat

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Scared of birds! That is Olive’s favorite snack. She must have eaten a bunch when she was an abandoned stray.

Don’t let her see a millipede though. One came in the house the other day and she watched it get closer ... so she backed up ... and it advanced .... so she backed up again ... it was getting closer! ... so she crawled under an ottoman and hid. :doh:
 

BellaGooch

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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.
That’s another thing about Pants. He doesn’t like being high. He’s rather clumsy and has, several times, knocked things over or fallen down while jumping or bumped into things. (He will sometimes bump into things because he wasn’t looking where he was going.) He’s not the brightest, but I love him.
 

danteshuman

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BellaGooch I have noticed cats with even slight vision issues; tend to prefer the ground.

Cami (My cat’s sister, my mom adopted her) prefers low places and is well kinda slow. I’m not sure what is wrong with her vision. I think she has trouble measuring distances. The goof ball climbs up the side of the couch, rather than jump up.

I won’t even talk about how she does in training to do tricks! Her brother’s have mastered high 5 & spin. Cami just stands up on her back legs.... almost like she is trying to beg. I’m not sure if she is really hesitant to balance on her back paws or if if she is stupid. Mind you they are 2.5 years old & the boys mastered this truck at 3 months old! 🤣

Jackie (my cat)does sit & meow for dinner, high 5, spin, get on the footstool go take his harness on & off.... he is learning to lay down.
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susanm9006

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I forgot to mention that Willow hisses at odd times without any reason. She may go to yawn and a hiss comes out or she may just be standing there and hisses. She isn’t angry or fearful at the time, nothing in her body language is anything but relaxed and a yet hiss just seems to sneak out. It’s just hilarious and I always congratulate her for producing a good one. She also regular hisses at her toys and sometimes the walls when she plays.
 
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Bri5

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Cali, our 1 year old tortoiseshell, has no white anywhere except for a single whisker on her right side.

Miriam, our 2 year old tuxedo, thinks she is a dog. She wags her tail like a dog and generally moves like a dog.

The 3 males from separate litters all seem like typical cats to me.
 
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