Do cats become friendlier?

Art_Deco

Love hearing about other peoples cats, You have to remember that cats think they own you not the other way around! All our cats have been females and all rescues at a couple of weeks old, the last 2 were sisters one ginger one tabby, , tabby has sadly died a few weeks ago, aged 14 but her sister is still bouncing around attacking everything that moves, and strangely showing no signs of grief about dead sibling , not even looking for her, in fact she seems happy, they are so fickle, we are still in the grieving process, looking at photos , crying at every available opportunity, etc. Tabby was a polydactyl cat ,7 toes on both front paws and boy did it hurt when she attacked you!! Once hubby tried to get her to come inside around 2 in the morning, he made the mistake of picking her up uninvited, and she turned around and swiped him in the eye , one of the claws got stuck in his eyelid and when she jumped down it ripped open ,he had a trip to casualty cos it wouldnt stop bleeding for a Tetanus jab and stitches , bless her she acted as though nothing had happened when he returned, the nurse said, cat bites / injuries become infected more easily because of the amount of bacteria in the claws from when they are hunting , youve got to love em!! .

tesuhoha

I would try a slow blink when he is staring at you. Apparently, that says I love you. I do it to my cats and it often makes them come to me for petting. I also whisper in their ears a lot of rubbish but they seem to like it. Withdraw all affection and attention when the cat attacks. Put him on the floor with a little push away.

When mine were young and tried to take food I tried growling at them. Maybe that would be worth it. You have to speak to them in their own language.

There is a man on You Tube, who they call the Cat Whispereer. He has a lot of videos about cat behaviour. Might be worth watching some of those. He has also done a series of TV Programmes, My Cat from Hell.

SensibleSarah

Jackson Galaxy is the guy you're thinking of and some of his methods are very dubious. Can't take anyone seriously either who refuses to call people cat owners and insists on calling them cat guardians!

To the OP, most cats do calm down with the craziness once they are a couple of years old. However one of my cats is an absolute git and always has been. He is now about 12 years old and still does things every day which drive me mad From tipping over the dog's water bowl just for kicks, to being a horrendous bully to a couple of my other cats - he is just a pain. He has never sat on my lap (had him since 8 weeks) but occasionally will sit next to me.

Your boy seems to have developed some pretty extreme habits. I would try to make his aggressive behaviour completely unrewarding by not reacting (difficult I know) and try to distract him before it gets to that stage. So if you know he is going to wait for you to walk past and attack, preempt this by tempting him out from a bit of a distance with a fishing rod type toy so he focuses on that and not you. Good luck!

suki1964

Just an update

Sorry I didn't get back before, but I was ' away' for a while

He has calmed somewhat. He does still decide to wrap himself around me, but the claws tend to stay in now

I also found out why he was shying away from our hand, his ears were clagged with mites, thy must have been pretty sore

So ears cleaned, been treated and need to be treated again in a couple of weeks just to make sure

He's even tolerating being brushed without drawing blood from me

Pollycat

Glad to hear Arthur's attitude is improving, Suki.

suki1964

Well Arther is one today:bdaycake:

Only I forgot

So an update on how we are muddling along

I think I'm right in saying he's fully grown at a year? He's a very muscular cat as apparently toms should be. He sticks at around 9lb weight and he gets fed 3 100grm pouches a day and free complete biscuit

After him being happy on the lidls, as all cats are want do do, he became fussy. He's now settled on Tescos cat choice, but only the jelly and only the fish. Now I know it's not the best food in the world but with only lidl or Tesco remotely close we have to make do. A lot of foods we tried, more expensive and more well known, made him extremely sick

That's something that surprises me, how delicate a stomach he has. He's kind of settled into eating well for 3 weeks, then getting sick so picking at food, back to looking food every half hour

The cat flap has turned him into a dirty stop out He usually wakes around 3am and slopes off returning at 7 for food and a snooze before he's away again. He has his favourite sleeping spots outside, under the ornamental grasses which also hides him from birds

And unfortunately he caught his first fledgling this week
I keep trying a collar and bell but no sooner do I get it on, he has it ripped off him

We have a wild rabbit here as well ATM , we raised it from a week or two old as the nest got destroyed and mummy got killed. She and Arthur play well together. There was a few days where he tried to eat her, but she's big enough and strong enough to get away now plus we are always there to supervise. Rabbit is nearly big enough to be released

So for someone who really didn't do cats, I'm kind of smitten

Will post pics when I get a minute

Thanks for reading

Pollycat

Happy Birthday, Arthur. :beer:

I love independent cats, most of mine have been alpha males.

My last one (Murphy) preferred chunks in gravy but wouldn't eat beef cat food of any make.
He had a 400gm tin each day, split into morning and evening but always complained he was hungry.
He was a big cat (apparently).
Whenever we took him to the vets they used to say 'He's a big cat. He's got a massive head' but he didn't seem big to us.
The vets said he wasn't overweight, just 'big'.
Worst comment we had was 'he's a chunky boy' and when quizzed further 'he's not fat, just solid'.

We have 3 lots of allotments close by and he was always bringing voles, mice & rats which I didn't mind too much but hated when he caught birds.

Love the rabbit story, not sure I would have trusted Murphy with it though.

no1catman

Nice to read the update. It was funny - I was reading some of the earlier posts, and thinking a similar experience to me on one of them - trouble was it was me!
You wonder if he's fully grown at a year old and 9 lb. - I think not.

I have a female calico of twelve - weighs in at 5.12kg - though a long cat.
Interesting what you said about being sick, as mine throws up during the night - 3.30ish. Though no after effects, will eat Go-cat crunchies not long after. Vet has checked her over, happy enough with her. She's on Morrisons' gravy senior (has boiled fish in the morning).

suki1964

As promised , Arthur

KateBob

Hello Arthur, aren't you handsome.
Wonderful birthday too, he's exactly 40 years younger than me!

We are also owned by an independent boy cat, Cheddar.

Cheddar is the epitome of a dirty stop out, sometimes not being seen for days in summer with the only sign he's still alive is food being eaten.

Cheddar has been known to sleep outside (in the middle of the lawn) during a full rain storm but he also has his own spot on the sofa, woe betide anyone else who dares to sit in his spot!

Cheddar will accept brief fussing from most of the family, he loves his tummy tickling, as long as they don't last too long.
My 15 year old daughter however can do no wrong, she can carry him like a baby in her arms, round her neck like a scarf and he adores her. Her voice will send him running to find her, if she walks into the house and he's inside he will get up to greet her (even waking up if necessary).

Cheddar hates going to the vet with a vengeance, the cat carrier has to be hidden to prevent disappearance, he will cry the whole journey and then issue a 'dirty' protest at the vets to ensure we all know how unhappy he is.