Kitten to Adult Temperament Changes

"Pick the most outgoing and friendly kitten", which I did and while they were practically fearless when young, two of them have grown up into cats that will bolt and hide whenever the doorbell rings. The third is just the opposite; he will actually jump into anyone's arms.

I've always wondered about the influence of one cat on another. Does one hide because his housemate(s) do? Why do some grow into "scardy cats" and others do not, when they all live in the same environment and were once gregarious kittens?

Thanks for your input.

Interesting - but I have no answer as to why they would grow to be scardy cats.

In my litter of eight I have right now, there is one very nervous and anti-social kitten. All the rest are super brave and outgoing, nothing startles them. However, when the nervous kittens startles, so do all the rest, and they all run and hide. Take the nervous kitten out, and the rest don't startle. I've always found that interesting. And I don't know why the nervous kitten is nervous to start with. She was raised the same as the rest, and was always the largest.

My mom has two littermates, one is very social and loving, the other runs and hides if you try to pet her. Both were raised together by us, and treated the same.

Genetics are funny things sometimes.

Are they different genders? In all the cats I've had I've had more girls that run and hide than boys. That doesn't apply to all cats, but thats what I have noticed. I hope that helps.

Manda

I think it is just different personalities.

My Bob and Penelope are litter mates. Both raised the same and they have an outgoing mother. Both raised with other cats and dogs.

Bob is brave, outgoing, affectionate, loves people, likes other cats, likes the dogs (at times we think he is one) and fears nothing.

Penelope is skiddish, scardy cat, does not care for the other cats and tolerates the dogs.

I have eight cats and none of them are the same or react the same. They all have something different about them.

When people come over they think we only have three cats because the rest hide

Gemini was very energetic, playful and loving towards other people when she was a kitten. Now as an adult she hates other people besides me. She is still that lovable kitty deep down, but she attacks others. This is embarassing for me because I worry people think I abuse her or something. I just don;t have an answer for them. I often tell them it's just her father's blood she has because her father was this farm cat that would go around beating up other cats and impregnating housecats....This is the only logical explanation I have. I am just glad that she loves me and is my little sweety pie She'll only attack me if I force her to do something she doesn't want to do like the other day when I tried to shave her matts...

Outgoing cat is male; the two Fraidy cats are male and female.

Not sure if there is an answer or reason to this.
I picked the kitten who was hiding at the back and getting beat upon by her
brothers and sisters she seemed so timid and laid back.
Within 24 hours of her arriving at her new home with me she turnt into a WILD THING ! I have dedicated Elvis Presleys Devil in disguise to her and play it often to her. LOL

A male persian I had many years ago was a timid cat, he would hide when we had visitors. He was a snuggly cat to me.
My 15 y/o torty has always stood up for herself. Never been cuddly.
My 11 m/o kitten Blossom is torty/calico, likes to sleep on my bed, sometimes snuggles, doesn't like being petted while I'm sitting & stands up like a meerekat when she hears a strange noise looking worried.

Are your scaredy cats indoor cats? Do you have lots of visitors? Those factors will influence their personality as much as their natural temperament.

Jaffa was outgoing as a kitten but he's grown into a scaredy cat too. I think it's because he's an indoor cat and I live alone. I do have friends calling in to visit, but not every day so he's not used to strangers. It's also his natural temperament too though, as his brother Magpie was raised in exactly the same environment and was less of a scaredy cat. He'd hide initally but after a while would come out to see who was here and get some attention. I brought them both home at 8 weeks old from a rescue so they didn't get the best socialisation when they were young.

Mosi is a very outgoing, confident cat and he was with his breeder in a busy household with children and other cats until 14 weeks. He's showing no signs of becoming a scaredy cat although he has developed a natural caution that he didn't have as a young kitten.