Teenage independence?

For the past week or so Forrest has been spending more time with himself and less with/on me. He's eating and playing as normal but is not demanding as much attention from me. I was kinda getting used to having to hold or play with him constantly. Now he only wants attention from me when it seems convenient for him. If I pick him up to cuddle or hold him he gets all wiggly and annoyed and wants down. He will still jump on my lap for petting occasionally during the day and is very sweet, but he used to spend much more time on me.

He is now 8.5 months old. Is this normal teenager behavior? Has anyone else seen this behavior change with their kittens?

Sounds normal to me. Hopefully you aren't upset over this, it's a bit of freedom!

My Tomas is just now, at 16 months, honestly starting to prefer not to be glued to my side. He doesn't sleep with or on me as much at night.... I still have him climbing on me and in my lap quite often though (just jinxed myself... here he is again ). So the age varies with each cat.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Sounds normal to me. Hopefully you aren't upset over this, it's a bit of freedom!

My Tomas is just now, at 16 months, honestly starting to prefer not to be glued to my side. He doesn't sleep with or on me as much at night.... I still have him climbing on me and in my lap quite often though (just jinxed myself... here he is again

). So the age varies with each cat.

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Oh no...I'm not upset. It's not very easy to work with a cat velcro'ed to you all day. I've heard from other people that their kittens try to become more independant as they get older. I was thinking that Forrest at his age is probably reaching that point in his development. He's still bratty as ever to Lilly - although she doesn't seem to get as upset with him anymore as she did when he was little.