male or female more sociable?

Just wondering...

Between male and female cats, which ones are usually the friendlier?

It occured to me a few minutes ago that the few cats I got to know on a "personal" level, the males were always friendlier than the females... Maggie was off in her corner, Kermitte is off in her corner, Douce was selectively friendly... As opposed to Jiggs that used the "paperweight" principle whenever he saw a free lap, and Elmo is very in your face friendly. Squeaks at you, looks adorable and can usually get away with murder...

My most sociable cats have been males. Right now, though, Opie isn't the least bit sociable and Rowdy checks everyone out. Go figure!

I have a male and a female cat. Trent is absolutely a lover and although he is definitely Mama's boy, he needs his love from Daddy too. Ophelia is Daddy's girl. She's very sociable....with him. She's got her moments with me, and she loves to sleep with/on me, but she is definitely HIS kitty.

Generally speaking, male cats and dogs are the more sociable of the sexes. However, there are exceptions to every rule, and I live with 2 of them!

Max, our little dilute tortie girl, is a spoiled princess and demands to be petted, brushed, held, etc. She is such a little sweet angel.

Polly, her blue polydactyl brother, is the shyest of the bunch. He gets wide eyed and runs off the bed when we walk in the room. (Was he plotting something and we interrupted? ) He is friendly, but aloof. He hates to be held and only wants to be petted when HE wants it.

Well, Spike is a skittish little guy. He's quite friendly with me... wants his rubs and scritches from me... but only when he wants them. He also deals well with rubs from my sister and mom for the most part. He does not like to be picked up in the least for some reason. He loves to play though, and is usually pretty good with most people that visit. And if you just happen to have ribbon in your hands, he's your best friend.

Pepper my boy is the friendliest, most social kitty I've EVER seen. Granted, he is my first cat, but I have known many friend's cats and he is the most fun, and snuggly cat ever! I love him this way!

Fred is the most loving creature of any kind I have ever seen. Leo was the biggest bundle of orange tabby sweetness ever.I love my girls, but they are not nearly as loving as any of my boys I have had over the years.

Both of my orange tabbies are males. Both are very sociable, although Squirt does tend to be shy with people he doesn't know. Joseph is in everybody's business the second they walk in the door.

I would have to say males- all our males are lap huggers, while most of our females keep their distance.

As long as we're talking neutered cats - there is no difference between males and females. Different cats have different temperaments - defined in part by genes and in part by their environment - but to date no one has shown any correlation between the cat's sex and their level of sociability.

The best way to adopt a more sociable cat is to adopt an adult cat from a good shelter where staff know the cats well. Not that there's anything bad with the more shy cat - they're wonderful kitties even if less outgoing - it's just that gaining their trust is more of a challenge.

BTW - determining how friendly a cat is in comparison to other cats is not as easy as you might think. Researchers have found that owners are anything but objective In scientific research they are setting some sort of test by which they measure the level of friendliness (such as how long it takes a cat to approach a stranger). But owners' judgement is often subjective, based on what they expect of a cat.

Sorry this is so long - it's just that I've been teaching this last week :tounge2:

BTW - moving this to the behavior forum.

My male's are much more of lap lovers than my females.

Originally posted by Mom of 10 Cats
Generally speaking, male cats and dogs are the more sociable of the sexes. However, there are exceptions to every rule.....

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Nakita is a total lovebug and always has to be around people. I really think it depends on the personality of the individual cat!

In my situation, my male is alot more friendlier then my female but mine are still quite young..expecially my Fluffy...she is only 3 1/2 months old so I can't quite say yet if she is friendly or not....

Of the cats I've ever been owned by, the males have been the friendliest ones. I had one exception, Gypsy who was a female. Theres no scientific basis for that I know, but its weird that it seems to be a trend

For sure males! All males make the best pets! My favorite pet is getting ready for work rigt now. Hehe.
Denise:tounge2:

I did have a female siamese when I was a child, and she was the sweetest most friendlies cat I ever knew..she was an only cat so that may have had something to do with it....I need to find her picture and post it up...she was put down years ago when she was like 13 years old.....anyway...i guess it all varies on the cat themself...

I've only owned one cat so far a male. He is very affectionate and friendly. When we have company Soloman seems to think that they came just to see him. My friend owns two females that are shy and timid. Just my limited experience.

Generally speaking, male cats and dogs are the more sociable of the sexes

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if that's true, I shudder to think of what kind of dog our female would be if she'd been a male! She's the most friendly, patient, friendly dog I've ever met... if she was a male, I guess she'd have to be physically glued to our hips! and the horse I'm riding for my lessons is a gelding and SOOO friendly too! Must have something to do with the Y chromosome!

I 3 cats and the males are definitely more loving/friendly than the female. She thinks she's a princess and sometimes can be very aloof. She does like to be petted, when she's in the mood, but she doesn't like to be held, and forget about sitting on your lap.