Identifying cats by feel

When I go to bed, I lock my "foster kittens" in the bedroom with me. They can get very wild at night and get into a lot of mischief if they are left loose in the house, and I am always afraid someone is going to accidentally let one out when they go to work in the morning. The adult cats are thus locked out of my bedroom. The kittens are all getting big now as they are 8 months old so they are almost the same size as my other cats.
The other day, I woke up and could feel that there was a cat lying next to me. I was lying on my stomach with my head facing the opposite direction from the cat so I stretched my hand out to pet the cat. I petted it and thought to myself "That's strange, this cat feels like Church [my 1-year-old cat]...but it can't be Church because he's locked out of my room!" The I petted the cat's neck and I felt the collar and felt that the cat had a bone-shaped ID tag on his collar and I thought to myself, "Hey, that IS Church!"
I rolled over and look at the cat and yep, it was Church! I later found out he had been scratching at the door that morning so a family member had let him in the room.

I just think it's really funny that I was able to identify one of my cats by feel when not only were there 4 other cats in the room (all of whom are probably *related* to Church, they were all ferals and I think they had the same mother) but also he wasn't even supposed to be an option! When I was half asleep, no less! Church has the softest fur, and it is not sleek like most short-haired cats. His fur is more fluffy, it sort of sticks out rather than having coarse guard hairs that lay flat. It's also really dense. In feel it reminds me of rabbit fur. When he was a kitten he was so fluffy I thought he might be a longhair...

I was thinking about it and I realized when I am in bed with the lights off I can often guess which cat is which by their weight/size, fur and location: Spot is the big, heavy one who likes to sleep on my head. Blaze is the medium-sized one who likes to lie on my stomach with his legs out to the sides. Harlequin is the tiny one, and Mr Gray is the one with rough fur. However Blaze, Tiger, and Gray are all somewhat similar in size so I don't always know which cat I am petting. Except apparently when it comes to Church!

Yep. I can tell too - though I don't have nearly so many.

But they're also all different sizes and weights, which helps.

Yep - I can tell my two fuzzballs apart. Freya's softer and rolls into the tiniest, lightest ball...Cotton, on the other hand feels like someone left a cannonball on the bed.

I can tell all 10 of mine apart by their feel. Pinky and Muddy are closest in size, shape and fur texture, but Pinky's paws are huge compared to Muddy's. Sometimes I have to feel all over their bodies in the dark.

Oscar's fur feels like rabbit fur.
Stumpy has half a tail.
Scarlett is tiny.
Spanky is big and has the chunky belly.
Eightball is skinny.
Bob is soft and average sized.
Koko is silky and average sized.
Lucky would feel like Stumpy, but he has a full tail.

When Pipsqueak was here it was easy to tell the boys apart by touch...

Hennessy feels like rabbit fur and is a healthy weight... Pipsqueak's fur was rough and he was chubby!

I can tell, too. Speck feels like he is made of velvet. Siamie is soft like a bunny. Daisy's coat has a texture that is soft, but dense. And then there's the size thing, too, lol. Speck is about double everybody else's weight.

Ours our easy to tell by feel because they're all so different. I can also tell who it is when they're walking on me at night when I'm trying to sleep, because it is SO distinct for each kitty. In fact, I can tell just by the way they jump on the bed which kitty it is! Except Tuxedo - who unless you see him or feel him, you don't know he jumped on the bed.

Laurie

I can tell my girls apart by feel too. Cleo is, um....padded, fluffy, porky, fat....yeah, heavier than the other two! All three are long haired, but each one has a different feeling to their fur. Cleo's is cool to the touch, and sort of silky/slippery. Maggie and Lola are nearly identical in weight, but Maggie's fur is very dense, without the longer guard hairs, giving her a very plush feeling coat. Lola's fur is long, but very fine, and it's easy to feel her ruff around her neck. Her tail isn't nearly as fluffy as Maggie's, either. Cleo is a long hair, but her tail fur is shorter than most, almost like a medium hair, rather than a DLH. The easiest way to tell my three apart without looking, is to feel their tails.

Before 4 of my 5 kittens left me (from FB's last litter) I could always tell which was which.

Flynn (aka Sonic) was the only Persian so that was easy!

Tales is mainly white and whites have a harsher coat texture.

Secrets was a ticked tabby so you could feel her fuzzy ticks.

Paparazzi had a long body so I would just feel for that and also her fur was like velvet.

Ralphie (aka CC) was the only one that wasn't silver so his coat didn't feel quite as light, more plush

yeah i can tell to not just because flash is long haired and sooty isnt, but flash is light as a feather and sooty is a tun weight haha

Yep, I can certainly tell them apart at night. Dusty has a deformed tail. I think it was broken during birth at the base. She also has a kink at the end. Rusty has a normal tail and is heavier than Dusty.

It's easy with my two. Swanie is 16+ pounds of solid cat and Cindy is -8 pounds and not so solid. Although one night one of the cats was leaning up against my leg taking a bath. I thought it was Swanie because that's what he does, but it turned out it was Cindy!

I can always tell Shareena. I can't pinpoint any specific characteristics, but she was my very first kitty and I'm very familiar with how she feels.

Miss Patchwillow is my biggest cat and she has very dense fur.

Goldy is a lightweight and has the softest fur. It almost feels like baby fluff even though she's over a year old now.

Iris and Cali are the hardest to tell apart. They not only look almost alike, they have the same body and fur type. However, Iris has a very loud motor. She starts purring the second I touch her. Actually, I can hear her coming halfway across the house when she's ready for some loving.

the only one i can tell apart by feel is marty who is still a kitten and has to wear a harness that is bright colored so we don't step on him! he is black and blends in way to well to lots of things.

i can get a good idea with the farm cats but there are so many of them!

I can definitely tell them apart!

Girlie - lots of fluffy fur, not a lot of cat.

Obie - Solid body and bigger than Girlie. Head will move away if your hand comes near his face (especially around the eyes area). Lots of loose belly skin since he lost weight.

Oscar - Fatter than Obie and his face is flatter. Not much loose belly skin because hasn't lost as much weight as his brother.


If I'm just laying in bed and feel a cat jump up, I can tell which is which too.

Girlie - She'll have two paws on me while investigating the night table and will tickle more than anything else. If she walks on me she does it quickly. Otherwise she's by my feet... or attacking them.

Obie - He'll be the one taking his sweet time walking on me to get to the other side or just standing on me.

Oscar - Will do his best to avoid stepping on me. I can feel the mattress move when he's up there.