Looking For Opinions

This is not a problem post, we are just courious about a behavior that one of our females exibits. We share our lives with four kitty's and three dogs. The kitty's are all rescues. Our first born is Abby, a seven year old short hair mix. Our second edition is Izzy, an eight year old pureblood Norwegien Forrest female in calico colors. Third is Sam, a two year old large framed long haired black and grey, who can pass for a Maine Coon, but most likely is a mix. Our most recent edition is Newman, a seven year old recently neutered longhaired kitty, that resembles a Seal Point Mitted Ragdoll complete with blue eyes.

Abby is the Alpha. No ifs ands or buts... Abby walks through the room, and the others move out of her path. She is a very verbal loving kitty, but will fuss anytime she does not get everything her way. At night Abby waits for us to go to sleep. The other three kitty's have already bedded down on the corners of the bed.

When all is quiet, Abby jumps on the bed, and finds her spot between my wife and me, usually near our feet, but never above our knees. She even enjoys having the covers over her on cold nights. Just don't touch her. Sometimes I will pat her on the head, and she will growl. If I stop there, she stays in place, and all is quiet. If I continue to pet her, she will get up, growl loudly, and jump off of the bed. After everything is quiet again, Abby gets back on the bed, and goes back to her same spot. In the morning Abby is all loving and playful.

She is never physically aggessive, however she sounds like she could rip us to shreads. I believe that it's a control issue with Abby, and it's almost like a game we play. If it's her idea to be affectionate, then fine, but if it's someone else's idea, then she won't have it. My wife says that Abby is just a B****, and spoiled. Feel free to offer opinions.

My beloved female (went to the Bridge last year after 18 years together) was a stray who adopted ME, and all interaction ALWAYS had to be initiated by her--and ended when she chose. I thought that she was "difficult" because I was a first-time cat companion and so inexperienced in handling her, but she was just as difficult for the vet!

She always slept with me but came to bed after I was asleep--perhaps because she didn't want to give me any opportunity to pet her, etc.

She just wasn't a "people person"!

That's the wonderful thing about cats; they are all unique.

Our first cat, Snoopy, would also sleep on the bed, but only by our feet. Our current cat Ella is the same way. And she, too, wants attention when SHE wants attention, but not otherwise. Who knows what goes on in these little peanut brains?

Hehehe, your post made me chuckle, sounds a bit like my kitty boy!!!! He doesn't growl but our night time ritual is that we get in bed me and bf and then I call Alan (my kitty) to the bed for his night time cat treat where he is always told what a good boy he is and has loads of love, staright after he has had his treat he jumps off the bed and doesn't come back on it until we have gone to sleep (or thinks we have gone to sleep anyway!). He doesn't really like to be loved when he is wanting to go to sleep and he nearly always sleeps by our feet and never above the knees. I sometimes wish that he was one of those cats that purrs around my face and lays by my side but thats the great thing about cats, they are who they are, just like us!!

One of the posts made reference to the "peanut brains." There is a recent university based research study on the IQ of animals, and according to the results of the study, cats have the highest IQ of any domestic animal, with thier brain function only slightly below that of Chimps and Gorillas.

One of our kittys is a real love bug. Izzy our 8 year-old Norwegion Forest female, likes to play hat. When I awaken, she is usually laying on my pillow, with her tummy against the top of my head, her front legs on one side of my head, rear legs on the other side, and her big fuffy tail wrapped around my face. Very warm in the winter! The only bad part of it, is that sometimes she has gas that can melt the wallpaper ...

Our present cat, Neely, whom we adopted is the smartest cat we have ever known. She is also very feisty and the only cat who has never slept in bed with us. She wants to be in the same room as us, will sit on our laps, but after living with us for nearly 4 yrs. still will not sleep in our bed at night. We just added a new 7 mo. old kitten to our family so it will be very interesting to see what happens now.