I was first introduced to himalayan kittens when a friend brought her new little guy to the last class of a small discussion seminar and our professor, an avid cat lover, allowed him to pad around the tables and introduce himself. Of course he was adorable, being a himmie, but it was his personality that really endeared me to him. Fast forward a few months and my first purchase after college was my own himmie kitten from a respected breeder about an hour outside the city.
In total I paid about 900 for my kitten, including purchase price, spaying, and declawing (I know, it was actually a mix up where I asked about declawing and it was done, not behind my back per se, but without me having really made a decision / learned enough about the necessity of the procedure). Of course I had to wait until she was old enough to be separated from her mother and siblings, and during that time my boyfriend decided if I got a shelter cat I would fall in love and keep from making what, at the time, he felt was an outlandish purchase.
We got the shelter cat about 2 weeks before we picked up the himalayan, he was also with his siblings but his mother was not found, but he was the same age so we thought it would be a good match. We got our himmie 2 weeks later and of course there was hissing when they first made eye contact even though we had given them a few days to get used to one anothers' smell and presence; but after a month or two the spats became less and less frequent.
Now that we have had both cats for 2 years they sleep together, groom one another in equal amounts, eat next to one another, and sort of play together (himmie is female and a lot smaller than shelter cat, about 7 pounds to his 12, so she always defers to him when they are both chasing a mouse or toy, even if she reaches it first). Neither has hissed or postured since the first week they met, and while they "wrestle" and chase one another it is clearly play that rarely escalates into even a warning meow.
"Why is this guy wasting space on our forums?", is what I'm sure you are asking, so I'll get right to it: My himmie is not as friendly as my shelter cat and seems much more aloof. I know different cats have different personalities and the 2nd cat in a family is usually more of a "cat's cat" than a "person's cat," but I still can't shake this weird "feeling" or inclination that my himmie would like to be more of a people cat but doesn't because of my shelter cat's possessiveness of me. I am fine with an aloof cat but I want my himmie to feel safe and that this is her home too.
A little about her behavior: About 40% of her time she spends curled up with our other cat in one big ball of kitty, every so often lifting her head to lick him or allowing him to lick her. About 30% of the time she likes to nap by herself in a window or a ledge (she is much better at heights than our other kitty and very athletic/agile). 15% of the time we will not know exactly where she is (she still has some hiding places I don't even know about but no openings to the outside or anything dangerous so I don't worry too much) but then when we do find her she has often been hidden right there in the room with everyone! She likes to be on the periphery but over the time I've had her I've realized she seems to want to be around us, just not on us. The other 15% is miscellaneous cat stuff like using the litter box, eating, playing, etc.
The odd thing with her behavior is she seems to want something (attention?) from me and then rejects it when I try to give it to her. She will meow, do the kitty eye-blink kiss, and fall on her back on the carpet, rolling and stretching. When I bend down to pet her though, she will get up and run away, but look over her shoulder every few feet to make sure I am following. I will follow her to wherever she leads (always the kitchen window or the landing at the top of the stairs) and then she will allow me to pet her in those places. For example, I just looked over my shoulder and she was perched right behind me on the back of the couch watching me type; but then when I acknowledged her and put her in my lap, she got up after a few seconds, walked across my keyboard, then jumped down and lost interest (I guess?).
I would assume she was just shy / aloof and leave it at that, but she seems like she is trying to tell me something or get me to understand something with her expressive eyes and draw in / pull away behaviors. One thing I have noticed (and I guess this is my main concern) is that she doesn't just defer to our bigger male cat in playing, she seems to "know" that he gets "jealous" and will defer to him naturally in all areas (even though they clearly get along). I am afraid that she wants physical attention and more one on one play time, but as I said she always shrinks back and takes second place during our group play time. Our other cat meows incessantly when he is locked out of our room, he is as clingy, obedient, and loving as she is mysterious, shy, and aloof by the way). He almost gets hysterical if he is locked out and he knows we are in the room (w/or w/out our himmie) so playing with just her becomes very difficult if not impossible, much less cuddling with her overnight or for more than 10 minutes. When she hears his meows her instinct is ALWAYS to draw away from me, pupils dilate, ears perk up, it is almost like a teenager getting caught by dad making out and contemplating jumping out a window to avoid detection.
There is no retaliation for this among the cats (unless it is in subtle kitty language), but while it is happening his needy behavior makes it impossible to show her love as anything more than a sidekick are afterthought. I haven't wanted to take one out of the house without the other because I want their bond with one another, which is excellent, to remain strong. I love them equally and if she is just aloof I am still so lucky to have her in my life, as long as I can accept that she is fulfilled and happy that way. I'd love to hear what some cat experts think about her behavior vis a vis other himmies and also about the idea of "jealously" among cats who live in pairs. Thanks!
In total I paid about 900 for my kitten, including purchase price, spaying, and declawing (I know, it was actually a mix up where I asked about declawing and it was done, not behind my back per se, but without me having really made a decision / learned enough about the necessity of the procedure). Of course I had to wait until she was old enough to be separated from her mother and siblings, and during that time my boyfriend decided if I got a shelter cat I would fall in love and keep from making what, at the time, he felt was an outlandish purchase.
We got the shelter cat about 2 weeks before we picked up the himalayan, he was also with his siblings but his mother was not found, but he was the same age so we thought it would be a good match. We got our himmie 2 weeks later and of course there was hissing when they first made eye contact even though we had given them a few days to get used to one anothers' smell and presence; but after a month or two the spats became less and less frequent.
Now that we have had both cats for 2 years they sleep together, groom one another in equal amounts, eat next to one another, and sort of play together (himmie is female and a lot smaller than shelter cat, about 7 pounds to his 12, so she always defers to him when they are both chasing a mouse or toy, even if she reaches it first). Neither has hissed or postured since the first week they met, and while they "wrestle" and chase one another it is clearly play that rarely escalates into even a warning meow.
"Why is this guy wasting space on our forums?", is what I'm sure you are asking, so I'll get right to it: My himmie is not as friendly as my shelter cat and seems much more aloof. I know different cats have different personalities and the 2nd cat in a family is usually more of a "cat's cat" than a "person's cat," but I still can't shake this weird "feeling" or inclination that my himmie would like to be more of a people cat but doesn't because of my shelter cat's possessiveness of me. I am fine with an aloof cat but I want my himmie to feel safe and that this is her home too.
A little about her behavior: About 40% of her time she spends curled up with our other cat in one big ball of kitty, every so often lifting her head to lick him or allowing him to lick her. About 30% of the time she likes to nap by herself in a window or a ledge (she is much better at heights than our other kitty and very athletic/agile). 15% of the time we will not know exactly where she is (she still has some hiding places I don't even know about but no openings to the outside or anything dangerous so I don't worry too much) but then when we do find her she has often been hidden right there in the room with everyone! She likes to be on the periphery but over the time I've had her I've realized she seems to want to be around us, just not on us. The other 15% is miscellaneous cat stuff like using the litter box, eating, playing, etc.
The odd thing with her behavior is she seems to want something (attention?) from me and then rejects it when I try to give it to her. She will meow, do the kitty eye-blink kiss, and fall on her back on the carpet, rolling and stretching. When I bend down to pet her though, she will get up and run away, but look over her shoulder every few feet to make sure I am following. I will follow her to wherever she leads (always the kitchen window or the landing at the top of the stairs) and then she will allow me to pet her in those places. For example, I just looked over my shoulder and she was perched right behind me on the back of the couch watching me type; but then when I acknowledged her and put her in my lap, she got up after a few seconds, walked across my keyboard, then jumped down and lost interest (I guess?).
I would assume she was just shy / aloof and leave it at that, but she seems like she is trying to tell me something or get me to understand something with her expressive eyes and draw in / pull away behaviors. One thing I have noticed (and I guess this is my main concern) is that she doesn't just defer to our bigger male cat in playing, she seems to "know" that he gets "jealous" and will defer to him naturally in all areas (even though they clearly get along). I am afraid that she wants physical attention and more one on one play time, but as I said she always shrinks back and takes second place during our group play time. Our other cat meows incessantly when he is locked out of our room, he is as clingy, obedient, and loving as she is mysterious, shy, and aloof by the way). He almost gets hysterical if he is locked out and he knows we are in the room (w/or w/out our himmie) so playing with just her becomes very difficult if not impossible, much less cuddling with her overnight or for more than 10 minutes. When she hears his meows her instinct is ALWAYS to draw away from me, pupils dilate, ears perk up, it is almost like a teenager getting caught by dad making out and contemplating jumping out a window to avoid detection.
There is no retaliation for this among the cats (unless it is in subtle kitty language), but while it is happening his needy behavior makes it impossible to show her love as anything more than a sidekick are afterthought. I haven't wanted to take one out of the house without the other because I want their bond with one another, which is excellent, to remain strong. I love them equally and if she is just aloof I am still so lucky to have her in my life, as long as I can accept that she is fulfilled and happy that way. I'd love to hear what some cat experts think about her behavior vis a vis other himmies and also about the idea of "jealously" among cats who live in pairs. Thanks!
. Let her come to you on her terms.
.
my Java is like that, as was Firefox. both were willing to occasionally sit near me, but never on me. Firefox was the smallest [physically] cat in my household - Chip was the largest [at 2x her size] but she was dominant over him, 2nd only to Cable [the 3rd in size of the 5 but dominant over all].
