More affectionate as they age?

So I was just reading a thread on here and it got me thinking...

Do cats get more affectionate as they age? I have a 9 yr old Tortie girl who HATED people, kids and other animals. I would get to pet her like once a week when she was small. I've had her since she was 8 weeks old. Within the last few mths she can't get enough attention.

My parents came up for the weekend and brought 3 other kids with them so there was 4 adults and 6 kids in my house. Normally nobody would see Kaymen, she would have hid all weekend but this weekend she was driving everyone crazy because she wouldn't leave them alone.

Also if you pet her long enough she gets all dopey eyed and starts drooling, hahaha I love it. A few people thought I got a new cat since they've never seen her before...so is it normal for cats to get more affectionate as they age?

I love it and I wonder if my anti social girl, Kasey will get better as she ages as well

I have had two cats that as old age set in they became much more affectionate!!!! So you mean there is hope for Perkins, my Pumpkin boy!!!!! He is soooooo cute and I just want to snuggle him up, but he hates to be picked up and rarely comes and sits by me. I keep remembering my Winky, she got so affectionate after about ten years of age. Turned into a true lap cat, or maybe she just liked the heat of a lap

The older my grandparents cat got, the friendlier she got towards me. I noticed that.

It seems like my cats do get more friendly as they get older..

Originally Posted by Momto3boys

So I was just reading a thread on here and it got me thinking...

Do cats get more affectionate as they age?

Click to expand...

That's been my experience.

My RB kitty, Chynna, got more and more cuddly as she got older. By the time she was 18 years she was stuck to me like velcro! If she had had her way I'd have been carrying/holding her 24/7 and carting her to her food dish and litter box, with the rest of the time being held by me.

Abby was never a real cuddler. She cuddled on her terms and only for a few minutes at a time. She's now almost 13 years old and she's always wanting to cuddle with me. She seeks me out when I'm on the couch and walks up on top of me and lays down for the long haul.

I have to agree (and hope I'm right).
Tigger and Cuddles were like velcro to me (adopted at 17) till they passed.
Hestia, once she got used to our home, has always been affectionate..she's 13 now and on me more and more lately...when we got her she was 10.
Kuan Yin is turning 4 this spring. She was/is soo independent and definitely not a lap cat but lately she'll have these little spurts of affection for me that are on and off. I'm hoping these are previews of how she'll be when she gets older because she's maturing a little now.
Solomon just turned 1 and still has the kitten look in his eyes but he still takes time to show me affection..that is until something shiny distracts him or other kitty mischief pops into his brain which doesn't take long to happen at his age

My mom is very happy to hear this consensus -- she's so hopelessly in love with St. John, but he's such an independent little cuss! He's almost five years old now, so maybe snugglier times are coming for Mom.

I'm going to spoil the party here and say that I think it depends on the individual cat. I've had some that, as they've aged, became very personable, sweet, and affectionate. But, I've had still others who became crotchety, grumpy, and persnickety. And, then there were the ones whose personalities never seemed to change...

One of the cats I grew up with, Sandy, was never affectionate. She despised everyone -- it didn't matter who they were. She was not friendly, but was never a feral or stray. She came from a litter my grandmother's cat had. All of the others were sweet as pie, but Sandy had it in for us all. Now, I was quite young then and don't remember much of her younger years (she was older than I was during that time), but as she got older, nothing seemed to change. If anything, she got worse with age. In fact, as sad as it is, the only time she was nice was right before she passed on. And, that was the indicator that something really was wrong and it was that shift in personality and behavior that led my mother to take her to the vet to be assisted to the rainbow bridge. Another one of my grandmother's cats was much the same way. She was crabby in youth and even crankier as a senior. It didn't stop any of us from loving these cats any less, but their personalities did not change as they aged. Well, at least they didn't change for the better, anyway.

On the other hand, I also grew up with a cat named Goldy. She was another of my grandmother's cats and wasn't the friendliest of kitties. She was standoffish, but not mean. However, as time went on, she became much more willing to accept cuddles and pets. And, by the time she passed away, she had become a full-blown lap cat. The same was true for a cat we fostered and later adopted when I was a teen. He was never an affectionate cat, but, as time went on, he became more loving and interactive with us. As a kitten and adult, he was very independent. He didn't want to be played with or touched, even. He wasn't scared of us, but just was more comfortable being on his own than with others. But, he did change as he aged. He became more gregarious and fun-loving and enjoyed being scritched at every opportunity. So, when he died, we missed him for the sweetheart he had become. His former life as an independent, no-nonsense cat had all but disappeared and became one of the sweetest and most loving cats I've ever had the privilege to know.

So, in the end, I think it just depends. I've seen cats of many different walks of life and they have all aged differently. Some remained the same personality-wise as they did in their younger years. Many grew kinder and gentler with time. And, there were those, too, who did not age gracefully -- instead, they became grumpy and distant. But, all in all, it never mattered. Each of them stole a piece of my heart. And, be my memories of sweet or sour, they were special kitties who each proved to be individuals...

This is really interesting

I loved reading it all

Have to add that my parent's cat, a ragdoll mix, has gotten so much more cranky and crabby as he is aging, but so are my parents . They are all quite the trio...

you can train cats to be more affectionate. My kitties were very shy when they first come. I would lure them with treat to come near me. Slowly leaving a trail that leads to my lap. As soon as they get on my lap, i shower them with treats and pets. I just kept doing that and one day, the kitties just sat on my lap.

You can also train them to be picked up too. I would pick my cats up "dirty-diaper" style (under the armpits facing away from you) so you don't get scratched. I would drop them off at a location where i left a treat. Slow, they realized that getting picked up is good because they always get a treat at the end.

Hope this helps.

also, my cats recently start to eat their dinners from me (unless I am for the night), i don't put their dry food in a bowl anymore. My cats get wet food for breakfast and dry food for dinner. For dinner, I giving me 4 or 5 pellets from my hand at a time until they walk away, and i pet them in between every time they I get food. This way, they know that YOU are their caretaker and provider, and they build a positive association with petting.

I've noticed a huge difference in how much they like me since i start doing that.

3 out of 5 of my cats are affectionate with ANYONE! You can be a stranger and Echo (1 year old) will crawl up and fall asleep on your lap. Gabby - 14 has always loved people and Hercules (not yet a year) is just like him. Ninja and Brutus are selective about the people they love...really only me and my husband. If I were a cat I would avoid my kids at times as well. As a human there are days I wish to acvoid my kids !

I am a firm believer that cats do get more loving and affectionate when they get older. I have always had cats growing up, and even right now my husband and I have 3 cats, an 8 year old long hair Tabby/Calico mix (Mocha), a 7 year old long hair Dilute Orange Tabby (Simba), and a short hair Silver Tabby (Shiloh). Just before we adopted these three, we had a cat, named Patches, that we had to put down at age 15 because she was sick. But I remember that when Patches turned 8 years old, she became more affectionate with me. She started cuddling with me more and would sit on my lap and would give me headbutts when I put my face close to hers. Now that Mocha is 8 years old, she's doing the same thing...much more cuddly, and she gives me"kisses" by licking my hand or arm. Sometimes she'll even give me love bites, which is a really gentle nibble. The first time she did that, it surprised me. But it didn't hurt at all. She used to sit on my lap when she was a kitten, but now she's too big (weighs about 15 lbs), so she isn't comfortable on my small lap. But she is very contented to lie beside me when I'm sitting on the floor (we don't allow the cats on the sofas or our bed).
My other two cats do get on my lap because they are smaller than Mocha. I wonder if when they turn 8 years old, they will become even more affectionate than they already are. We love our cats so much. I can't live without them!

My beautiful black cat named Simone Sparrow ( a rescue who was named Sparrow at the ASPCA)  is at 10 years old becoming so affectionate and needing pettings several times a day. She follows me around the house, getting into everything, and at night has taken to sitting on my chest in the middle of the night. Not much fun, but I pet her for a while and then she leaves.

Getting slightly less scared of other people, and depending on their smell, will sometimes greet them at the door.  My vet makes house calls as she refuses to go in a crate, ever, and she can smell him through the door, he told me, and so runs and hides even before he knocks. 

Crazy, huh? But I'm loving it, for now.