Do you have favorites?

More than one person has accused me of favoring one cat over the other two and while I denied it for a long, long time, I had to admit eventually that I have the tiniest, itty bitty, infinitely small shred of favor for Garfunkel over my other two.  It's just something about him - I think the maniacal twinkle in his eye - that makes me identify with him just a bit more than the other cats.

So - if you had to own up to it, who's your favorite?

(Keep in mind that OF COURSE we all love & care for our cats equally.  I wouldn't choose Garfunkel over Simon or Joni in a "desert island" scenario or anything like that.) 
 

Monet is my favorite. I admit, I do feel much more attached to him than I do with Cassie. Monet.. I've always felt he saved my life when I adopted him and he knows it. we have that special bond and trust.

Yes, I love Cassie to bits, but it's not quite the same love. I feel bonded with her as well, but not the same way as Monet.. it's like two different types of love and bond.. I don't love her any less than Monet, just... differently.

Kinda hard to explain, I know, but I hope you guys understand!

I admit, Dusty is my favorite only because she comes to visit me more. On the other hand, Rusty is DH's favorite.

Don't get me wrong, I dearly love my Miss Pop and I always will. But that Tabby? She's a hoot. She's always into something and she is constantly doing these things that just make me smile.

The way she tilts her head because of her ear problems makes her look adorable. (The head tilt isn't as bad as it used to be, but it's still there.)

She constantly follows me around the house and, if I'm not really careful, I'll trip over her. Even making the bed has become an adventure. And vacuuming can be hilarious....she is simply not afraid of the vacuum cleaner and it becomes a game. Even sweeping the bathroom floor of kitty litter has become a game with us, with her attacking the broom.

I come up from the basement with a basket of fresh laundry, still warm from the dryer, and I have to stop on the basement steps, just so Tabby can jump into the basket and curl up for a "ride" up the steps.

The way I just look at her and she breaks into one of the loudest purrs I've ever heard in a kitten.

When she can't antagonize another cat into playing with her, Tabby will attack her balls, her meeces, and anything else she can find....including feet, hands, and even hair.

She scoots under the newspaper when we're reading at the kitchen table.

When I'm preparing dinner, she's at the kitchen table, with her hind legs on the table and her front paws on a chair, watching every move I make. I have some pictures of her doing that and I'm going to have to post them.

I'll be lying in bed with a book and Tabby will come strolling into the bedroom, meowing for all she's worth: "Mom! Follow me! Follow me now!" I'll get out of bed and follow her as she sashays into the kitchen. She'll sit on the floor at the counter where the container of dry kibble is. She'll look up at the kibble, then look at me. "I'm starrrrrrrving!"

When Rick gets his bowl of cereal at night, he has to grab a small saucer so he can "share" little pieces of cereal with Tabby.

We're at the grocery store and we buy a container of light vanilla ice cream because Tabby is out of ice cream.

In the middle of the night, she comes to me and her purring awakens me....she's trying to get under the bed covers and not having a lot of luck, so she wakes me up to lift the covers for her. And some nights, she'll curl up under the covers next to Rick....all we see is her head and the tip of a paw sticking out from under the covers. Now, how cute is that?

I think Tabby is one of the happiest cats I've ever known and I'm so blessed to have her in my life. I know how corny that sounds, but it's true.

ETA: I forgot.....when I'm playing Angry Birds on my Nook with sound on and Tabby has to investigate the Nook. She is hilarious! It's hard to play with her head right in your line of vision because she's trying to watch the birds fly.

I really, really LOVE LOVE all my cats all for different reasons too :lol3: BUT Pipsqueak - really is a very unique/odd cat. So much like a human child in all ways. He is very entertaining, comical, loving and totally devoted to me :heart3: I honestly can say in all of my years of having cats - and it has been a lifetime - Pipsqueak is very special. A real pain in the rear at times too

I haven't even known Daymon for a month yet, and I went into his adoption knowing that Holland will always be my baby... so yeah, Holland is my favorite. That goes back though to her being such a scaredy-cat, and my having to work SO hard for her trust and affection. That Daymon... he is a lovebug, a little purr monkey, and the way he looks at me with his big eyes just melts my heart. So there's just something about having to work so hard with Holland for what Daymon gives naturally that makes my bond with Holland so, so strong. But I am constantly telling both of them that I love them so much. I call Holland "my baby" and I call Daymon "my buddy".

Originally Posted by parsleysage  

I had to admit eventually that I have the tiniest, itty bitty, infinitely small shred of favor for Garfunkel over my other two.

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Off topic, but here's an interesting tidbit I picked up back in my high school english class. The more qualifiers you use in a sentence, the less effective and more ridiculous it sounds. In this case, I mean to say that your qualifiers, "tiniest, itty bitty, infinitely small shred," may each mean "small" in their own right, but when you write them all one after another, it gives the distinct impression that you mean the opposite of what each of those words means alone. So I heard, "I had to admit eventually that I immensely favor Garfunkel over my other two."

It reminds me of when I asked my parents for the "smallest, tiniest, most insignificant" favor when my car got towed and I needed them to give me $150 to get it out of the impound lot.

rad65 said:

Off topic, but here's an interesting tidbit I picked up back in my high school english class. The more qualifiers you use in a sentence, the less effective and more ridiculous it sounds. In this case, I mean to say that your qualifiers, "tiniest, itty bitty, infinitely small shred," may each mean "small" in their own right, but when you write them all one after another, it gives the distinct impression that you mean the opposite of what each of those words means alone. So I heard, "I had to admit eventually that I immensely favor Garfunkel over my other two."

It reminds me of when I asked my parents for the "smallest, tiniest, most insignificant" favor when my car got towed and I needed them to give me $150 to get it out of the impound lot.

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Haha! That is very funny - the qualifiers were mostly for comic effect, but I definitely agree with the principle.  "The lady doth protest too much" and all. 

I realized I never wrote anything on topic, even though I have an opinion. Yes, I do have a favorite. It's my first cat, Memphis. I coud have chosen any cat in the shelter the first time I was looking to adopt, but I chose him because he was and still is the best cat to be placed in that shelter.

The way I see it, if the first cat you ever had is still alive, that cat is most likely your favorite (doesn't work if you adopted two cats at the same time). My logic is, the first cat you adopt/buy is your ideal cat. You went into a shelter/breeder/pet store looking for an ideal companion for yourself, and you chose the best cat that was there. This cat is like a firstborn child to you, and you have a special bond because it's just the two of you. When you get a second cat, you are most likely getting a companion for your first cat (or you are at least considering what kind of personality will get along well with your resident cat), so the choice is less about choosing the perfect pet for you because you have to consider family dynamics when adding additional pets.

Winchester, your tribute to Tabby was so sweet!  She sounds like Garfunkel's sister.

Garfunkel is the most exasperating of the kittens but that is because he is so complex, and complexity is what I value in cats over simpler animals.  I'm never quite sure of his motives - he's at turns wild, sweet, ruthless, vulnerable (the head butts! oh, my word, the head butts!), infinitely persistent, and a whole host of other traits, one right after the other. 

For example, he is the ringleader of all mischief in the house - overturned food, stolen jewelry, 95% of the window blind damage.  He's defiant - when they were baby-babies, nothing I could do (clapping hands loudly, shouting NO!, rattling a bottle of pills at them, etc.) could stop them from whatever they were doing - I had to physically remove them from whatever it was (curtains, trash, etc.).  Garfunkel would wriggle free and go right back to it time after time after time, where Simon had already gotten over it and gone to do something else.  We'd stare each other down while I tried to be menacing and show him I meant business.  (Never worked. )

But even despite all that, he is the least aggressive, the least domineering, the least physical of the three.  He doesn't fight or wrestle with either of the others much (who go at each other constantly), he just sits back to watch them, almost disdainfully.  To me, Garfunkel is the kid in class who is way ahead of the other students and gets bored so he causes mischief.  There's nothing mean or bullying about him, he just delights in chaos because it's more interesting.  He's a cat who will sit still on a bed, not sleeping, just blinking and contemplating.  I want to know what's going on in that mind - moreso than Joni or Simon, whose motives and moods are more obvious.  And that's what makes Garfunkel my favorite!

I can definitely see how that could be true for a lot of people.  For me it was a little different.  I got my first cat as a child - but she was wild, my dad trapped her at a job site because she had bitten him so he wanted to get her tested.  We kept her but she never became socialized, really.  My next cat was one we rescued from a friend who was moving & was going to put the cat down - she was old and drooled a lot and I was a child so that was gross & I didn't hang out with her much.  The next cat we got is my soul-mate cat, Pumpkin.  He's the first friendly, wants to be petted and follows you around, lap-cat.  He was definitely my favorite even though we got other cats after that.

Still, I couldn't choose Pumpkin over any of my three today... so I think a variety of factors go into it, especially about the bond that you have.  Like CatKiki said, she likes Dusty because she comes to visit more.

Probably Lynxx because he was the first cat that was really mine and I still really miss him a lot.

My mother says I favor Midnight over Luna. I don't think I do. I just do different things with each cat  I spend more time with Midnight because he's doesn't let me out of his sight, he follows me where ever I go. He even waits at the bathroom door for me lol. He likes to be held and patted (as long as its us and not strangers, both cats hide when we have guests over). Luna was abused before we saved her, so she gets scared if I play with her the way I do with Midnight  I can't chase her around, I still can't make sudden movements towards her. She can't be cornered. She doesn't like to be patted by anyone except her grandfather. She hates being picked up. She is getting more comfortable here. For a long time all Luna did was hide under the desk in my room alone. Lately she's been sitting next to me, spending more time with me, She is letting me pat her more. She does join in playing with Da Bird each night

Oh wow, I expected most people to say they didn't have favorites, and I was going to feel bad about saying I do have a favorite!

I openly admit my Genever is my favorite. BF says Dorothy is his favorite, but I think he loves them equally. I love them equally too, but Genever is my babygirl. Could be because she was the first, it could be because she's more sociable, though Dotster is sociable and cuddly too... I don't know, it's strange really. They are both lap cats. Genever's purr is so quiet you can only hear her in the middle of the night when everything is quiet. Dorothy purrs big, which is just awesome. Genever sleeps under the blankets in bed snuggled up to us sometimes, but Dorothy sleeps on our chests, face to face, when we're on the recliner. Genever gets bitey sometimes, and Dorothy doesn't. So why is G-cat my favorite cat??? I don't know, she just is, I feel like we've got a bond for sure. If both cats got outside somehow, I think Dorothy would wander off and just do her own thing and never look back, but Genever I think would stay in the yard, or maybe wander til she realised she's not at home and come back and meow and meow to be let back inside. Unless we were outside, then she would just hang outside with us. She loves to be with us. I think Dorothy is a happy cat too, but Genever seems more needy, I guess, I don't know how to describe it well. I wouldn't trade either of them for anything, but G is my #1. And Miss Polka Dot is #1 and a half.

I currently only have one kitty (landlord rules  ), but when we get a house we will get 1 or 2 more. However, I always know Riley will be my favorite no matter what. He is such a good boy, loves to cuddle, and always cheers me up when I am down. He's my little buddy. Although I know with my future kitties I will 100% love them all, since Riley is the first cat that has been "mine", it will always be a bit different. 

DarkMavis said:

Oh wow, I expected most people to say they didn't have favorites, and I was going to feel bad about saying I do have a favorite!

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Me tooooooo!  That's why I didn't elaborate much at first because I was wondering if people would be offended.  Tee hee!  Shouldn't have worried.

Since Buddy is not actually my cat, of course Parker is my favorite. We just have such a special connection. Don't get me wrong, I love Buddy and smother him in kisses and snuggle him too but Parker is just mama's boy.

I have had fifteen cats in my lifetime. Have eight currently. I love them and miss them all. I love them for their differences.

My Speedy, not an intelligent person. But gives the best hugs and purrs in a strange manner. sounds like a different animal. Otter maybe.

Peanut is young but learns hard. Puts his feet into every nock and crany. My explorer. When he matures he will be intellegent,

Mittens is a Hemmingway cat. So is his brother Caz, Mittens tryes to make his hands work like mine. But couldn't get them to turn the door knob. He has wild animal eyes. The kind that reaches into you. Scary.Too smart

Caz is a hugger and can't speak. Fat. He doesn't go in the litterbox very well. But I love him and can't get rid of him. If I had to live with someone they wouldn't love him as much as I. I form my life around him.

Willie, Hard life as a kitten. Broke his leg by being too friendly of a kitten and was kicked. He still doesn't take no for an answer. Friendly brown tabby who will be the first to greet you at the door.

Lucky is a charmer. That is how he got his name. He runs up to you and rolls on his back and does his cute kitten roll and meows. He loves popcorn. He will steal it out of the bowl, one kernal at a time. He and his two brothers were starving when I brought them home. Had to grow with no food those first few months. I gave them newborn formula to help. They drank it until they had enough and moved on. Mittens, Caz and Lucky are all brothers

Meuzette, my intelligent survivor. Mother cat to all who come here. Hates fights and will brake it up when they come up. Tender to all those who are scared.Gave the best messages to tuck me in at night, She is old and in her last stages of life. Sleeps more than visits. Her broken jaw drooling She can't close her mouth. Old and warn out, we waite on her. Give her the messages.

I must admit I have a very soft spot for Fudge,I think its because she has been through so much,she is so nervous and so a cuddle from her is very rare but when it happens it makes my heart melt.x