Cats with personality!

roxy_loves_cj

roxy_loves_cj

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Ok guys, I have a question. Do you feel that a cat is born with personality or that the personality is "grown" out of expirences? We have 2 dogs and 2 cats between my parents and I and all of them have so much personality. We have a light golden retriever that is as ditzy as any blonde you will ever meet. she even gets distracted before she can fetch. Both our cats are big talkers, and have all their own quirks, like eating marshmellows, opening doors, sleeping under rugs etc.

Do feel that we just picked an exceptional group, or that its the environment they are in lets their personality shine through? I guess its a slight twist on the nature vs. nurture question. I wanna know what everyone thinks!
 
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bigorangemenace

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Its part of both. Some pets are just the way they are because thats how they are ^_^ But alot of their development and their knowlegde comes from growing up in a household. Take two twins and raise them up in different places and they will turn out different O_O My mom has a friend who has had alot of dogs.. and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM IS THE SAME!!! Spoiled, naughty, and racist O_O Not that my mom's friend is racist.. but all her dogs seem to ahve developed a dislikeing to black/mexian/chinese people O_O Allher dogs grew up exactly the same because that's how she raises them O_O She lets them get away with murder when they are puppies and expects them to be good when they grow up
Blah XD Both of my cats are well mannered and nice, but they ahve very diff personalities. My mom's friend and her puppy and her boyfriends daughter were here on the porch when I came home today. My cats were on the inside porch. Aerowyn jumped down when I held the puppy up, but sniffed the little girl's fingers. Elliot stayed on the window sill and glared at the puppy, but jumped down when the little girl tried to play with him through the screen. Cats are just themselves, but we can help mold them so they grow nicely.
Cats can have manners just like people as long as you raise them up right ^_^ Though some cats, no matter what you do, seem to be ill tempered little butt munchkins O_O
 
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5catsandcountin

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I think most of it is genetics. We have two from the same litter right now and they are like night and day.

Yes, if you train an animal to behave a certain way, and different environments will bring out different traights....that is different, but as far as personality ...from our experiences they are all born with their own unique personality.
 
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selfhope

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I was at the vet once and he gave us a long speech about how a cat's personality is set from birth. He said too many people get kittens in the intent of molding them, when it's easier to figure out if you really want an adult cat with an obvious personality. Of course... he *was* trying to sell us on a stray adult cat. (Which, incidentally, was too bad-tempered for us to want anyway.)
 
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Most people thinks their pets are special in some way -- the smartest, the biggest jumpers, the toughest, the prettiest, the ones with the most interesting quirks, etc. But people are ignoring that we decided which specific cat(s) to bring into our lives. And whatever we value, we are predisposed to pick cats that give off signs of growing into that role.

When you picked which cats to adopt, you most probably went for the ones that exhibited the tendencies you value. If someone offered you a basket of kittens and said "pick one", you'd go for the one that was the most precocious and playfully quirky -- therefore it's no big surprise you end up with cats that "have a personality". And of course you enjoy bragging about that cat's personality -- because it is what you wanted.

Some people want an attractive cat -- guess what? They probably grabbed the kitten that was most likely to grow into a beautiful princess.

I rescued Nano because she is a survivor. I like her because she is wily and knows how to adapt very quickly to new circumstances. And that's why she is my pet -- because apparently I value those things. I've almost always picked "survivor" pets, so my pets have almost exclusively demonstrated very strong traits of being a survivor.

So rather than look at cat psychology, let's talk about human psychology and what we expect from pet companionship.
 
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redhairedgirl

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I think it's hard to tell how cats will end up when you first get them. I can tell you that my boys are pretty different than they were when they were kittens. Time and environment play a big role, I think. Sam was very anti-social and slightly combative, but he is the biggest sweetie ever now. He talks constantly and wants to be near us at all times. Frodo used to be really shy but I've gotten him to start talking to me too.
They both have grown into the best cats I could ever hope for, but it's been a process - in a positive way.
 
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ranger

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Originally Posted by Nano

Most people thinks their pets are special in some way -- the smartest, the biggest jumpers, the toughest, the prettiest, the ones with the most interesting quirks, etc. But people are ignoring that we decided which specific cat(s) to bring into our lives. And whatever we value, we are predisposed to pick cats that give off signs of growing into that role.

When you picked which cats to adopt, you most probably went for the ones that exhibited the tendencies you value. If someone offered you a basket of kittens and said "pick one", you'd go for the one that was the most precocious and playfully quirky -- therefore it's no big surprise you end up with cats that "have a personality". And of course you enjoy bragging about that cat's personality -- because it is what you wanted.

Some people want an attractive cat -- guess what? They probably grabbed the kitten that was most likely to grow into a beautiful princess.

I rescued Nano because she is a survivor. I like her because she is wily and knows how to adapt very quickly to new circumstances. And that's why she is my pet -- because apparently I value those things. I've almost always picked "survivor" pets, so my pets have almost exclusively demonstrated very strong traits of being a survivor.

So rather than look at cat psychology, let's talk about human psychology and what we expect from pet companionship.
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That is so true!
I have this sneaking thing where I love kittens because they're cute, and babies and babies need to be loved- but I fall in love with them when they're adult cats because it's then I see them as real people. Reading your mail I wonder whether it's because I've then known them long enough to get to know them, or whether they've grown up the way planned! All my current three adults have very different personalities and are completely different 'people'. Jazzie is adorable, but I don't know yet who she is - looking forward to finding out though!
 
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