Did Your Adult Cat's Behavior Change After You Adopted Them?

[I_Wuv_Kitties]

I'm just curious. Some of the strays that come in are SUPER affectionate and happy to have a warm place to sleep, clean litter, clean water, food, and people who want to see them. Cats like this get adopted VERY quickly. I'm just curious if they stay affectionate for most of their lives, or if they start to become less affectionate.

Here's one of those super affectionate strays.

 

[CatsAreTheBest]

They probably become less affectionate, but they will still love you the same. When I got my kitten she was super affectionate. Now she only shows head-butts me in the morning and after a long period of time I’m gone. It’s almost as if she knows that we know she likes us.

 

[Blakeney Green]

In my experience they usually mellow somewhat in how demonstrative they are once they're less desperate for attention, but they typically remain loving and affectionate.

 

[lalagimp]

My cat was very affectionate with me as a stray. She's still a lovey dovey and probably around 11 years old now. Don't get me wrong; she's highly opinionated.

 

[ailish]

I've had Ailish for over a year now. She came to me after having babies rather timid, but liking to be petted. She is still a bit timid in new situations, but still loves to be petted. Picked up, not so much. Her amount of affection to me varies. If she is on the trail of a mouse I am invisible. At other times she will sleep at the bottom of the bed through the night. She can be very demanding for her pets. Generally she is pretty much the same as when I got her, just more at ease in our home now. I can't say she's changed in any basic way. However, I don't know if she was a stray. Allegedly she was dropped off because her owner died (the fact that she was pregnant had absolutely nothing to do with it, no sir). However, she had obviously been handled and was most likely raised by mama cat.

 

[Summercats]

I volunteer in a shelter, some cats are so desperate for attention and reassurance that they climb on you, up your neck, on your shoulders and dig their claws in to hold you.
I think these will still be affectionate cats but as was said above less desperate. So no tight claws to hold on and less climbing.
My cat was confident in the shelter and friendly but not clingy. When I got him home, in need of reassurance he became clingy, held on tight etc. Now he is affectionate and confident again, he comes over for attention and purrs a lot but does not feel the need to be reassured. It took him a couple days to be his self again. We do give him lots of love and attention.

 

[happilyretired]

I have adopted 3 shelter cats as adults (two at 6 years and one at 4 years), and all of them had distinct personalities that remained the same from the day I brought them home. I have no idea whether they were different in the shelter but I suspect not.

 

[ivyandnala]

I think its more a transition from kittenhood to adulthood than from shelter to home that changes a cat. Kittens are in general, way more attached. My first kitten came from a farm and would be on or around me all the time. She almost never slept by herself, preferring to sleep on someone. Now as an adult she's confident enough to do her own thing, but still looks for attention at particular times in the day. I prefer it this way - sometimes it was too much when she was a kitten (i.e., I want to poop in peace). My shelter kitten is similarly needy. I will say though that he was shy and timid at the shelter and I think this is normal. Some shelter kittens don't interact with people much, and will be scared. Don't let that keep you from adopting them. He's a cuddle bug now. He's more attached to my other cat than to us, but he still follows someone around most of the day (cat or us).

I'll add that for some reason I always want to adopt the timid one. They break my heart. And I know they'll turn into lovely kittens if someone just gives them the chance .

 

[lilin]

I agree with the others. They may not seek attention quite as often once they're secure in their environment, but that doesn't mean they won't still be very nice kitties. Most cats are just somewhat independent. Neediness is a sign of insecurity a lot of the time.

My cat was the opposite. She was so shy and scared that even though she was an adult with no known medical issues, she had to be kept in foster for the sake of her sanity.

I basically didn't see her at all for the first several days she was with me. She barely let me pet her for weeks after (never aggressive, just very scared).

Now she's a lap cat who follows me around pretty much everywhere, and she even says hello to strangers a lot of the time. As I speak, she's napping right next to me.

I think we have to rely a bit on our intuition and the shelter staff when deciding about kitties. I just had a feeling about her. I knew there was a sweet, cuddly kitty in there, somehow. So I went with my intuition, and a few months later, that's exactly what I had.