He is black and white, one year old, fixed and NOT declawed (we just clip them). He is an “indoor cat” and he has two mommies. We have had him for a month now.
Hangouts:
In uncle Nick (our roommate)'s dirty laundry pile
The windowsill
Behaviour:
Decidedly canine-esque. Xander sleeps on his back, “begs” when it’s dinnertime, and plays fetch with his favourite tennis ball.
He is only intermittently cuddly; like when we are online, or watching TV. He only approaches us when we’ve been sitting still for a while. If we pet him while he’s lying down, he will capture our hand between his paws and nip it. He doesn’t like to be held, won’t sit on anyone’s lap, even if we pet him, and generally won’t stick around to be petted for more than two minutes. He just takes off and we have to wait until he feels like nuzzling our knuckles again to give him any more affection.
“Normal”, for cats, is about as varied as it is for people. So, yes, I’d say Xander is normal. I’ve known cats like that. Is he, by chance, a rescue shelter cat? The ambiguity about affection sounds like he might be. I’d say the most unusual thing about him is the fetching. And, he must be a really big cat, to be able to get a tennis ball in his mouth.
Sounds pretty normal to me. Elvis, el gato del casa twickster, didn’t turn into a lap cat till he was about 13 – and until then he also hated to be picked up. He would hang out nearby, but not actually in my lap. When petted, he (still) indicates “enough!” by turning and biting me.
When you pet him, do you touch his stomach? They’re ticklish there, and there’s a reflex reaction that makes most cats bite you when you touch that area. If you avoid it he might not nip.
The fetch thing is cute, but unfortunately it wears off after a while.
As for “affection when he feels like it”, isn’t that all cats, everywhere?
He sounds cute! His affection for the dirty laundry pile sounds just like one of my old roommate’s cats, who, whenever he wasn’t being fed treats in the living room, would be found in my laundry basket.
Nope, sounds like he’s normal, for a cat. I’d get him fixed though if I were you. Male cat spray stinks like all get out and it’s nearly impossible to remove the scent once they’ve sprayed. Yuk!
Actually, jjim–it’s not. Well not in the Bad Boy household anyway. Buttercup, our superchubby kitty, is an affection whore. Sometimes I call her the LoveSlut because she constantly demands affection and goes into orgasmic bliss states when her face and ears are rubbed.
He sure sounds norman to me. We have 3, Maxx, Mama Cass, & 'Lil We got Maxx & Cassy 3 years ago. Cassy got out before she got fixed, so that’s how we got 'Lil. She was supposed to be given away like her 5 sibs, so she was “the little kitty” When she didn’t get a home she was used to the name 'Lil. Anyway, she has never been away from us. She acts very much like the kitty you describe. She was fixed about 4 months ago, & is finally settling down a bit. She’s still terrified of my husband. He’s very puzzled by her behavior. He doesn’t do anything to scare her, but she won’t come near him. She will sit on my shoulder very occasionally, and she sleeps at the foot of our bed, but she comes to bed after my husband is asleep and leaves before he wakes up.
I tend to think your feline is exhibiting a typical hyper-masculine and over-compensating reaction (near the point of being canine) to having been given a sissified name like, “Xander Homestar Davis-Roberts.”
Some cats are just not lap-cats. If our cat actually wants attention, she’ll wind around legs, or curl up next to me on the couch. Otherwise, hands OFF!
I would say he’s normal. You might want to make sure by finding a friend who is severely allergic to cats to invite over, and see if Xander immediately wants to sit on his/her lap.
