Cats - I just don't get it

[The Snark]

Two siblings treated identically. From an hour out of the box they displayed the absolute opposite personalities. Gnarly, the demure young lady: see the Tasmanian Devil in the Bugs Bunny cartoons. Agent J, AJ (spends most of his time on his back especially when his sister is beating the crap out of him), a fuzzy insecurity complex.

Dropping a plastic bottle to roll down the stairs, Gnarly is pure KOWABUNGA! I'll kill it!. AJ goes a half foot in the air from the noise and wets himself.

The living room is utter chaos. Gnarly comes prancing up like a frisky colt: "I cleared the coffee table! We are playing snooker, right?"
AJ, terrified he might get blamed, wedges his head under the couch: "Excuse me. I'm late for my mid afternoon nervous breakdown."

How the freak can they be so different?

 

[Enn49]

We got a pair of brothers last year, both appeared to be identical when we first saw them. It soon became apparent that that was completely wrong and as they grew the difference became more and more obvious.

Jet is a darling, purry, cuddly and otherwise known as Fur Ball. Most of the time he can't be bothered and will walk a few steps then collapse in a purring heap at your feet.

Neo on the other hand can be pure evil. Everything he does he does full pelt, he opens doors, knocks ornaments off, steals anything he can and even eats tobacco lol. Stroke him and he will lie back and seem to enjoy it then wham , 10 claws in your hand.

We wouldn't be without them though.

 

[dementedlullaby]

My cat that passed away last year was like this.

I got her mother as a little kitten. Her mother had abandoned her, I was probably 14-15 at the time. My friend called me up so my other buddy and I got on a bike and met her at the train station. Biked home with that poor little kitty. Was sitting on the front stairs feeding her milk and tuna when my mum came home. I expected to get yelled at but all she said was "that's not good for a kitten" lol classic. Her name was Twiggy and I loved her. Twiggy was a wild one. Small little fluffy calico cat. She never grew really big but damn, she was crazy.

One day Twiggy escaped. I had left for California when I was 17 for the summer. My parents and friends who lived with us at the time took care of her. Unfortunately the cat hadn't been fixed when she got out so when I came home at the end of the summer there was kittens. Two to be exact. One gray tabby and one orange tabby. The gray one was like her mother, very wild and mischievous. However the other one was just as you described. A scaredy cat fuzz ball.

My mother gave the gray one "Zillah" away. Last I heard she was living a happy life in someones apartment. Poor them . The orange one lived with my parents. Sadly she had got sick what seemed over night and when we brought her to the vet they said she had kidney failure . They could of gave her medication to live a little longer but it wasn't going to be a happy life, sadly had to have her put down.

The worst part (for me at least) is that Twiggy got out again shortly after having those kittens. I had actually managed to catch her and put her in a carrier because she was supposed to get fixed the following week. I don't know if she sensed it or something lol. But she literally broke out of that cat carrier and took off..../sigh. I never saw her again. This was about 10 years ago now. Sometimes I wonder if she's still alive somewhere out there. My better judgement guesses no though.

 

[Spepper]

Lol... I have a brother and sister pair and they have many of the same mannerisms. Sometimes when they're in the dark and all I can see is a cat-shaped shadow and no color, I find it hard to tell them apart, even though one is an orange tabby and the other a typical grey tabby. Overall the female, the grey one, is a princess however, and the male, the orange one, tries to look tough and Romeo-up his owners before jumping at his own shadow.

 

[cold blood]

Two siblings treated identically. From an hour out of the box they displayed the absolute opposite personalities. Gnarly, the demure young lady: see the Tasmanian Devil in the Bugs Bunny cartoons. Agent J, AJ (spends most of his time on his back especially when his sister is beating the crap out of him), a fuzzy insecurity complex.

Dropping a plastic bottle to roll down the stairs, Gnarly is pure KOWABUNGA! I'll kill it!. AJ goes a half foot in the air from the noise and wets himself.

The living room is utter chaos. Gnarly comes prancing up like a frisky colt: "I cleared the coffee table! We are playing snooker, right?"
AJ, terrified he might get blamed, wedges his head under the couch: "Excuse me. I'm late for my mid afternoon nervous breakdown."

How the freak can they be so different?

Gnarly is the dominant cat, which puts AJ at the bottom of the totem pole, which will in turn exacerbate his submissiveness (and Gnarly's dominance). Its what I would almost expect with one being a clearly strong alpha. Look at it this way, if AJ wasn't so laid back and submissive, they'd probably fight A LOT and at a much higher level than they currently do, but I suspect AJ doesn't fight back too much. Him on his back alone is a submissive position, and far from a fighting stance. Same scenario for Enn49.

Demented, spay or neuter. There's little question she lived a full life, cats are only partially domesticated and do very well on their own...much unlike say, a dog. Sorry you lost your kitty.

 

[dementedlullaby]

Thank you cb. Unfortunately it was a long time ago and I was young, stupid and poor . She was scheduled after she had the kittens, which were never intended as we always kept our cats indoors growing up (still do).

The other cat we have now is the cat my parents had since I was around 10 years old. My mother nursed her back to health when she was a kitten. She's must be about 18 years old now. I have no idea how my wife and I ended up with that cat tbqh haha. She just ended up staying with us a couple years back and never leaving. The vet couldn't believe her age, we had to switch vets so the first check up was amusing. Both her and the cat with kidney disease are/were spayed and the dogs my parents have are fixed . One is from a rescue actually and they don't let them go unless they're neutered. Really awesome. I completely agree, always spay or neuter!

 

[The Snark]

While pondering cattitude and wondering. My other discovered a Gnarly neutralizer: Queen music videos. If Gnarly hears Queen she's instantly clawing at the door. Let her in she perches on the very end of the chair arm, crouched and leaning as far forward as possible, and there she stays. Sits through entire concerts, drooling over Freddie Mercury and Brian May like a brain dead groupie. When we played Live Aid she transfixed, but only the Queen part. Weird weird weird.

---------- Post added 08-15-2014 at 11:57 AM ----------

The vet couldn't believe her age, we had to switch vets so the first check up was amusing.

Vets and doctors. Always right, never listen or believe anything you say. Drives me nuts. Had a vet come to our pack station once. I did an intro of all our horses and he wrote down the names, breeds, ages etc. When looking at one horses teeth I checked what he had written.
The vet checked on to our antique and had written, Spirit. G(elding) age 30, 12 H(ands), Arab cross, poor condition.
Spirit was a Morgan, 13.2 H, retired, age 42, ringbone survivor I kept underfed so his weight wouldn't aggravate his condition.

He moved on. Sin, M(are), age 12, light sorrel Thoroughbred X, 14 H.
Reality. Sin: 15.2H, age 6, AQHA and buckskin throw from Jango.

He checked my horse: Jango,: G, age 8 to 10, Morgan, 15 H, overweight. I was wondering if we were on the same planet. Jango, a stallion, was pushing 20, 16.2 H, 2200 lbs without an ounce of fat and a purebred Mustang to the bone with over 100 throws.
When the vet left I tossed all the paperwork into the fire. What is with these people? Was this guy a parakeet specialist with delusions of grandeur?

 

[ratluvr76]

Was this guy a parakeet specialist with delusions of grandeur?

LOL! too funny.

 

[dementedlullaby]

Vets and doctors. Always right, never listen or believe anything you say.

Tell me about it. The vet said "Are you sure?". Well I'm fairly certain I know how old I was when we got the cat...Maybe not to the day but yeah. I'm sure. *Vet looks at cats eyes with light* "Oh okay I can see it now.". All I could do was give her a blank stare and think to myself couldn't she have done that prior? What nonsense.

 

[timisimaginary]

While pondering cattitude and wondering. My other discovered a Gnarly neutralizer: Queen music videos. If Gnarly hears Queen she's instantly clawing at the door. Let her in she perches on the very end of the chair arm, crouched and leaning as far forward as possible, and there she stays. Sits through entire concerts, drooling over Freddie Mercury and Brian May like a brain dead groupie. When we played Live Aid she transfixed, but only the Queen part. Weird weird weird.

the power of Freddie Mercury's voice cannot be overestimated.