Cat aggression is a form of cat behavior. It is perhaps the most profound reason for abandonment after inappropriate elimination (not using the litter). There are good and discernible reasons for it and most of them are down to us! Cats need to express their innate desire to hunt. Cats should be respected as cats. Expectations about cat behavior should be accurate. An understanding of our cat’s behavior will improve our behavior towards our cat.
Cat behavior – the various cat breeds and individual cats
There is no doubt that there are variations in the behavior amongst the large number of cat breeds. Some breeds stand out immediately. The Maine Coon chirps and trills while the Siamese and Oriental Shorthairs are more vocal, loud, playful and demonstrative compared to Persians. The British Shorthair has an almost silent meow. The Sphynx cat is almost monkey like and intelligent. The wildcat hybrids are more intelligent and more active and demanding as a result. The Persian is more placid and static while the Ragdoll is laid back. But these are generalisations. Some Ragdolls won’t be laid back. The differences in character between individual cats is more pronounced, it could be argued than the differences in character between the breeds.
Pedigree cats are very slightly more friendly, interactive and affectionate than non-pedigree cats (random bred cats)28.
The two ends of the cat breed behavior spectrum are probably the Persian at the placid end and the F1 Savannah at the most active end.
Cat behavior follows cat intelligence. Placid cats are less smart. Active cats are usually smarter.
The Persian is considered one the least intelligent cat breeds while the F1 Savannah is smart.
The Sphynx is considered the most intelligent domestic cat breed other than the wild cat hybrids.
Main page on this subject: each breed description has a paragraph on character and behavior, start at the top: Pictures of Cat Breeds A-H
Cat intelligence varies from breed to breed. Main page on this subject: Cat Intelligence.
It is said that cat personality can divided into two broad groups (a) cuddlers who desire close contact and (b) players who are energetic29. There other ways to classify cat personality types.
Disabled cats learn to adapt their cat behavior to accomodate their disability by relying on their range of superb skills.
Breeders tend to selectively breed for appearance over behavior (character).
