Kittens: bold and friendly compared to timid and less friendly

Cat personality types

Kittens who inherit a personality which is bold or confident are more likely to be perceived as friendly. Relatively bold kittens are more likely to interact with new objects and occurrences. This gives the impression that they are more friendly or at least they’re more outgoing. Also, it means that they learn more quickly …

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Cats sleeping in the ‘dead position’

How domestic cats sleep and snooze sometimes which shows that they feel secure

When domestic cats sleep in the “dead position” (i.e. they look as if they are dead) it’s because they feel sublimely secure in their home environment. They are belly-up and therefore vulnerable. I don’t think you’ll see this very often if ever in the wild. I’m referring to the wildcat ancestor of the domestic …

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10 thoughts on how to make your cat less timid

Wallflower cat

I’m going to rely on Chapter 19 of Jackson Galaxy’s book Total Cat Mojo to answer the question in the title. Jackson calls timid cats “Wallflowers”. They are wallflowers because of their genetics, perhaps a lack of early years socialisation, threats in the environment or a combination of all these. This is a long …

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When Kitty is afraid of new people. Getting comfortable with visitors.

Anxious cat

Although the response of a domestic cat to new people in their home (including visitors) will vary between individuals depending on their confidence and character, in general domestic cats will be fearful and defensive. There are one or two things which can be done to assuage some of the anxiety and make them more …

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Sixty-five percent of cats and kittens are securely bonded to their people

Secure or inscure cat?

Domestic cats are not born to love people and their default position with respect to other cats is to be suspicious of them. This is the nature of a solitary animal. I wonder, though, if this is entirely true after approximately 10,000 years of cat domestication. Perhaps the ability for domestic cats to love …

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Recovering a cat’s Mojo by crossing the “Challenge Line”

Hiding cat

This is a concept, as you may have guessed by the title’s language, of Jackson Galaxy, the celebrated cat behaviourist. He needs to be listened to because of all the cat behaviourist he has the most experience both in cat shelters and in dealing with private clients. He spent many years in cat shelters …

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What is middening in cats?

Anxiety can lead to middening

Middening in cats is the depositing of faeces in prominent places as an alternative form of scent marking. The others are urine spraying, squat marking with urine (to be distingusihed from cystitis) and scratching. Scratching leaves both a visual signal because the surface is damaged and an olfactory message because there are scent glands …

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