# Opposite Personalities for my Two Cats - Anyone have that



## onyxsham (Aug 8, 2012)

We have two cats and they are both extremely loving, and absolutely great. They are however very opposite in behavior. One will follow you around the house, sleep on you, jump into the bathtub if you are taking a shower and the water can't hit him, roll on his back for you to touch his belly and just overall incredibly trusting and loving. He runs to me when I call his name and is never a foot away from either me or my girfriend. He also doesn't fear the vacuum and watches me clean the house and loves any type of machinery, almost intrigued by it. the other cat is the opposite, he is always scared. 

The other cat hides most of the day and comes out at night (he does lay by me on the couch at night), but is generally always scared. He never comes close to water, runs at noise of the vacuum coming and is bunkered up once he hears it turned on. He also needs an incentive to come out and rarely ever does when his name is called, usually I need to shake the bag with his treats for him to make an appearance. He also whines for food all the time. He never rolls around on his stomach, and rarely likes to be held, usually pushing us off when we hold him. 

The cats generally get along, they chase each other around the house and sometimes play fight (or fight) but most of the day stay out of each other's hair. The more timid one is the older one and sometimes I feel he is pissed at us for bringing in the younger one. 

Anyone else have such drastic differences among their cats?


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## Pushkabounce (Nov 6, 2012)

I think its quite normal. My 2 kittens are brothers,from the same litter, same parents and bought up together. Ive treated the both the same but they are so different. Oscar likes to be carried and cuddled. Wilson would rather come on his own terms. Oscar loves exploring, Wilson is more reserved. Oscar loves to sit on your shoulder when you vacuum (he hinders more than helps) and Wilson likes to watch from a far. I love that they are all different  my older cat Tinker wasnt best pleased by the new arrivals but I think he.secretly likes them.. A little..


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## bluemilk (Oct 3, 2005)

Well,adjusting to Robin hasn't been easy. For 12 years I had a cat who was SO laid back. He loved to snuggle, LOVED to be held. He was a hearth-and-home kitty.

Robin is a horse of a different color. He's adventurous active,does NOT like being handled overmuch, and he's full of surprises! Very different. But equally precious.

BECAUSE of his differences.


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

My two aren't related. I adopted them about a month apart, and they're about the same age. Their personalities are totally opposite too, but not quite like yours, onyxsham. 

Margaux is very friendly with people and will come out and swish around the legs of any visitor. She doesn't like other cats, though, is jealous and a serious bully. She's figured out that the canister vacuum cleaner isn't much of a threat - she won't move unless I put it right up against her butt - and that the upright can't reach her if she's up on something. She's never once sat on my lap and doesn't like being picked up or touched, except on her head and face. And yet...she's always waiting for me when I come home, follows me every time I leave a room, sits by my feet when I'm in the bathroom, and comes to purr next to me if I'm not feeling well.

Celia would attach herself to me by velcro if she could. She loves tummy rubs and would be perfectly happy if all I did all day was stroke/pet/scratch/snuggle with her. But if she's sleeping, she can't be bothered to acknowledge my presence. She'd like to play with another kitty, but Margaux's not much into Celia's idea of fun - play turns into hissing and yowling very quickly. She's terrified of noises, sudden movements, and people. All I have to say is "mommy needs to vacuum" and she gets the big eyes, freezes for a second, then runs into whichever room she figures is safest.

I've seen it so often that with 2 cats, they tend to have opposite personalities. I wonder if anyone here has 2 cats, both of whom are timid?


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Our stray Annie was the sweetest cat ever! She got pregnant right after we took her in by an Italian feral cat and had 3 kittens. Wanting another sweet girl like Annie we kept the female, Maggie. Maggie fell FAR from that tree!!! She was always weird. We loved on her since 2 days old and she was hissing at us even then! Figured we could turn her around, but for 12 years she was always so high strung and whiney. We loved her, but frankly it was a "mother's love" - unconditional, because she was not lovable in the least.


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

My two Devons are related, half sister and half brother to each other, same dam but different sire. Both were raised by the same breeder. I've had them since they were each 4 months old. Alkee (white) is calmer, more outgoing, pretty unflappable, whereas Zuba is more high strung with a quick startle response to loud or unusual noises. He doesn't greet strangers at the door like Alkee, but once introduced to someone he will stay and seek attention. Both like to play retrieval games, Alkee prefers stuffed mousies, Zuba likes wire spirals or other kinds of wires. Both are amenable to being handled and easy to clip nails, etc. Zuba is more openly affectionate (tho I find most males are more so than females). Alkee is affectionate especially when I'm trying to type on the computer, and likes lap snuggles most of the time if _she_ initiates it....if I pick her up and place her, she'll often get down, but then I think that's typical "tortitude", as under that white coat of hers is masking a tortie cat. Some times she's insistently affectionate she wants to be. She's also more sensitive of my moods or state of health, and very compassionate if I sneeze or am feeling ill. Zuba could care less, as long as he can lie beside me or in my lap. There are certainly some differences in cats even within the same litter, tho I've found that with purebred cats there is more consistency in their personalities.


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## Blakeney Green (Jan 15, 2013)

Zephyr and Maisie are not biologically related, although at this point I don't think they realize they weren't littermates. I've had Zephyr since he was a kitten, and got Maisie (who was two years old at the time) when Zephyr was nine months old. Their personalities are extremely different.

Zephyr is vocal, dramatic, and charismatic. He will do anything for attention, including once managing to successfully fake a broken tail for sympathy until he got distracted by something out the window and dropped the charade. Zephyr has very little motivation toward food. He loves to be picked up and snuggled, and purrs so loudly he's audible from outside the room. Zephyr was intensely bonded to me from very early on.

Maisie is very quiet and stoic. Most people don't notice how cute he is until they've spent quite a bit of time around him. He hardly ever vocalizes; he once burned his paw severely (I was there but couldn't move quickly enough to stop him) and didn't make a sound. For a long time I thought he didn't purr, but finally I realized he just purrs so softly it's hard to hear. Because he lived as a stray before I adopted him, he's very interested in food and making sure there's enough to eat. It took seven months after he came to live with me for him to acknowledge me at all, and years before he decided he was my cat. At this point I think he's equally bonded to me as Zephyr is, but he doesn't like to be picked up - he will, however, sit on my lap for hours on end.

Both my cats are extremely intelligent, and they became attached to each other almost immediately upon being introduced. They're very close and bonded. They have their squabbles like any brothers would, but then they make up and cuddle together.

I actually think it's good for their bond that they're so different. If they were more alike, I think they would be more competitive with each other. Having such different needs makes it infrequent that they have reason to be jealous of each other. I lucked out in getting two cats who are quite unlike each other but get along great.


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

Blakeney Green said:


> Zephyr is vocal, dramatic, and charismatic. He will do anything for attention, including once managing to successfully fake a broken tail for sympathy until he got distracted by something out the window and dropped the charade.


LOL!!! What a character!


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