Angelus, the devil cat

[Prairie Purrs]

All but one of my cats (and I have several) love to be petted. Most will put in at least some lap time, some are serious face-lickers.

And then there's Angelus.

He was born in my study, and I cuddled and played with the whole litter from their early days. (Ever get simultaneously mugged by six tiny razor-clawed kittens?) The others found homes, but Angel has a heart murmur, so I kept him, not knowing whether he'd make it. Well, he's two years old now, handsome and active. And exasperating.

He usually dodges out of the way when I reach to pet him. Sometimes he'll permit a pet or two, but then he promptly abandons the area. He will have no part of being picked up and cuddled . . . EXCEPT right after I take a shower, when he will come flying out of nowhere onto my shoulders and proceed to rub around my head and neck, purring like thunder. He'll climb all over me, trusting that I won't let him fall, for several minutes.

Then he jumps down and treats me like, well, something the cat dragged in.

The other odd thing about this guy is that he really, seriously loves other cats. He's forever snuggling with the other housecats, and if he had his way every cat who appears at the window would be invited inside.

So is Angelus an exceptionally neurotic kitty, or does he just get his kicks from yanking my chain? Maybe he can't forgive me for naming him after a TV character (his whole litter was initially named after characters from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer").

[jenluckenbach]

I think Angelus sounds like a text book example of
C*A*T

So is Angelus an exceptionally neurotic kitty, or does he just get his kicks from yanking my chain?
Probably both, :rolleyes: but I would not worry about it. Some cats are just "cat" cats.
Love to hear more about him and the others.

[NoahsMommy]

What a funny kitty....what breed is he? That may be a contributor to his personality.

Does he show you he loves you in other ways? Like rubbing against you? Following you? Looking at you from accross the room?

[Prairie Purrs]

I should mention that although he pretends that I'm a nuisance by day, the Angelcat sleeps right next to me. Of course, so do Kacey, Hagrid, Cricket, and Lily--which effectively pins me in place under the covers!:)

[Prairie Purrs]

Originally posted by NoahsMommy
What a funny kitty....what breed is he? That may be a contributor to his personality.

Does he show you he loves you in other ways? Like rubbing against you? Following you? Looking at you from accross the room?

He's the gray-and-white version of a tuxedo. His mom's a little stray tuxedo who got my attention by tearing a hole in the back screen door and moving onto my enclosed porch. Needless to say, she's also part of the household now.

His affection mainly takes the form of the post-shower mugging. He'll jump from the floor into my arms in order to get up on my shoulder and rub around on my wet hair.

Apparently he's not the only member of his litter with a thing for wet hair. One of Angel's brothers was adopted by a very tolerant lady who named the little guy "Pistol." Well, one day Pistol was chewing on her hair and actually managed to chew off a substantial hunk of it!:eek: Fortunately, she thought it was funny.

[NoahsMommy]

Too cute!! Our large orange tabby/maine coone loves to lick shower hair too!

Angelus sounds like a sweetie pie....in his own way, which is what I so love about cats. Each one is different and very special.

I'd love to hear about your other cats. :)

[Prairie Purrs]

Oh, my, it would take all day to describe all the other furfaces around here. I don't have a camera :( or I'd post some photos--I'll have to pick up a disposable camera and capture a few choice poses.

But here are a few of Angel's companions:

Kacey is nine, and he's been my best buddy ever since he was three and a half months old and insisted that I take him home from the shelter. As a kitten, he had whiskers that drooped almost into a circle--like Yosemite Sam's mustache! :) He's a gray and white medium-haired boy who not only comes when he's called, he comes running when anybody's called. He's quite the cuddlecat.

Kiri is also nine, adopted together with Kacey. She's a very sweet, very shy, beautiful brown tabby with dark markings. She spends a lot of time in my lap for protection.

Hagrid is a big, goofy tuxedo boy. He's a two-year-old rescue. I call him "Roadblock" because he tends to get my attention by running in front of me and stopping. Pet him and he immediately melts to the floor and rolls over for belly rubs.

Cricket is four, a tuxedo-tabby with no tail--she chewed it so badly it had to be amputated! :( Feline hyperesthesia. Fortunately she hasn't chomped on any other parts of herself. She's a major-league face licker.

Lily is a teeny, tiny, medium-haired black kitty with golden eyes. She's two years old. She's a darling little diva and loves riding around on my shoulders.

I'll save Katie, Bob, Gatsby, and Oz for another time. :)

[jenluckenbach]

10 cats? or do I count wrong?
It is nice to hear about them all. As you can see, I am a sucker for the kitties, too.

[Cheshirekatt]

I had a kitty like that once. His name was Rodan and he was my sketchy cat. :) He was a no-see-um, but very sweet with those he knew. I'd had him since he was 6 weeks old. He licked walls. With his raspy tongue. All night long. :rolleyes:

[Prairie Purrs]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jenluckenbach
[B]10 cats? or do I count wrong?


Yep, 10. Three tuxedos, three brown tabbies, two grey and whites, a tux/tabby, and one all black.

[HayleyRosie]

Wow!!:eek: 10 cats! I can't wait to see some pictures. I also can't wait to get the descriptions on Katie, Bob, Gatsby and Oz.

[L. Wayne]

CatsinDenver, welcome to Pet Talk. Hooray, another multi-cat household, and I do mean multi-cat!

Angelus sounds to me to be a typical "unaffectionate" furkid. Sometimes, as I have experienced, that a litter of kittens will produce all types of personalities. It is not a matter of how they are raised, but rather his behavior habits has to do with an inborn personality trait. I have seen both types, that is, affectionate and unaffectionate, come from the same litter. I have made a check list that is for use when anyone is shopping for a new furkid. I'll look for it, as it is on this forum somewhere:) You can use it to evaluate your current furkids, although you are already aware of their personalities.

.......wayne

[L. Wayne]

OK, I found it. It is in the Cat Behavior forum, with Bastet 27's thread, "what cat is best for me".

.........wayne

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Originally posted by jenluckenbach
10 cats? or do I count wrong?

And you probably have their names memorized already. ;) :D

Welcome CatsinDenver! Sounds like you have quite a adorable family. :) Can't wait to hear what trouble they can all get into. :) Oh, and can't wait for the pictures either. ;) :D

Welcome to PETTALK !!!

[Steffi N]

Ah, sweet mysteries of cats. You sound like you have a great furfamily.

[Prairie Purrs]

Originally posted by HayleyRosie
Wow!!:eek: 10 cats! I can't wait to see some pictures. I also can't wait to get the descriptions on Katie, Bob, Gatsby and Oz.

Well, Katie is a little tuxedo--she's the stray who actually moved in by tearing a hole in the back screen door. I believe she's around five years old. She's a sweet girl who likes to wake me up by perching on top of me and licking the heck out of my face.

Gatsby is another tux. He's about four and he's a little fellow--put him next to Hagrid and you get quite a contrast! He's a sweet shy boy and a lap sitter.

Oz is a talker. He's a brown tabby, also about four years old. He's not so much for laps but he likes to stretch out right behind me when I'm sitting on the bed--then he expects me to reach behind my back to pet him.

Bob got his name because he looks like a bobcat. He's got to be a Maine Coon mix because he definitely has a Maine Coon face, size, and those big round paws. He's a gorgeous brown tabby with a white spot right at the tip of his tail. He's extremely shy, but also very affectionate with a purr you can hear across the room.

[HayleyRosie]

Ok, now its picture time! Lets see those kitties.

[mlycat]

My little girl, Goshen, sounds sort of like your Angelus. A lot of the time she doesn't want to be picked up and will slink away if you try. If you do pick her up (only my husband and I can -- she wouldn't DREAM of anyone else picking her up) she sometimes struggles to be put down again and "cusses" at us. She won't nip or claw to get down but shows very clearly with her grumbly meowing. It's not hissing or yowling. I would SWEAR it's cussing!

Other times I'll pick her up and she wants to climb up onto my shoulders where she's VERY content. If I bend over at all she'll start down my back and is very happy to just curl up on my back and knead at my arm (She'll also jump up on our backs when we're on our hands and knees pulling weeds.). She's completely trusting though and will let me reach around and bring her back around to my front through mid air. She knows I won't drop her and is happy to snuggle into my arms or to climb back up to my shoulder at that point.

If we sit down she likes to jump up onto our laps to be petted but when she decides she's done, THAT'S IT! She's outta there! Often she'll just sit there next to us at that point but she's done being petted for the time being. It's as if she's saying, "I love you and I want you to pet me but I can only take just so much of this human contact stuff..." I suppose it's just the naturally perverse nature of cats. You gotta love 'em!

[Prairie Purrs]

Originally posted by mlycat

Other times I'll pick her up and she wants to climb up onto my shoulders where she's VERY content. If I bend over at all she'll start down my back and is very happy to just curl up on my back and knead at my arm (She'll also jump up on our backs when we're on our hands and knees pulling weeds.). She's completely trusting though and will let me reach around and bring her back around to my front through mid air. She knows I won't drop her and is happy to snuggle into my arms or to climb back up to my shoulder at that point.



That sounds a lot like Angelboy. When he wants to be up on my shoulders, he has a little mewing cat fit if I don't accommodate his wishes at once. He rolls around on my shoulders for awhile, and then he's off on other cat business. What he just doesn't understand is that he's so very adorable that it's hard for me to keep from trying to cuddle him!