I think that it can vary. My mother has a cat, Magic, who has been desperately shy since kittenhood - she was adopted with another kitten from a farm, where they had been barn cats, and they became indoor cats. Magic is so shy now (she is 11) that sometimes days go by and you don't see any more than her eyes peeking out from her hiding place. When my father was alive, she was much more present and affectionate with him - but always hid completely from others. No one ever knew why. On the other hand, our cat Beauty came to us from a shelter at six or seven months old. We are pretty sure she had been a feral, though she was not vicious, just extremely shy and not responsive to affection. Over a period of time, she became more and more responsive until today she is probably the most snuggly, purry, love-bunny kind of cat I've ever known - and I think it is because my son just pursued her with his insistence on giving her a teddy-bear kind of love, and then, maybe because she is a blackie (I do believe that blackies are special this way), she just had it built into her to respond to affection when it was offered. To love or not to love? Always love to the cat's extent of tolerance. Sometimes, that tolerance will grow beyond your wildest dreams.