Can cats be 'slow'?

[kathy]

I love everyone's responses but Biff seems way different than anyone elses experiences. I've always thought that maybe he is a combination of feral and retarded. Not a good combination but it seems to be the only one that might make sense. He's terrified of people, only I can hold him after much cajoling, nothing ever registers in his head and if I approached him the wrong way he would claw me soo badly without even meaning to.

I still love him madly but it's not like he's a slow passive gentle cat. He's just weird, distant and in his own little world that no one can break into. He does get along with his brother and 3 other sibs tho and he's not a problem. When he manically jumps on my nightstand, nothing is toppled. And when I stroke him in the kitchen for a minute, he'll show up in my bedroom maybe 10 minutes later for a short visit. How strange is that?

I think he will always remain a mystery to me. The first time I laid eyes on him and his brother Buff, when they were 5 weeks old, I mistook his feistiness for attitude, having no idea that he was a little off and fell madly in love with this feisty little ball of grey fur. He didn't seem fearful then, just mad. The fear came as he became an adult and I thought he might grow out of it but he just becomes more and more eccentric.

I think he's still feral mixed with 'slow'. And I'm hoping he gets over living on the stove soon.

I'm glad I got him since I think someone demanding loving sweet behavior would have run out of patience by now and I stilll find him very amusing (but I sooo wish I could give him a big hug without fearing for my safety).

[smokey the elder]

My former foster Buddy wasn't too swift. I think he had gotten kicked; he was very foot aggressive at first. But he turned into a sweetie, even if we called him buddy gump.

[kathy]

I think I said on a previous post that Biff, the subject of this post, was living on the stove for the past few months but that would probably change. Well, fortunately for me it did.

I had a 2 week holiday during christmas that I chose to stay in town for and Biff, for reasons unknown, decided to leave the stove and settle the my pillow. It's been wonderful as he's also let me cuddle him constantly for the 23 hours a day that he's settled with no fear of him freaking out and attacking me. It's the first time in his 12 years that he's been soo relaxed.

I hope this continues but I know that it's a day to day proposition with him and we'll just see where it goes.

Fortunately my other 4 are very affectionate but this addition has been well worth the 12 year wait. And I think he loves it too.

Hope you all had great holidays!

Kathy