Does a Cat Growl?!

[Sus]

Thank you all! So it is OK to use the word "growl"... Some wonderful stories there! They also explain a lot that I've been wondering about, ever since I got Bella some 10 years ago! She was the one to introduce growling into my little family! My first cats - Pepper and Chili - who were brothers from the same litter never growled. They fought sometimes - in a sort of friendly, brotherly manner, and they always fought silently, except from the occasional groan, when one of them got a good punch at the other. Unfortunately, Pepper died early - at the age of 4 - because of a heart condition. When I got Bella (who was supposed to be a boy!) one year later, it very quickly became apparent that she was of a different founding and that the cosy coexistence between the three of us was lost forever. She growled!! And Chili didn't like it one bit. She growled at the stray cats outside the window, she growled at me when I had to give her pills or when I had to remove her from the bedspread at night. She growled when we tried to play, which was almost impossible because she got angry instead of playful and sometimes she just growled for no other reason than surplus energy. Wheras I found my way round it all with her, Chili didn't. He attacked her every time she seemed to boil over for some reason or other. As if she overstepped some houserules of his - not mine.

I sometimes think, I should have given her a new home instead of keepting her on. But these things are difficult! It wasn't too bad in the beginning - when Bella was young. And I loved her right from the start. Besides - she wasn't exactly a "dream pet", the way she behaved - who would have wanted her?

Anyway, peace has returned to my life now. When I had to have Chili put down a year ago because of kidney problems (he was 16) I decided that Bella would be better off as a single cat. And it seems to work out fine. She sure didn't miss Chili that awful day when I came home alone - she never searched for him or meowed. And she has become much more relaxed. She still growls like a dog (!) when we play one of her favorite games: Which is when we are pulling at each of side of a pillow, and she still growles when she gets a "fit" of surplus energy. But other than that, she is getting sweeter every day.

Thanks again! I really enjoyed reading your stories.. Sorry, forgot all about the smileys! I'll try to improve!

Lots of love
Sus and the Bellacat

[janelle]

I think it helps if you can play with them before the adoption. I got my second cat from my SIL. Her cat had a litter so I was able to play with each one. When I played with her sister she compained about everythinig. No matter what I did to her she meowed at me to put her down. Chianti let me hold her any which way and she didn't make a peep. She is the mellowest cat I have ever seen. Only thing wrong with her is she is a demolition derby. She scratches the furniture. She is so little to do so much damage. I put soft claws on her.