On Tue 14 Dec 2004 09:08:34p, Takayuki wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes (news:ni6vr0h0sc8fb1due7abm7gle86bubir8b@
4ax.com):

Bonnie - started off scaredy, wild-eyed, feral, untouchable (~6
mo). Nearly two years later she's somewhat approachable, touchable
on her terms, still timid but shows moments of bravery when company
is over that she knows. Turning into an affectionate cat, but will
probably never be able to be picked up.

Shamrock - wild child from the start (1.5 yrs). Bitey,
affectionate, needy. Nearly 3 years later he's still a wild-child,
bitey, affectionate and maybe not so much needy, but possesive.

Scarlett/Rhett - only about a month here (Nov 6th was first day) -
WILD (but socialized) babies! Didn't much care about me, only cared
about basics like food, water, clean litter box, place to run,
being cared for when sick, though didn't like medicine. Now, they
are starting to learn their names (each look when I say their name,
or even come running!) love to snuggle, act comical and do things
like try to play hide and seek with me (hunker down behind
something with just wide eyes peering over with that look that says
"you can't see meeeeeee!" all the while with butt wiggling like
their ready to pounce), rub up against Shamrock and even Bonnie and
practically knock them over.

I could add to this with Shadow and Marley (RB kitties) but it's
already too long. :)  They were both adult cats already, too, when
they found me.

Grouchy. Very grouchy. Although they grouchiness of Shmogg didn't change
when Fluffy or the Yowlet turned up. I think I should have named him
"Oscar".

Yowie

I think there are a lot of individual differences.  I seem to be lucky
and have "forever young" cats.  Mimi was still getting the zoomies
until a couple of days before her kidneys failed.  I am keeping my
fingers crossed, because Stinky will soon be the age that Mimi was
when she went to RB.  But he is a very bouncy, pouncy, bright-eyed guy
for his age.

Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

Pan and Izzy were typical kittens when I first adopted them.  By turns,
playful, fearful, affectionate and hyperactive. Never forget the first day
Izzy met a barbecue belonging to a new neighbor. Her little tail went HUGE
and she stalked it.  I swear, she thought hostile aliens were going to come
pouring out of it.

As they aged, they became mellower, although bursts of playfulness were
still in evidence.  Izzy would sit on my diningroom table and watch the
birds fly around outside and her teeth would chatter. Pan was never very
interested in hunting that I could see.  Both of them always loved a
luxurious roll on sunwarmed pavement.  The older they got, the more
interested in heat they both became.  Both cats always slept with me
throughout their lives unless it was an incredibly hot night.

Pan is very quiet lately, and it's not just because he's hampered by
bandages.  He spends about 80% of his time sleeping, but definitely loves a
good ear scritch and stroking session and still has his little pleasures.
He puts up with Nina and Francesca, will eat with them, and even
occasionally indulges in quick nose touches with both girls.  He also hisses
and growls at them when they annoy him, and definitely doesn't want company
just after he returns from a visit to TED.  Nina and Cesca tend to sleep
together at the foot of my bed, while Pan sleeps up near my pillows next to
me.

Francesca was a nice change after Isadora's departure.  Young, vigorous, and
playful, she also liked to be stroked, although she doesn't like being held,
much. She will put up with it, but with a look in her eyes that says  "The
minute you let go of me, I'm SO out of here!"   She especially loves toys
that dangle.  Nina definitely went through a larval stage as a newborn
kitten, then her little eyes opened and she got very curious about the world
of my apartment.  She's definitely an explorer type. She has to investigate
everything, and she maintains a chirpy running commentary about how
INTERESTING everything is that shes found.  It's good that she and Cesca are
so close in age, as they keep each other amused, and have about the same
amount of energy. And they BOTH love toys that dangle. If I did nothing all
day but dangle toys for  cats, they'd be perfectly happy. Even Pan will bat
at a toy, now and then if he's in the mood.

Melissa

Smudge really changed as she matured out of kittenhood. She changed
from a restless, never-satisfied "ADD-cat" (ie, unable to focus on
any single activity for more than a few seconds) to a sweet, relaxed,
attentive young lady.

Licky wouldn't let me touch him when I first got him as a foster
kitten. Now he'll lie in my arms and purr, sometimes for a couple of
hours.

Roxy hasn't changed a bitl. She was a sweet little darling of a
kitten who curled up on my neck and purred into my ear. She always
had to touch noses with me every time she saw me. Now she's way too
big to curl on my neck, but she curls up in my arms, kneading and
purring. And she still touches noses with me every day.

Joyce

They, for the most part, become a bit more sedate (although our Jessie is 5
and still hasn't slowed down, loves to play and tears through the house on a
regular basis).

Yep, they mostly just squirm around blindly for the first week, then they
get to the "toddler" stage where they toddle around and fall down a lot.

"Perhaps naughty"??  "PERHAPS naughty"???!!  Have you not read any of the
stories about Sammy's depredations???  ;>  LOL!

Bandit is 15, mostly stays in one spot all day long (I *wish* I had her
bladder control), but I would not call her snuggly - she is still the Bit*h
Cat From H*ll!

Hugs,

CatNipped

Well, with eight cats in various life cycles, I guess I can comment
;-)

Watching Arthur in particular has been fun.  It's been ages since I
had a 3-month-old kitten.  Watching his incredibly fast growth,
mentally and physically, is just astounding.  He's getting more bold
as he gets older (almost 7 mos. now), and we know we're going to have
to take him in for the Big Snip very soon!  But for now, he's in very
gawky teenager stage, and a very big little baby as he loves to curl
up in my lap or on my shoulder.

Now, the interesting thing with having a kitten around in a household
full of cats at least 3 years old and older, is that all the older
cats suddenly seem to remember their kittenhood -- lol!  Since Arthur
arrived, our old, arthritic Internet has been running up the cat tree,
our 15 yo CRF cat Cosmo has been playing with a kitten (heaven
forfend!), and Brando (eight years old) has finally gotten up off his
rather substantial haunches and starting playing "chase me" games,
giving him that exercise he *sorely* needed.

In general, though, the older cats sleep much more, and get cold more
easily.  Cosmo spends a lot of time hanging around the heating
registers (CRF cats tend to get cold as a rule, anyway).  Internet
curls up between us at night in bed to get the most of body heat.
Sabra sleeps in my underwear drawer under the heated waterbed.  Age is
definitely apparently on my older guys.

Oh, well -- just some ramblings while I wake up!

Ginger-lyn
musing over her brood

When I got Nocturne, she was 9 months old.  She was a lot more playful
then--batting around Pepsi cans and chasing the cursor with her paw.  At
about a year and a half, this behaviour became unspeakably undignified, and
now she only does it if she thinks no one's watching.

The bitties, however, are now a year and a half and they show no signs of
outgrowing their tendencies to play with pens, gallop around the house,
wrestle, climb, steal MomDad's data key and knock it under the couch, dig up
plants, etc,....

When the bits were 3 weeks they walked by churning their legs...at 5-6 weeks
they were able to hold their tails up straight...at 5 weeks the could jump
out of their box...at 4.5 weeks, littertrained....at 4 weeks, eating gruel
regularly....wow.  So many milestones, and yet we still have to deal with...

Kumani:  My sister has TOO MANY EARS!!
(grabs hold of Tyche's ear in her teeth, wrestle wrestle)

--Fil