Andy hates to be held…!
My very first kitty, Freckles the grey tabby, was a rescue kitty. Though her life was short – she died after an operation to spay her – she was well beloved here.
When I brought her from the shelter, I let her explore her new home for as long as she wished, then I picked her up and put her on my chest. She began to purr a very loud purr from such a tiny kitty! It relaxed me I guess because I fell asleep in the recliner with my kitty on my chest. An hour or so later, I woke up. She was still there, purring!
My only photo of Freckles, taken with a webcam.
I suppose I expected all kitties after that to be “Freckles-esue”, loving to be held, but the second kitty, Louie the ginger tabby, was the last one to like being held.
Louie was a great kitty!
No, when I got the Persian kitty boys, Dougy and Andy, I found out these supposedly friendly Persians didn’t like to be held! Shock of shocks! And both were so “floofy” and huggable, I, of course, craved holding them!
Here’s that photo of Andy being held again:
Notice how I am holding his hind paws to keep him trapped on my lap. See how his body is twisted as he tries to escape the terrors of being held on my lap and “wuvved”! At some point, I just loosen up my grip and let him “Escape the Unpointy Torture Claws of Entrapment” because, well, he hates to be held!
Let him have some control, my thought is, then he will finally relax and just lie there on my lap. I’ve been trying to get this across to him – and Dougy – in his time. No change.
Andy (foreground) and Dougy.
After being pretty much Andy’s whole life for the time past Dougy’s death and his food, play, health needs, companion with Dougy for the first nine years of their lives, from kittenhood, I hoped a day would come when Andy would relax and enjoy being a lap cat!
=(^+^)=
I still try to hold Andy from time to time because I kneed that from him whether he needs it from me!
Cats definitely only do what they want to do.
Yes!
Freckles was beautiful. I am so sorry you didn’t get more time with her.
She had a very short but happy time playing with Louie. I gave her the best time of her life after the shelter horrors of being in the same room with noisy dogs she could smell but couldn’t see.
That’s interesting, cats are so variable and always surprise us. I have had former ferals become lap cats but only when they initiate the action themselves.
They definitely have different personalities!
These little bright lights of energy come and go out of our lives all too soon. Freckles looks very sweet. Like people, some cats are better “caregivers” than others, and are good at returning affection we understand and want. With some, it is just the quiet understanding that they occupy the same special place in space and time with one, and that is the extent of it.
The last three years have been especially rough, and I feel my own mortality more than ever.
Me, too. I’ve had some health issues brought out by the awful loud perfume Andy gets when he goes to the groomer. I’ve tolerated it well enough in past, but this time, I had a really uncomfortable breathing issue come out of it.
It turns out I have a blood issue that complicated the allergic reaction. Specifically, my kidneys have produced enough of a “juice” that stimulates blood cell production, and the Epogen they add to the blood at dialysis isn’t helping much either: I’m not getting adequate oxygen!
I’ve had two major illnesses where inability to get adequate oxygen put me in the hospital and therapy for long weeks, so I get alarmed when oxygen is an issue.
On top of that, while I don’t see blood in my stools – sorry! – if my oxygen situation doesn’t clear up, I probably will get to poop in a medicine hat and collect samples, which nearly or actually makes me vomit, then worse, have a colonoscopy.
There have things happening the past two weeks that were alarming because there were things that happen to people who are dying. Fortunately, other symptoms were missing, so it looked like a 50%-50% situation!
I am sending you a list via email of a few supplements you may want to consider that may help with the oxygenation and energy issue. I came across them researching my own problems. They seem to work.
maybe he is the one who holds you if you need a hug?
The extended claws kinda defeat the purpose…
I know very little about cats, but I would have thought Freckles and Louie would have been the exceptions. I’m sorry Andy is not more amenable
I think you are right about cats. Persians, though, have a reputation for being friendly cats. I include “lap-able” in that, but neither Andy nor Dougy got the email. LOL!