Colour of cat = personality of cat?

Ellie Bentley wrote:
-L. wrote:
Toni wrote:
I have been grooming cats professionally for 34 years and have noticed a
definite correlation. But my experience has been in direct opposition to
your thoughts.
I used to groom as well and would agree with your thougts.

Toni and -L. This is very very interesting. THANKS for your replies!
The fact that you have more than 34 years experience of many different
kinds of cats between you gives a lot of weight to the theory that there
is a correlation between coat-colour and personality.

And Toni I can see how your views of black cats and ginger cats may
possibly fit easily with my view of my two cats.

My black cat is extraordinarily loving and affectionate to us, following
us from room to room, settling literally under our chins the moment we
recline on the couch, demanding to snuggle up under the duvet as soon as
the light goes out, and so on. However, every time I take him to the
vet (who happens to be a very sweet and gentle girl), it's as if he
says, "Uh-uh! No way! I don't know you on earth you are. For all I
know you may be a serial killer", and he's TOUGH to handle, bearing his
teeth, and even hissing. He wants to get straight back in his
cat-carrier.

EXACTLY how my black cat is and how my last one was. Peewee was the
worst cat my first vet ever handled. Doesn't help that he weighs 22
lbs...



On the other hand, our ginger cat is almost completely passive when we
take him to the vet.

Ginger cats are the Hippy cats - just like to hang out and be your
pal.

-L.

Toni wrote:
"-L." wrote in message
ups.com...

Agreed. However torties and calicos are nuts - usually quirky and want
affection when *they* want to allow it - usually a bit stand-offish but
can also be a one-person cat. A friend calls torties the Snickers cat
- half sweet, half nuts.



Oops- I did leave out the calico/torties.
The very worst, grooming wise.

Nah, Persians. Followed a close second by Himmies. Persians either
come in two types - dumb and docile or dumb and meaner than ****. Of
course the "meaner than ****" Persians are the ones whose owners never
groom them and they arrive in one big mass of matt, which then you have
to shave off in a huge single hairball. Add to it their bad teeth, and
then if they nail you, you *always* get infected. Ugh. I also has a
hard time with Crabby Abbies.

Needless to say, I only got nailed badly *once* and it was an old
Persian mix. My hand blew up in a matter of two hours.

-L.

-L. wrote:
Ginger cats are the Hippy cats - just like to hang out and be your
pal.

-L, I can't think of a better way of describing our Ginger Tom. There
are a lot of hippy types living round these hills where we are and come
to think of it, yes, there's a real similarity with our ginger lad! I
chat to the odd hippy at the supermarket and, maybe times have changed,
but they're now all SO gentle. The men may be in their 40's with long
plaited dreadlocks and camo gear etc., but they have the voices and
natures of little boys. Just like my pussycat!

Ellie.

In article .com,
says...

Ellie Bentley wrote:
Stemming right back to Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Black Cat"
there has been a perception that "little black cat" is usually bright,
intelligent, and utterly loving and devoted. (Although some times the
bright intelligent black cat has been associated with the supernatural!)

As for ginger cats, well, "The Ginger Tom" has a traditional reputation
for being a somewhat independent cat which is out there prowling around
and behaving like "one of the lads".

The thing is, my black cat and my ginger cat fit both of these
traditional perceptions PERFECTLY!

What is more, my black cat and my ginger cat are TWIN BROTHERS who have
been treated with exactly the same love and attention since birth. They
are both about 18 months old.

So what do people think?

Is there are theme here? Do the colours of a cats' coats relate to
their general behaviour?

I asked a professional biologist about this and he says there are many
instances elsewhere in the animal kingdom where one genetic
characteristic (even such as colour) is synonymous with another feature
or behaviour.

All anecdotes (or even pointers to academic studies!) most gratefully
accepted.

Ellie.

I'll just bet you thrive on astrology, too.. Colour of cat = your life
is predestined by where those big balls of fire in the sky were the day
you were born. Same shellac..
You are a lunatic, Ellie.

I've found Orange tabby cats to be the friendliest around.

Ellie Bentley wrote:
IBen Getiner wrote:
I'll just bet you thrive on astrology, too.. Colour of cat = your life
is predestined by where those big balls of fire in the sky were the day
you were born. Same shellac..
You are a lunatic, Ellie.

No, IBen Getiner, I am not a lunatic. I also have no time for
astrology.


Oh yeah...? Is that so...? What's you sign...?


I do not close my mind off from any rational line of enquiry either.

I'll bet you see writing in the grass of your front yard, too. Does
your cat talk to you, Ellie? What does he say? Maybe he'z an undercover
operative of the CIA...


Clearly, you failed to read my line regarding the correlations that DO
exist, and are documented as existing, between different genetic
features within one organism.

You are a ****ing NUT. That much is quite evident. Only a kook would
draw a line between two perfectly unrelated topics like you've done.
What else do you 'see', Ellie...?


Go apply your mind to some book of challenging text!

What kind? Like the ones you read in the supermarket check-out lines?



Ellie.


IBen

Is there are theme here? Do the colours of a cats' coats relate to
their general behaviour?

Well I've had two tabby sisters and now 2 black sisters and they've all
been different characters

Isis and Fugazi the tabbies: Isis was a serious lap fungus and hug
monster, she wasn't happy unless she was being fussed over. She was
also incredibly vocal. Fugazi was much quieter and a little shy, her
favourite place in the World was on top of the wardrobe where she could
watch all around her and never be disturbed. She was not a lapcat and
she didn't say much (but that could have been with her sister she never
got a look in at laps and couldn't get a word in edgways!)

Redunzel and Sarrasine: My little black beauties. Redunzel likes to go
off on her own, she'll quite happily sit on top of the wardrobe for
hours apparently staring at nothing.She's affectionate but on her own
terms, she wants skritchies she'll approach you for them but at other
times, she doesn't want them. She's also one of the easiest cats to
please, food, wardbrobe, occasional skritchies and da nip and she's
happy. Sarrasine is an emotional extremist, she doesn't do half
measures, when she eats it's like this is the best food ever, when she
wants affection she is a little angel and all over you and when she's
feeling naughty she's a horror. She also likes to play a lot, if
no-one's playing with her then she'll find a toy and amuse herself. And
she's the smartest cat I've ever been owned by

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

Lesley wrote:
Lesley,

What wonderful, distinctive, and sophisticated names your four cats
have!

Your two blacks cats, Redunzel and Sarrasin, echo the characteristics of
my black cat. Lovable, affectionate, clever, shrewd, seeming to live
with extreme emotion. Quite the opposite of my hippy, Ginger Tom, who
is perfectly lovable and very sweet, but just SO laid back!

Ellie.

-L. wrote:
Toni wrote:
I have been grooming cats professionally for 34 years and have noticed a
definite correlation. But my experience has been in direct opposition to
your thoughts.

I used to groom as well and would agree with your thougts.


What follows is highly subjective and I am in no way saying that "this is
true*, but is only my opinion. Also breed and body type also indicate
different characteristics and may often trump color.

I find black cats to be the most ornery and difficult to manage, and in my
circle of groomers thay have a reputation of being more likely to be crazy.
I have a black cat myself and he is a nutball.

That is because black cats - particularly males - are big babies in a
cat suit. They think they are the center of the universe and cannot
imagine why you do not think so, too.


The ginger or marmalade cats, on the other hand, are the most personable
easy going cats you could ever ask for. Outgoing yet easy to handle. I have
two marmalade litter brothers and they are both absolute perfection.

We call it Big Orange syndrome.


Whites I find to be more docile yet not as outgoing as the gingers.

Whites are usually pretty cool cats.


Tuxedo kitties I would rank between the ginger and the whites- not quite as
gregarious as the gingers, but not as reserved as the whites.

I would rate black and whit tux males to be equal to ginger/orange in
personality, with a nit more sense of adventure.


The pointed cats, brown tabbies, and other solid colors (blues, browns,
lilacs) are highly variable.

Agreed. However torties and calicos are nuts - usually quirky and want
affection when *they* want to allow it - usually a bit stand-offish but
can also be a one-person cat. A friend calls torties the Snickers cat
- half sweet, half nuts.

-L
..Hi, my black and white tux male is handsome and knows it. He is
definately not interested in being a lap kitty, yet wants to be where
the family is. He bestows his catnip mouse as a gift, sometimes in my
shoe, on the bed or by the door or in numerous places.

I have a tiny black female cat with quite a sense of adventure, very
smart and loving. Both cats are "rescue" kitties. The animal shelter
told me they have the most difficulty finding homes for back cats. My
kitty had been there two months.

"joanieb" wrote in message
I have a tiny black female cat with quite a sense of adventure, very
smart and loving. Both cats are "rescue" kitties. The animal shelter
told me they have the most difficulty finding homes for back cats. My
kitty had been there two months.



My shelter also expressed many thank you's when I adopted our black one.
Evidently there are many people who shun them- their loss, really, but still
makes me sad.



--
Toni
http://www.irish-wolfhounds.com

The shelter I volunteer at also finds it takes black cats longer to
find homes. When I was a kid I had a wonderful orange tabby and when I
first started adopting cats recently as a adult I thought I wanted
another one. But I ended up taking home a "leftover" black
kitten..still stuck in a cage at 7 months old. He had been a bit
undersocialized and although he is bonded to me he just doesn't like my
boyfriend, though my boy has always been nice to him and has been loved
by cats in the past. This black cat is strange and a bit skittish, but
he gives me nose to nose greetings and I adore him.

A year later I adopted a Maine-coon-lookalike brown tabby 6 month old
kitten. He turned into a mellow but somewhat distant kitty who likes to
watch what's happening: but he will purr while being stoked or brushed
while held upside down like a baby, a position which in my experience
most cats hate.

Both these cats are rather independant and not lap cats, so recently I
went back looking for a lap kitty. I just adopted two long-haired black
brothers, one of whom is a real lap kitty it seems at 13 months (I just
pray he stays that way!) and the other is sweet next-to-you kitty. Both
are more purry and cuddly than my first black kitty who rarely purrs
except just before dinner or in an occaisonal rolling around mood, and
both are more vocal. So there you have it, three black cats all with
different personalities.

I have a theory about the orange tabby thing. More people like orange
tabbies...they fly out of the shelter. I think that they get handled
more as kittens. In a litter or kittens with an orange tabby or two and
assorted other colors most people are going to pick up the orange
tabby, and there you go, a more social cat, nothing genetic about it.