nature vs nurture - and ma pussyfusses!

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nature vs nurture - and ma pussyfusses! - 10/30/2007 3:06:00 PM

LadyEllen

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From: Stourport-England
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I'm putting this in random stupidity, because I dont want it to get all heavy!

Ma pussyfusses (kittens) are 6 months old next week, growing up slowly and having a great time by all appearances. Theyre contentedly asleep in the room as I write - Pepper on the sofa in front of the fire and Tess in her favourite spot, over my shoulder, baby style - after a busy day playing in the yard.

What amazes me is that the two of them have been together since birth (theyre sisters), so theyve had the same experiences and of course they share genetics - yet theyre such different characters.

Pepper is a definite princess; she has to have whatever it is - dinner, fuss, a place on the bed - first, and it has to be better than what she thinks her sister has, or she'll bully her way to get hers instead. She's like a little dog, following me around, anxious to see what I'm up to. She's also very vocal - a very chatty catty in fact who seems to be telling tales about her sister some of the time and attempting to communicate with me in earnest otherwise. She's also a little coward!

Tess on the other hand hardly ever makes a sound, and is very bold - facing down bigger cats that live nextdoor and unperturbed by noises that send Pepper scurrying for cover. She's so mature it seems - waiting patiently for her dinner, for her sister to choose first, and very independent. She can also kick her sister's ass, and does so whenever Pepper makes things physical- which makes me wonder why it isnt her who is top cat?

Just how and why can they be so different? And its not as if their characters have only recently emerged - they have developed certainly, but theyve been different since they came to live here at about two months old. Its a feline mystery - that may have something to say about we humans too perhaps.

E

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RE: nature vs nurture - and ma pussyfusses! - 10/30/2007 3:53:15 PM

pahunkboy

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Pets can be wonderful. :-)

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RE: nature vs nurture - and ma pussyfusses! - 10/30/2007 4:57:57 PM

lilsubl

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my sister & i had the same parents--we think--yet we look nothing alike & have had different interests & abilities from the beginning...we were raised by the same parents, although from our memories of childhood you would never know that...but we were also treated differently by them...so who knows??

methinks we need a control group in this study.....

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RE: nature vs nurture - and ma pussyfusses! - 10/30/2007 8:54:50 PM

petdave

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i wonder that too. We have two cats who were littermates, and were apparently together all their lives. We adopted them at about a year old on their second (!) stay at our local shelter. One of them, even though he's physically the largest cat in the house, is afraid of everything- he flinches any time anyone moves quickly, human or animal. He acts like he was abused

His brother is confident, insanely curious, and obsessive. One hangs out with me for a while every day, one only appears when my wife is around. Who would think that such small creatures could be so complex?

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RE: nature vs nurture - and ma pussyfusses! - 10/31/2007 5:29:45 AM

adoracat

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eva and lilith are my daughter's kitties. eva is the instigator. you can see the wheels turning... "ok, what can i get the dumbass to do now?" lilith has tried to walk on the bath bubbles, fallen into the toilet several times, and not understood why running and jumping into the spinny chair WILL make it turn round and round on her. repeatedly.

eva is the rubslut. once she trusts you, you can pick her up, turn her on her back, and rub her belly and she just lays there, purrs and makes air biscuits. (kneeding her paws in mid-air). lillith, dont pick her up, she'll come and headbutt you for pettinses then bite.

and they're littermates. :)

kitten

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RE: nature vs nurture - and ma pussyfusses! - 10/31/2007 6:49:08 AM

soultoshare

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My two younger kitties are brothers, brought up in the same household, but they are very different little boys. Smooch is my coward, runs for the closet anytime he thinks there is someone new coming into the house. Boo will stay out of reach, but will check whomever it is out from the chair under the table. Boo is also my independent kitty, although I have noticed over time that he approaches me more and more when he wants petting....it's just that it's usually when I'm getting ready for work, or doing something else. The other two will hop in bed with me to get their pets, Boo sleeps on the floor. Smooch loves to play, will chase the laser pointer dot until he can't run anymore, Boo will sit there watching him, and you can just hear him saying "You're never going to catch that dot, you dolt!"....I swear, I've even seen him roll his eyes! Smooch, more often than not, is the instigator when it coms to their wrestling matches, even taking on the third cat, but Boo will defend himself when provoked. Of course, when Smooch thinks he's getting the short end of the stick, he's also the first to holler for help from Mom.....he's faked me out more times than I can count..he hollers like he's really being hurt, I run out to save him, and he's only backed into a corner and can't get out. Wuss!

What makes me wonder is why the older cat, KB, adopted the two younger ones as his when we introduced them to each other. He took over grooming them and watching out for them in the house, the other two cats in the house at the time could have cared less about them, and they were the females! Even now, Boo and Smooch will go to bed at night with KB, and rub up under his chin like little kittens do to their mothers. Boo will even knead his KB's chest like kittens do to stimulate milk flow...he doesn't actually nurse, tho. Occasionally, they might groom KB, but not often. And KB will sleep with either a paw over them, or touching them in some way, like he wants to know where they are. He's a great mom!

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RE: nature vs nurture - and ma pussyfusses! - 10/31/2007 6:56:23 AM

Satyr6406

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From: New Brunswick, N.J.
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quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

Pets can be wonderful. :-)

Indeed! Especially cats! I have found that they're best when sautéed and in a light butter sauce.

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