Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

6 1/2 month old kitten not so cuddly

26 replies

pilates · 14/04/2015 16:52

That's it basically. She doesn't want so many cuddles like she did when she was little. Of an evening she clears off in to the conservatory instead of sitting on our lap in the lounge. If you go and get her she jumps off and goes back to the conservatory. Apart from that she is fine. Really excited to see us of a morning, eating/drinking normally and toileting fine. Is this normal?

OP posts:
cozietoesie · 14/04/2015 16:55

Some cats are cuddlers and some like to live life on their own terms - so Yes, it can be entirely normal.

Has she been neutered yet though?

chockbic · 14/04/2015 16:58

Their characters can alter with age too.

Old girl wasn't a cuddler or lap cat until she was about 5 or so.

Original poster
pilates · 14/04/2015 17:01

Yes she has been neutered. Does that make a difference?

OP posts:
cozietoesie · 14/04/2015 17:08

It was just that she's still fairly young and some owners might not have spayed yet - and in case she was going to the conservatory to gaze through the glass into the eyes of the local handsome bit of stuff. (ie - thinking 'outside' thoughts. Grin)

Sounds like she's just a cat who - at the moment - likes her own company for whatever reason. As chockbic said, these things can change.

TheOneWiththeNicestSmile · 14/04/2015 17:10

I have 3 female neutered cats - the older pair are coming up for 3 - & they're all different as far as cuddles/laps go (& sometimes different from themselves from one day to the next Grin)

For their first year or so the sisters were inseparable & always slept snuggled in small spaces. Now they barely speak & often scrap (though without claws, & silently as a rule).

Cats just make up their own rules

cozietoesie · 14/04/2015 17:21

Having said which, it's always possible if this behaviour is of recent vintage that you might have a mouse nest in the conservatory. ('Possible' only.)

Original poster
pilates · 14/04/2015 17:23

Oh ok, new to this game Smile

OP posts:
thecatneuterer · 14/04/2015 17:58

It sounds as though there are exciting things to see from the conservatory. Is there a view of the garden? She's very young and probably wants excitement and wants to play and likes to see what's going on outside.

Cats often seem to get more cuddly as they get older and start to quieten down generally.

cozietoesie · 14/04/2015 18:06

The thing with kittens, though, is that you don't really know how they'll turn out. A mature rescue cat is a safer bet - although even there, you can see changes over time. (My own old boy has some different behaviours these days and although some of them are down to physical changes and age, that's not true of all of them I think.)

justonemoretime2p · 14/04/2015 18:12

You aren't an acceptable chair yet.

Fluffycloudland77 · 14/04/2015 18:46

The weathers too warm for cuddles now and the worlds full of things that need chasing.

I only know mines been home because the foods been eaten.

cozietoesie · 14/04/2015 19:05

That's true. It's her first spring and it might be just so exciting - all the noises and smells as the evenings lengthen. Come winter, she might well come back in for a lap.

Fluffycloudland77 · 14/04/2015 19:14

Basically, "thanks for the food and everything, now can I go out and catch that blackbird?".

Original poster
pilates · 14/04/2015 19:16

Yes, I was wondering if she wants to go out.

She looks longingly out of the window, especially at the birds Hmm.

OP posts:
cozietoesie · 14/04/2015 19:18

Does she go outside during the day at all? (It's best that nighttime remains a curfew, for safety reasons.)

cozietoesie · 14/04/2015 19:20

I have to say, Fluffy, I'm impressed that your lad comes to you to say Thanks for his food!

Grin
Fluffycloudland77 · 14/04/2015 19:22

Ours didn't want to go out until he was about that age, I let him out on a weekend morning and tried not to fret.

He came back a much happier cat. Is she microchipped?.

Original poster
pilates · 14/04/2015 19:57

Yes I am worried about letting her out Sad.

Yes she is chipped, had everything done, no excuse not to let her out now.

OP posts:
TheOneWiththeNicestSmile · 14/04/2015 20:59

Are you there during the day? Could you go out with her & sit & keep an eye on her for a while (& then bring her back in)?

cozietoesie · 14/04/2015 21:16

It's a horrible moment when you first see their tail disappear over the garden wall but we've mostly had to go through it. I wish I could tell you that it gets easier as well but I'm afraid that even with the most seasoned and mature individual, you start to pace a little (or a lot) if they vary significantly from their normal routine.

Best of luck.

QueenFuri · 14/04/2015 21:18

I have a 10 month old when we first got her she was so affectionate and loved cuddles. Now not so much they are strictly on her terms at 3am when she stomps all over you purring like a tractor demanding cuddles. The rest if the time she sits on the windowsill chirping or goes off somewhere and sleeps. I do hope she goes back to bring a lapcat though as she is a bit of a bitch Grin.

TheOneWiththeNicestSmile · 14/04/2015 21:26

fwiw my most awful moment recently was when dear little tabby cat disappeared for hours & DD2, driving up the road in front of our house, said she'd nearly run her over Shock

I had no idea any of ours went any further than over our back wall, & up & down the back street, & I honestly thought she was going to get run over.

Luckily it turned out that DD2 had actually only seen a cat with similar markings, & dear little tabby cat had been sleeping all day completely out of sight on top of a suitcase on top of a wardrobe Grin

(like yours she loves sitting in windows & eyeballing the birdlife; but not enough to disappear)(phew)

Stinkersmum · 15/04/2015 03:52

Not all cats are cuddly. End.

Ratfinkandbobo · 15/04/2015 10:12

My youngest was very cuddly as a kitten, not so much now she's 1. However she still sleeps cuddled up to me and dp!! That's how we get our cuddles nowSmile

Original poster
pilates · 15/04/2015 18:06

Thanks everyone, it's interesting to read your stories.

Theonewiththenicestsmile: when I let her out I will make sure it's on a day I'm going to be around.

My husband keeps reminding me she is a cat and not a human and I can't wrap her up in cotton wool Blush.

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread