Cats, cats, furry little cats.

[Sabeine]

Is it common for two cats in the same household to be totally different from each other in terms of their personalities? One cat that we have is very needy and wants to be held (on her back, like a baby of all things) and scratched on her stomach. She also likes to be held over ones shoulder in the same position that one would burp a baby. She is not independent and wants to be "in" on everything. The other cat we have is the opposite. She only wants to be pet when she initiates it. She does not being on her back, and we don't touch her tummy cause she does not like that. Is this strange that they are so different? I love them both dearly it is just amusing that they are so different, and yet they get along really well. They even clean each other.

I know that several posters here have cats. How are their personalities?

[lizardek]

yes, it's common. Why would they be alike? In all the sets of cats I've had, both growing up and as an adult, each one has always been a separate personality.

[Carolyn]

Yeah, I've had a pretty wide range of cat personalities over the years, from psychotic to totally clingy and dependent. My all-time favorite, Thaddeus Q. Mousebreath, would answer to his name, wherever he was in the house, the whole name or "Mousy-mouse", would sleep under the covers with me in the winter, and was just generally incredibly cool. I miss him to this day.

[Sabeine]

One of my cats (the non-independent one) also reponds when one calls her. She immediately trots in to see me. The other one when I try to call her name gives me the "do you seriously expect me to come to YOU?" look.
They're funny little girls.

[Sabeine]

Another odd habit of both of my cats is that one just loves to lick plastic bags, the kind one gets at the grocery store. My other one chews on cardboard boxes, tears off tiny pieces one by one, then spits them out. We call her the "box vampire". She is on a box as fast as a vampire would be on a warm neck.

Do these habits sound normal?

[Carolyn]

NORMAL? They're cats, and you expect NORMAL?