Tortoiseshell cats are named for their distinctive coloring – a combination of patches of black, brown, amber, red, cinnamon and chocolate. The size of the patches varies from a fine speckled pattern to large areas of color. The term “tortoiseshell” is used for cats with brindled coats that have few or no white markings. Cats of this coloring with larger areas of white fur are called calicos. Sometimes, these colors present in lighter versions such as lilac or cream. Torties with this lighter coloring are called dilute torties. Occasionally, the typical tortoiseshell colors are also seen in a tabby (striped) pattern, and these cats are sometimes referred to as “torbies.”
Tortoiseshell cats are almost exclusively female. Tortoiseshell and calico coats are the result of the interaction between genetic and developmental factors. The occasional and very rare male tortoiseshell cat is the result of a genetic mutation.
In addition to their distinctive coloring, torties also have a reputation for unique personalities, sometimes referred to as “tortitude.” They tend to be strong-willed, a bit hot-tempered, and they can be very possessive of their human. Other words used to describe torties are fiercely independent, feisty and unpredictable. They’re usually very talkative and make their presence and needs known with anything from a hiss to a meow to a strong purr. These traits are stronger in tortoiseshell cats than in calicos – it seems as though these traits are somewhat diluted with the addition of more white to the color scheme.
As of the writing of this post, I share my life with Amber*, and those of you who’ve followed this blog for a while have gotten to know her in her Amber’s Mewsings posts. You will soon be able to read all about Buckley in Buckley’s Story – Lessons from a Feline Master Teacher. The photo above shows Buckley in the front, Amber behind her.
Prior to Amber and Buckley, there was another tortie in my life. Virginia was the first office cat at the animal hospital I managed. She was my introduction to torties, and my love affair with this particular type of cat began with her. She, too, had the “tortitude” I so love about these particular cats.
Do you have a tortie or calico in your life? Does she have “tortitude?”
*Sadly, Amber passed away on May 13, 2010, after a sudden, brief illness. I now share my life with Allegra and Ruby, two tortoiseshell cats who have their own columns here on The Conscious Cat, titled Allegra’s World and Ruby’s Reflections.
Photo ©Ingrid King, all rights reserved
Thanks for this fab site, I’m a very loyal servant of a 2 year old tortie named Cody, she was a rescue kitten, very ill when we had her with chlamydia, cat flu and caleci virus, the chlamydia was dealt with through antibiotics but she will always have the flu and caleci but she’s never let that stop her! The stories I have are too numerous but I have never known catitude like it, she’s the most evil tiny creature I’ve ever met, I’ve had cats my whole life but can say without any doubt that she is by far my favourite one ever
Has anyone had any experience with Feliway diffusers? The scent supposedly mimics a pheromone that calms the kitty, especially is she is in a tense situation like a new home or being introduced to a new cat.
As I will soon have a new cat in my home, I was just wondering if this would help her feel more comfortable there.
Thanks!
Lianimal, I’m still laughing over your Monkey stories. What a goof. She sounds absolutely delightful.
Michael, that sounds about right from what little I know about tortitude from my Jo. We already had 2 cats when she picked me, and she most definitely rules the roost now. She still hisses at the other cats when she’s sitting by me and they come up for some attention:) What she lacks in claws, she makes up with in tortitude, and the other cats still maintain a respectful distance from it:) But she’s as sweet as sugar to me and hubby.
Please let us know if you pick Honey…it sounds like she clearly picked you!
Michael, I think it’s a tortie thing. They tend to like to rule the roost, and not all cats like to let them. Monkey’s a little bit of a bully toward Peaches, but she’s so sweet and lovey with me and every other human she meets.
Ingrid, I’m still giggling over that too. And I always knew she was completely fearless, but the thunderstorm thing still floored me.
Thanks for the update on Monkey, Lianimal! She seems to be the Ueber-Tortie! I’ve never heard of a cat who actually enjoys watching thunderstorms, and I’m still laughing at your description of trying to get out of bed!
Michael, Honey’s behavior toward the other cats could definitely be due to her tortitude, but it could also simply be that she’s a cat who just doesn’t like other cats and would do best as an only cat. Let us know who you choose!
Michael
I don’t know about all torties but that describes my Kasey.
Shis an indoor cat but she “guards” the house against threats from outside, however, she likes visiters and is friendly with people when they come inside.
She is very attached to me.
I am crrently looking for a cat to adopt, so I went to the local animal shelter today and met with about 10 adult cats. One of these was a Tortie named Honey, and she was intriguing.
She was walled off from the other cats, and even so, if they came within a few feet of her (even through pane glass), she would howl and arch her back. HOWEVER, when I went into the room to visit her, she was the sweetest, most affectionate cat I’ve ever seen, especially with a stranger. She just lay there and let me pet her!
I don”t know which cat I’m going to eventually choose, but Honey sure got my attention! Are these Tortie traits?
~Michael
Love all the new stories, and both Elvira and Mr. Nikita Cat are beauties!
Monkey’s still nuts, and the fact that she even exists still drives my poor Peaches to distraction. They are getting better, though. By “getting better”, I mean that everytime Peaches is sleeping, Monkey will curl up within an inch or two of her, and Peaches doesn’t seem to mind until she wakes up, sees her there, hisses and stalks away doing the patented tail-flip-off.
Monkey still tries to dig her way out from under the baby gate when a delivery guy comes, yet the day I babysat my neighbor’s (very sweet, but thinks cats are hella-cool self-propelled chew toys) pitbull and put TWO baby gates, one above the other, in the bedroom doorway to keep the dog from trying to play with them, she climbed over them. Go figure.
She also has ambitions of being a storm-chaser. While Peaches hides from the thunder and lightning like any self-respecting cat should, Monkey likes to sit in the open window and enjoy the show…the wilder the better. The other night she escaped during a pretty tame rainstorm. I assumed she’d gotten bored and wandered off…it really wasn’t anything but a fairly good rain…..but then my neighbor knocked and asked if my cat was supposed to be out sitting in the yard. I went out and there she was, just sitting in the rain, looking around like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Apparently fleas don’t mind a little rain either. I’ve dosed her with Frontline, but she’s showing signs of allergic reaction. She’s got one of those severe flea allergies where just one bite can trigger scabbing and hair-loss.
Heheh…oh! One last story. She likes to sleep on me. So, the other morning when my alarm went off, she didn’t want to get up. I tried to push her off, but she hunkered down and dug in like she was riding a rodeo bull. I pushed harder, she dug in harder. So I decided to roll over, thinking she’d hop down, but she started doing the log-roll walk instead…..It took me a good 5 minutes to get out of bed! By then I was laughing so hard……
What in the world would we do without these little goofs?
I’m so sorry about M&M, Ann. It’s so hard when these special cats leave us. I’m glad you have Willow and Leo in your life now. It must have been rewarding to get Willow to eventually trust you.
I had M&M for 19 years, had to put her down last Oct. A wonderful cat…and YES, very talkative. She was very protective of me too.
After I had to put her to sleep my life was VERY empty so I went to the animal shelter. Came home with another Tortie (Willow) and a dark-gray stripe (Leo) kittens. This little Tortie is a bit shy, was scared too…took lots of TLC to get her to accept and trust us.
“How’s Ol’ Kitty?”
I was at one of our compressor stations yesterday and that’s what the plant Operator asked me.
He was asking about Kasey, my rescue torti.
He used to work at the facility where she lived and he was one of her protectors. He is a vetran of years the petroluem industry, working in a world of big machines and tough work but he has a good guy with a soft spot for critters.
A year or so before I took her home in May 2008, some people at the site had their supervisor convinced she was “sick” and should be put down.
He went out on a limb for her and in the venacular of our business the said “just a @#$%&^* minute, there’s NOTHING wrong with that cat”. It worked and now she lives quite well.
He couldn’t take her home but he was over-joyed when I did. He never fails to ask about her and goes on about how happy he is that she has a good home. I fill him in on her latest antics.
We swapped a few stories about Kasey and the many years we have worked in this operation, I then finished up a few technical jobs I had there and headed back for the 2 hour drive home. It was a good day out of the office, Kasey and the other cats greeted me when I got home. 🙂
Oh my goodness, Elvira is adorable! Thanks for sharing her story.
Thank you, Ingrid!
I apologize for not getting back sooner, but Thursday I was formally introduced to our Tortie Rescue, and the 4 days since have been a whirlwind!
Today Daddy & I are hosting a Coming Out Party for the newest member of our household, whom we have named Elvira Mistress of Pussydom!
She is 5 mo. old, and weighs 5 lbs.
In between hosting the party I psted about the last 4 days, with more pics, and did a round-up of links I found in my research, including yours, which, it turned out is already in one of my blogrolls! ;-D
Anyway, when you go to the link in my name the first post you will see is the first of the days party posts, with a link to the post which began the saga, last weekend, so anyone interest will find ways to read everything posted about our Domestic Drama so far.
Sincerely yours,
Nikita Cat
Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat
Offishul Repurrter for The Cat Blogosphere
Professor of the Nikita Institute of Pussydom Studies (NIPS): The Most Opinionated Cat in America, With Talent on Loan from THE CEILING CAT!
Thanks for the update on Jo, Susan! Sounds like she’s not only made herself right at home, she’s taking over your house – as befits a tortie!
Tomorrow will be a month to the day that we adopted our tortie, Jo, and last night was the FIRST time she ever sat on my lap. She will sit BESIDE me or my husband, but never ON the lap. She purred and kneaded my leg as if she actually likes me or something 🙂 Of course it was almost dinnertime, and she likes to make absolutely sure that I understand and will follow through on my job of feeding the critters at 7 AM and 7 PM.
This girl has tortitude, for sure! She’s spent the past month working on convincing the other 2 cats in the family that this is HER house, HER humans, her world, and we better just get with the program. She overcame any objections the dog might have had very quickly, but the cats have been tougher to convince. My big old 13 year old male cat is so laid back he was pretty easy to bring around to her way of thinking, although he and Jo aren’t grooming each other yet.
But the 2 year old female tabby is another firecracker, and Jo spends some time every day intimidating her. The way Jo does this is she switches her tail, meows, and stands real tall while she walks toward Bridgid. This makes Bridgid back up to the wall or into the corner, and it looks like she tries to get smaller and smaller until she finally flees. So it’s becoming painfully clear who’s going to rule this roost ultimately.
So far Jo has still not been allowed into our bedroom and frankly, I’m worried that she will eventually try to wear me down on this issue:) All 3 cats are always waiting right at the door when I wake up in the morning, and if I sleep too late they “knock” on the door to let me know it’s about time for breakfast. Jo tries her best to dart past my foot and hightail it into the room when I do get up, but I’m pretty fast. The other thing she does is when I go to bed and close the door, she sometimes hurls her body against the door for good measure. I could see this problem escalating, but we’ll see. I hope she doesn’t turn into a terror about this like Bernie’s tortie does.
Jo has shown a remarkable (and scary) penchant for high places. One of her favorite perches is at the top of the stairs perched on the top bannister, which is like a low wall. The other cats think she’s a crazy daredevil, and so do I!
I’ll see if I can snap a couple of photos to share. I still haven’t taken pictures of her, and she is a gorgeous creature. I must share!
I’m glad you found our site, Mr. Nikita Cat. What is the link to your blog? I hope you come to love your new tortie friend.
Thank U for this post!
Last weekend a Tortie Kitten literally walked in my, and my Humans life.
While she has not yet been Formally Introduced to me, or had her Public Debut by name, I’ve been blogging about her arrival, with pictures, for days, and Daddy assigned me to Research Duty, which led me to you. ;-D
Francesca, Zoey definitely sounds like she’s all tortie. She seems to share a lot of traits with my tortie kitten Allegra (she’s 10 months old), especially following into the bathroom and attacking the air with her tail all puffy!
Oh boy, where to start. I adopted my tortie Zoey as a kitten and she’s a year old now. When I was signing the papers they told me that torties were a little “crazy” and kept warning me about them LOL.
But I absolutely adore her. She loves to follow me (and her “dad”) around, can’t even go to the bathroom without her there, haha. She loves to sleep on us, constantly purring. She is a bit crazy though, often tries to climb curtains and screen doors, runs around with her tail poofed out, attacking the air, things like that. We never get tired of her antics though, though my other cat doesn’t seem to be as amused as us LOL! 🙂
Alyson, how interesting that Tabitha has such strong preferences about who she gives her attention to. Thanks for telling us about her!
I have a wonderful tortie cat named Tabitha who has been a part of my life for the past 13 years. Unfortunately, she isn’t prone to a cuddly nature. She is a very loyal cat and indeeds loves to have attention; however, she does no particularly care for the other members of our family. She is odd in the fact that she is very particular about who she gives her attention too. For example, she is great with smaller kids (even children who are strangers and walk by my house) but she does not care for my mom, dad and brother all the much. I love her with all my heart though 🙂
Thanks Susan but this is the only place we can talk about our Torties and others with them know why we like to brag on them. I was reading the older post and one caught my eye. I can’t remember which it was but her Tortie did not like the rest of the family, but did like to sit beside her son at the computer. Steeler did not want me on the laptop in bed so she would use her paw to reach over and hit a key, what a trip. One day I was browsing U Tube and they had “Angry cats). I bookmarded one and when I was working on the laptop Steeler started her devilment, so I brought up the Angry cat and it started to play with hissing, growling, you get the picture. Drove Steeler out of the room. Never have had to stop her from hitting keys again. I think all the people putting up posts here have to have a love of these amazing cats, or they could not really put up with all their antics, (good and bad). (Steeler football training camp opens soon) Just a reminder for New Orleans Nugget owner.
Bernie, bless your heart:) You have a heart of gold:)
Susan, thanks for the update on Jo! It sounds like she has made herself at home in your house and your heart.
Bernie, I always love hearing about Steeler. That’s so great that she’s getting her voice back!
Bernadette, aren’t torties the best? They keep us on our collective toes, that’s for sure!
Susan & Bernadette, it is good hearing from you on Jo & Cookie.
It seems all of us are kitty trained. Susan, spraying water under the door will not work. Steeler has developed the angry threat of either I pay attention to her when she wants or she heads for the wooden chair legs and starts clawing, until I go stop her. I have bought her several scratching apparatus, but she insists on the chair legs. I had never owned a cat before, but this little throw away stole my heart. A close friend of mine was here to visit and saw Steeler and her quote “OMG you must be crazy to start with a pet Torti cat. You will be in the basement before you know it. That cat will own the house”. I thought that was just plain funny. Now if this keeps up I just may move to the basement. Might be a pretty good idea afterall. I am still in awe of the way her voice sounds and she is certainly using it to the upmost of her ability. Heaven only knows what she will sound like if her vocal cords fully recover from the abuse she had suffered. Might have to build her an apartment of her own.
Bernie, I am so glad to hear about Steeler again! Perhaps because of the regional ties (and somewhat our names), I feel a kinship with this bossy little rescue. I’m glad she finally started talking out loud! Cookie was with me fully a year before she did anything but purr. Right now she’s sitting on both my right wrist and part of the keyboard and purring. Love those torties!
I told you about Jo a couple of paragraphs above, so this is my followup.
By the way, you CAN keep a huge cat out of the bedroom…if you’re more persistent than the cat, you can prevail. Spray water under the door when he starts thudding his body against it and yowling. You might lose a night or two of sleep, but you can win that battle. We’ve had to. Still, the 3 cats do still yowl and hurl their bodies against our bedroom door if I sleep 5 minutes late, but we can live with that:) not with the allergies.
Jo is part of the family now. I love this girl. Personality plus, and she does rule the house, as you have all said torties do. All 3 of my cats have green eyes, as do I, but Jo’s eyes are a darker green – brighter and more intelligent than any eyes I’ve ever seen. She’s so smart, so lovable, and so interesting. I’m so glad she’s claimed us all as her own.
I have now had Steeler for about 8 months and she is an inside cat. Runs everything. Looks into every parcel or bag coming into the house. The good thing is that her vocal cords have evidently healed from the abuse she had suffered, because I now have a Tortie that hums and meows (although weak). It sound good to be able to hear her. Now she does not stop and she shows me what she wants. This week I had company and Steeler ran out the door for the first time since I have had her. Calling to her was useless. So I just closed the storm door and walked away. Well I thing Steeler must have had second thoughts about the outside lonely world because 15 minutes later she was at the door wanting back in. I let her in and I still laugh at her, because once she was back in she was like a grouchy old man and kept up a tirade of squaking, I don’t think she liked me closing the door. Not only are Torties unpredictable, but they really know how to push your buttons. I wouldn’t have her any other way.
It’s been really crazy in our (Otter’s) house since we got the baby kitten. After a couple days Otter actually loved her. Which is really scary since she normally likes NOBODY!!! However the scariest time was when they both went to the vet.( I am finally healed up from the claws that Otter sank into my belly.) The vet tried a new spray that is suppose to relax cats lol YEAH that didn’t work! They think she is really a quard dog in disquise. I actually heard them warning the vet that Otter was loose in the room lol she is just a cat not a huge dog!!! After all the excitement and we was headed home I look at the kittens papers and she is listed as a Tortie/Tiger. OMG what have I done!!! She is wild and meaner than Otter ever was. We get no sleep due to not being able to shut her out of the bedroom because of Otters shut door issue. Otter weighs 10 lbs and the kitten (ALLI) (short for alligator) weighs 2.5 lbs. Amazingly Alli thinks she can beat Otter up (constantly) and Otter takes it!! I can’t get over how she is with her after 3 failed attemps to bring a kitten home. No matter how mean they are though at the end af the day I couldn’t live without either of them.
Sudan, I love your story of how you came to adopt Jo! I can’t wait to hear an update of how things went the rest of last night this morning.
I have had a number of cats throughout my life but this is the first time I’ve ever had a tortie…or does she have me…hmm…
When I went to the pet store a couple of days ago to pick up some cat food and kitty litter, I stopped for a chat:) with the rescue cats they always have there. Josephine (now just Jo) rubbed the glass back and forth and then stood on her hind legs and, staring straight into my own green eyes with hers, rubbed her paws against the glass. It was like her spirit spoke to mine, like I could see her little soul through the windows of her eyes, and like she could see mine. She kept this rubbing up until I turned away, tears in my eyes. We already have 2 cats and I needed a 3rd one like I needed a hole in the head.
The next day, I just couldn’t get her out of my mind and I told my husband about her, again, crying, and I’m NOT a cryer. He didn’t say much. I figured he was mentally rolling his eyes 🙂 and thinking “such a sucker.” But then when we were driving home today from lunch, he asked if I still wanted that cat. I said, “Of course,” and he said, “That’s what I was afraid of.” Then he skipped our exit off the freeway and took the exit for the pet store instead 🙂 What a guy.
At the pet store, Jo was like a totally different girl…she ignored us completely. I called the rescue lady Tina to ask her to meet me there so I could rescue Jo, and she indicated she was afraid Jo was never going to be adopted because she’s so shy and wouldn’t come out of her little soft-sided cloth house. Well, that was NOT the cat I met. At this point I was sure if I asked hubby if he liked the cat, he would have said, “What’s to like?” Hmm…
When Tina got there, she opened the cage to formally introduce us, and the whole time we talked and worked through the reams of paperwork, Jo huddled in her little house growling and hissing. She told us Jo was found abandoned in an apartment the owners had moved out of. This was in a small town with no animal shelter, just an animal control unit that keeps animals they find for 3 days then kills them. No public adoption, and they don’t even provide food to the animals. Fortunately, this unit has one person they allow to come in to rescue some of the animals. Jo was one of those lucky critters.
So we brought her home anyway, growling and hissing. We just stuck her little house in the pet carrier and stowed her in the truck.
I figured I would just sit her carrier in the laundry room (where we keep the litter boxes) and that she would come out when she was ready and meet the family later that night. Well, she would have none of that. As soon as I opened the door, she was out and circling my ankles. Then she popped out of the laundry room, through the cat door like she knew exactly what it was, and ran to the carpetted stairs, where she started rubbing herself up them. Then growling at the other 2 cats to make way, she stalked the perimeters of the whole house. Then – smart girl – when both hubby and I held our hands out to her to see if she wanted a pet, she went to hubby’s hand and let him pick her up and cuddle her for a minute. Okay, so who’s the sucker now? We both are!
Lots of growling from all 3 cats this evening. I’m about to go to bed, and the bedroom is no-critter territory (hubby is actually alergic), so I’m wondering if all 3 cats will still be standing when I wake up in the morning. After reading these stories, I’m also wondering if Jo will batter down that bedroom door:) Should be an interesting night. If we all survive, I’ll post pix on the Facebook Conscious Cat.
Thank you all for sharing your stories. I look forward to living with Jo’s “tortitude” and I believe this precious little spirit is for me. I guess I did need that hole in the head after all 🙂
I love hearing about other people’s torties. Dobby sounds like she fits perfectly into this elite feline group with her tortitude! I recently acquired a stray kitten – I suspect it is Dobby’s baby sister because of similiar stray cat parents in the area and especially since DJ (Dobby Jr) has the exact same behaviors, curiousity and mannerisms as Dobby. I keep expecting her colors to pop out to show me she is a tortie too, but for now she is simply black with green eyes and as much (or more) tortie-like behavior than Dobby. They love to play fight and chase together – leaving my calico to enjoy her peace and quiet and my lap – and they are eagerly teaching each other all types of mischief. The other night they were running around the house like miniature elephants as they normall do and later while 1 was sleeping on me (in the dark it is hard to say which one) – the other snuggled up under the blanket…pushing her way in and stayed for a bit – then left. I should have been more suspicious of their quiet and cuddly mood. Later I found they had brought me a nice treat – a dead baby mouse. How sweet. Ick! They make a great team. I think DJ may be considered an honorary tortie for now. She is learning fast.
Margo, tthat’s pretty funny that Nes acted all cute until you got home with her, and then she showed her true tortie colors! It’s probably a good thing that Lou is so mellow and laid back and just lets Nes rule.
When I got my tortie, Nes (short for the loch nes monster), I picked her up and she immediately climbed to my shoulder, perched, and stayed their until she was adopted. This was all a cute act because when I got her home she was WILD and is absolutely the queen of the house. I had thought that I might want a dog, and I now realize that I basically got a dog in a cats body. She plays fetch better than ANY dog I know and even runs to the front door and growls when someone knocks. She’s just over one year old now, and I’ve since adopted a little tabby. It’s so funny the difference between the two. She is so spunky and puts Lou in his place. He is like her little sidekick and just sit back and watches all the mischief she gets into (he’s ridiculously lazy)….opening cabinets, chewing through plastic bags, hiding things under rugs. Every morning I wake up she’s tucked in all of her toys under the covers into bed with me. She’s definitely got me hooked on torties 🙂
Angie, Sophie and Rose sound like wonderful cats, and it sounds like Sophie has tortitude in spades. Love the bumper sticker – so true.
I have really enjoyed these stories! I have a tortie named Sophie. I adopted her and her sister Rose last July so they are just over a year now. They are total agents of chaos and absolutely rule the house. I didn’t realize that the talkative, water play and diminutive stature were tortie traits. Sophie fits all those to a tee. Her sister Rose is at least twice her size (the biggest cat I have ever owned). Rose is also a lot more “chill” than Sophie. I love it when Sophie puffs up her fur, arches her back and runs sideways across the room. I had to put my cat Georgia down two months before I got the girls (I had her for 17 years) and they made the transition so much easier for me. I saw a bumper sticker recently that I liked (it was from a shelter and had a paw print on it) it said “Who rescued who?” Enough said.
I have a tortie named Penny that I adopted from a local shelter. She is such a pretty and sweet cat. She is going to be 1 years old in June, but she is very small. She is really short I think she might od been the runt of the family. She is bestfriends with my Taby boy named Hunter, they are around the same age. Penny is really vocal with an adorable meow. She is mostly black and orange and reminds me of a halloween kitty. She does have a white belly though. She has tortitude big time, and is really high maintence and loves wet food and her toys. I love torties!!
Bernie, I’m enjoying this Tortie community as much as you are. I’ve always felt it takes a special person to appreciate Torties, and all of you have clearly proven this by sharing your stories!
Ingrid, I appreciate the experience you have on the Torties. This avenue of having others with Torties a place to brag, yes folks, we are bragging and with every right to do so makes it feel like we all have similar but different experiences with our Torties. I found it very interesting and amusing some times. So thanks for leading us in this direction.
Wow Anna, you have a serious little homeowner. Little Otter owns you and all in the house. Runs you pretty good. Love those stories. My Steeler is my best buddie. She to was dropped off. But she is getting really good at telling me she wants me to go to bed at night or lie down during the day. She can’t meow, but she won’t stop humming until I follow her down the hall. I like you never knew the pleasure and surprises and most of all the happiness the Torties bring. They are the most unpredictable cat. I still think at times they are miniture leopards.
Now that is some serious tortitude, Anna! It sounds like Otter could have written the book on tortitude. In fact, it sounds like perhaps she’s revising it as we speak!
About Otter I forgot to add she hates to be picked up, but loves laying in our computer chair. When my son want on the computer he will pick her up and put her on his lap, (remember she hates him) the funny part is instead of jumping down and running off, she lays on his lap looking up GROWLING at him. She is the funniest thing I have ever seen!!!
I have an amazing tortie named Otter. She was dumped on me and I really did not want a cat, however after a year and a half I wouldnt trade her for all the money in the world. It amazes me to hear of the loving torties though. Otter seems to be a secret lover, only cuddling for about 5 min. and only in the bedroom. She bites my feet at night (hard enough to draw blood). She totally hates my 19 yr old son. When he comes in its a riot in the house, constant Growling. I honestly think she believes she is a dog. She wont play with toys, just chews the metal on them, chews up my school books, and scares all our friends off with the growl or evil stare. The vet makes me stay with her till they sedate her when she has to go. She is the love of our life. My husband wants more but we have tried to get her a friend (now on our 3rd try) we got a 6wk old tiger stripe yesterday and its not going well. She will not eat anything but her cat food but wants to smell anything you have. My daughter is 9 and the cat wont go near her. We had Otter a year and my daughter was in my bed during the secret love and she suddenly said “mom thats the 1st time I’ve ever heard otter purr. Oh and terminex came 1 time after I got her, she followed the woman aroung growling like the dog she thinks she is and they have never been back. lol And it seems I am the only one not allowed to walk through the house without being attacked. And she bites me every time I try to get something out of my purse but will let my husband dig in my purse.She is extremely vocal, talks back worse than my kids. She gets real loud when you enter the kitchen and can have full food and water bowls but wont shut up till you add a dab more. She is the best cat in the world and I am glad to hear the stories of the very aged tortie cats. I hope Otter out lives me cause I dont know what we would do without her. She gives us hours of entertainment. Especially when she “talks” to flies before she kills them. She has even ran off babysitters with her evil glare. It was funny an 18 yr old friends daughter babysit one evening and at 9 pm called and said please come home your cat is scaring me. If they could only see her behind the bedroom door lol. However that is another issue, We can not have any closed doors in the house or she sits and knocks on it till we open it. she is awesome!!!! Love her like crazy!!!!
Happy “Gotcha Day,” Kasey – love that expression, Glen! I’m glad to hear the check up went well.
Happy “Gotcha Day”, Kasey (sorry about the vet visit)
May 21st., 2010 is Kasey’s second “Gotcha Day” anniveresry 🙂
She’s my “guard tortie”
Of course we had her examined right after comming home with her in 2008, so that also means her annual check-up/vacination day is in late May. I took today as a vacation day so we had a 10:00 appointment. However, it was a good visit, she behaved very well and all was fine; she’s happy to be back home.
My only regret is not taking her out of that place a few years earlier but she seems happy with the way things turned out.
I have been reading some of the posts. I keep reading how the Tortie’s keep talking. Steeler talks but only the same humming sound. I know this sounds odd, but I never owned a cat in my life sot this is my first. I am really enjoying her. I would like to encourage her to talk more, but don’t know how. Will she just talk when she is ready or is there some way to encourage her to talk more than just humming at different levels.? This Steeler of mine is more like a miniture leopard in disquise. Amazing friend.
iv had torties all my life and i currently have 2 females about a year or two apart both shelter kitties and i cant seem to get them to get almong they both have majjor attitude probs and both very affectionate …one constantly makes noise when she walks jumps or enters a room its rather cute … iv never met a cat that talks so much she deff makes her presents known … the other one is insane she does laps around the house i just wish the two would get along both for sure are amazing cats with a tortitude…cute word tortitude
Drew: I went to a pet store and found a pill popper and the dropper like you would use for babies. The pill popper is great. The the liquid dosing is easier also. One quick push and the pill or liquid is down. Now I don’t claim Nugget won’t be a bit miffed at you, but there is much less frustation. Hope this helps.
Drew – I echo what Ingrid said. The only cat bite I’ve ever received – and I do rescue – was from our tortie, over a pill. We used to grind up pills or mix liquid into baby food, but then discovered she’d eat pill pockets with gusto.