Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: Beth (Mouse's Mum) on December 02, 2006, 14:38:42 PM
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Hi everyone,
We're looking to adopt a 12 month old female spayed tortie called Bliss, from our local RSPCA. She will be a new friend for our 16 month old tabby neutered male.
She was absolutely gorgeous when we went to see her yesterday, ever so friendly, cuddly, laid back and purry.
However i've just read about another cat on the RSPCA site which is also a tortie and they describe her as 'has tortie moments, any tortie owner will know torties can be unpredictable'. Now i'm a bit concerned, what do they mean by 'unpredictable'? and 'tortie moments'?
Just worried that although she was fantastic temperment at the cattery, that she'll turn into a monster who will beat on my boy when we get her home :'(
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Tortie is just a fur colour so don't worry. I have heard some people say about torties having 'torti-tude' (attitude for torties) but I have never known a tortie to act any differently to any other colour cat. Is she a tortie with white or without white?
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Thank you ;) Was so worried when they said unpredictable that she'd be really evil. She was the perfect temperment for Mouse, really laid back and loving, yet playfull at the same time.
She's complete tortie, we've never had one before, have had black & whites and tabby's but not a tortie. She looks funny but i think that's just because she's not one colour like we're used to, she looks scruffy ;D
There were some gorgeous kittens there too, was very tempted, but Bliss had been waiting for a home for so long, and we think she'll be perfect. (fingers crossed)
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My beautiful furbabe Ellie who I had for a good number of years was a brown tortie and was a fantastic girl. Like Lottie for me its only a type/colour. I know what you mean about looking a little scruffy though LOL.
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I love torties without white (just black and red), they are sooo cute.
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Me too Lottie - Ellie had no large patches of white at all - very 'scruffy' mix of dark brown, choc brown, red, fawn, cream etc - a bit brindle actually. I lost her this time last year in traumatic circumstances and miss her loads x I need to see if I can scan a couple of pictures of her onto laptop so I can post some :)
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Me too Lottie - Ellie had no large patches of white at all - very 'scruffy' mix of dark brown, choc brown, red, fawn, cream etc - a bit brindle actually. I lost her this time last year in traumatic circumstances and miss her loads x I need to see if I can scan a couple of pictures of her onto laptop so I can post some :)
Oh no sorry to hear that Linda :( :( Love the name too, I think Ellie is a lovely name for a cat (I've got a solid white Ellie). Look forward to seeing the pics of her.
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Awww thank you, Linda your Ellie sounds just like Bliss, the same colours :Luv:
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:Luv: :Luv: :Luv: :Luv: :Luv: :Luv: :Luv:
I have a very tina 6 month old black torie called LUNA or Luverly Luna to her mates. She is the most loving freindly playful mischieveous gorgeous budle of luv I ever met. Before her brothers left she was nice but a bit shy & stayed in the background but when they went to new homes she blossomed. She sleeps with me every night running up the stairs ahead of me & diving on the bed. I have given up trying to read as all I get are furry face rubs and her cute little bum in my face. She makes me laugh so much. During the night she will wake up several times to give me little face rubs as if to make sure I'm satill there and that I still love her. She is so very lovely !!!!!!!
If I could have 10 of her I would because she is so sweet. If your new little Miss turns out to be half as affectionate as Luna you will be thrilled to bits, I promise !
Good Luck with the adoption & look forward to hearing tales of her new life !
Love LIz & Luna XXXXXXXXX
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Beth - When do you get your little girl home? Cannot wait to see her pics!!!!
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We have a gorgeous tortie & white Fearne and she's brilliant (picture in the gallery) She's v quite placid most of the time, but she has these mad half hours.
I'd also heard about this "tortitude" and put these mad half hours down to that, but from posting on cat chat & here I realise that all cats are a bit like that and her being a lunatic has nothing to do with her fur colour and everything to do with her being a cat :rofl:
Tortie are great :D I hope she settles in well :luck:
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Totally agree with you Lynn-Su - all furbabes have mad half hours (although in the bengal boys case it sometimes feels like half weeks!!!!)
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Tigger is far too sensible and dignified to have mad half hours (she looks at BB like he's mental) but now it's getting colder Bilbo seems to have 'woken up' and is planning on having a mad half hour that lasts all winter lol. Any time you stand up or move he runs up and down the long hallway I have and throws his toys everywhere lol. :rofl: :rofl:
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I think its a nice way of saying that particular cat is a handful. If you do a write up and say the cat may bite when touched its going to put people off from enquiring further!
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:doh: Just lost my first reply
Well we pick her up on the 18th, she's just been spayed so they wanted to keep her in the cattery for a bit, although we said we'll pay for her to stay there from now till the 18th instead of the RSPCA doing it.
We go away on the 15th, for the weekend, so Mouse will be staying in the same cattery as Bliss and they'll be doing some intro's with them there.
Just need to buy another stocking for Bliss too now, can't have just one on the mantlepiece with 2 little furbabe's in the house :Luv:
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Tortie's can have tortitude, but they dont all have it. I have met a few nasty torties, but the second one I fostered wasn't, but she was a bit dim at times, so it could have just been that particular tortie - if Bliss had her moments, they would tell you. Good luck, and bet you can't wait!!
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Beth I recently got a 5 month old Tortie and I have to say she acts just like every other cat I have known. She can be cuddly and purry, but when she has had enough she will let you know, she can be placid and quiet and the next minute she'll be tearing round like a loony! Some people might call this totie-tude but I think this is just catitude!
Good luck with your new little girl and I can't wait to see pictures of her.
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My mum has a torti called Blossom (an ex boyfriend from many years ago had a female cat that got out before she was spayed!)that I convinced her to take on. TBH, it didn't take much convincing because my mum loves cats! Anyway, Blossom is fairly aloof most of the time, but I've never seen evidence of her being aggressive and she obviously loves my mum very much. I think Sam's right.....cats just have cattitude. I don't think colour or breed makes a difference; they all KNOW they're superior to us!
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We have five tortie girls - not deliberately but they all needed homes at the times we were looking and are all so loving and friendly so please don't worry. Mum and daughter part persian dark tories and three sisters (six months old), one tabby tortie and two with lots of whilte.
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Daphne is tortie and white (and pretty much every other colour too if you look closely enough) and I've never, ever met a sweeter natured, gentler, more affectionate little cat. Her sister, Letty, is the one that has the "Claws McGraw" moments, and she's black and white! :rofl:
*Note: the cat to ear ratio has increased somewhat since this photo was taken*
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Funny about the cat to ear ratio - I didn't really notice it when we got out three kittens but everyone who saw the photos commented on their big ears which don't seem big at all anymore.
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I have a white tortie........calico..........definately with tortitude!
However Its to do with her past and not that she is a tortie, she just gets very scared at things but I dont think she would hurt me unless I tried to withstrain her and she is far to fast for me :rofl:
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Amber is a tortie and as she is only my second cat I have no idea if its colour or just her personality which makes her so different from Mogs my black cat. Mogs is a real lady who doesnt go on kitchen surfaces, doesnt walk on me and doesnt destroy things for the fun of it. Amber on the other hand is always on the side in the kitchen so I cant leave food out, has sat on the top shelf of my high bookcase that I had bought especially so I could put things out of her reach and is very happy to sit in front of me and gently tap things until they fall off where they should be and once on the floor are for her to play with.
On the other hand Amber is very cuddly and loving. Shes a bit thick at times in that she fights if you have to cut her claws or give her tablets then imediately comes back for a cuddle. She loves to sleep on my knee and if I have to go to bed during the day she gets under the duvet and snuggles up.
I dont think its special 'tortie' behaviour as shes cheeky but not naughty and she does make me laugh when shes doing the arent I cute bit :rofl:
love
Tab
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Ive been told tabbies definitely behave diferently to other cats and that their peronalities are connected to their colouring genetically. I have a tabby/tortie cross and my god!!! you do not want to mess with them!! She has never bitten or scratched any human in the household, no matter how mad or bad things have gotten, but bring her to the vets and she will happily kill anything or anyone in sight. Its gotten so bad she has to be sedated by me!! before the vet or the nurse will get anywhere near her... She has gotten into tremendous amounts of fights with the locals ( I mean cats, dogs and foxes) when much younger...cant chase them nowdays, but is absoultely petrified of pigeons-will not go out if one is near by. Strange thing is when I moved out of home Fluffy got left behind with mum and dad as I had no garden and we agreed this would be better, I missed her terribly so I got a black and white kitten called Smudge, a girl too. I could not believe the difference in her character so completely different in every way to Fluffy. When Smudge was about 1 yr old I moved back in with my parents and I thought here we go, this will be hell..Although on the outside Fluffy pretended to dislike the fact that Smudge had come along she fearsley protected her. When another local cat attepted to attack Smudge Fluffy jumped in the middle to save Smudge and almost got hurt herself...Vet says that perfectly sums up a tortie/tabby mix as their coloring is closely connected to their persoanilites and sex and theterfore tabby/torty mixes are always feisty girls.....
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the rspca told us not to adopt our Amber because she is tortie and we already have a bengal and they said they would clash - it turned out to be total rubbish - she is an absolute gem of a cat, placid and sweet natured and loves a cuddle unfortunately the other cat we took at the same time, Star, is a nightmare and was specially good with other cats they said and she hates all of the others the only reason we haven't sent her back is because it is the rspca and we are worried they might pts if they can't rehome her - Amber is our first tortie but she is lovely so I wouldn't rule out getting a tortie if it seems like a nice cat I'm sure naughty cats come in all colours!
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we are worried they might pts if they can't rehome her
As if you could expect any pet loving person to believe that. ;)
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Gerti is a tortie and is the soppiest cat in the world! she purrs just on sight and tries to be 'mum' to Cheese no matter how many times Cheese socks her over the head!
I've never heard of torti-tude, but if it exists I think Gerti was too busy headbutting stuff and purring to bother getting any!
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Well Tammy i hope to god Bliss isn't like your tortie, really don't want to be sending her back but if she is then she will have to go back for Mouse's sake.
I think Bliss will be just like Gerti Cheesecat, when we saw her in the cattery she was so loving, really loud purring, all headbutty, wanting cuddles all the time. She's just had kittens too so maybe she'll try to mother Mouse ;D I really hope they do get on!
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Please try not to worry Beth, otherwise you will be in danger of interpreting normal settling in behaviour as 'tortitude'. Tories often have character but there is a big difference between character and aggression. I have had two torties, one without white and one with white and both were real softies. Rosie was really my mum's cat and when mum could no longer manage on her own she and Rosie moved in with me and Ginger. Both cats were well into adulthood but we had no problems. They never became what I would call best friends but they tolerated each other. Rosie was a very spitty cat which gave a lot of people the wrong impression but she was a rescue cat and I think it was just a defence mechanism. The spit never progressed to any real aggression and if you told her to shut up and not be silly she did do. In fact she was the easiest cat to handle that I have ever known - I could do anything with her. In later life she had a wound on her tummy that just wouldn't heal and I had to dress it twice a day to stop it from getting infected. I had no trouble at all bathing her tummy, putting a dressing on then slipping a tubigrip bandage over her head and front paws down onto her tummy to hold the dressing in place.
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Beth if you read all the replies here and take an average I think you'll arrive at the conclusion that there is basically NO tendency for torties to be anything other than lovely.
The fiercest, scariest cat I ever knew was an enormous neutered ginger tom.
The tiny darling that has just spent the night curled up on my chest, purring and washing my chin is mostly tortie.
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I've never heard of torti-tude,
I had, but never had a tortie with it until the vet said on day typical tortIe, however to be honest I have seen just as much bad behaviour in every colour cat during the years I have been in rescue. One particular cat Tasmin named after the Tasmanian Devil and certainly a 'she who must be obeyed cat' was a little monkey and she was black.
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Thanks everyone, think i'll just give it a go and see what happens.
We don't pick her up till the 18th so we have plenty of time to read up on the best way to introduce them to one another. ;D
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Beth, just to add to all the other comments here re. torties - we have heard them referred to as 'naughty torties', which is how we affectionately describe Nellie our 7 month old spayed tortie persian as she does like to get into mischief, but I would add, no more than our other two babies!
In no way, however is she naughty in the aggressive sense, although she does definitely have a distinct and different character to our other two (red self persian girl, Phoebe - 6 months and shaded silver exotic neutered boy, Libby - 8 months) and also to every other cat we have had down the years!
When we collected her from the breeder at three months, the first thing she did was grunt and at first was disinclined to be picked up, crying loudly when we tried. However, despite this inauspicious start she took immediately to Libby (one month her senior) and when we introduced Phoebe 2 months later it was only a matter of days before Nellie befriended her (they are now best buddies!)
She does still grunt at every opportunity though - when entering a room particularly, as if to announce her prescence! She has little grunting conversations with us and is far more vocal than any cat we've owned past or present! She is also very affectionate and loves cuddles, although it does have to be on her terms as she is still not keen on being placed on your lap, but will jump up when SHE wants to!
Her voice is very deep and gutteral - not like our other two who have high pitched squeaky meows!
She has a wonderful, very individual personality and if Bliss turns out to be anything like Nellie I think she will be absolutely fine with Mouse - I do hope so!!! Good luck for the 18th! :Luv:
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Gerti is more flabby tabby than naughty tortie !! :rofl:
Beth, that sounds like Gerti :) she doesn't miaow properly and I think she has a sore throat from purring too much!
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its all a bit like saying blondes are stupid int it....... in people that is..... ;D
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Sasa doesnt seem to meow, just squeaks to tell Misa he should come with her or if she wants to play. I think she squeaks at birds too cos was watching her outside yesterday and she was definately doing something!
She is a real sneakie feline who think that she cant be seen when she sits in the middle of a bed of wall flowers waiting for the birds to come and feed. :rofl: :rofl:
All torties are different just like any other colour of cat ;D
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All these comments about miaow's has just reminded me that Blackstone, my dark tortie, couldn't miaow. She would open her mouth and mime the word but no sound came out. She was a devil for getting into cupboards/wardrobes without me seeing her and was forever getting shut in. It was really funny to open the door and see her sitting there giving endless silent miaows.
She could purr with no problems and when taken to the vets could make enough noise to wake the dead so I don't know why she couldn't miaow.
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jasper took ages to find his miaow. he usually has it now (but i think its a bit girly!!! - shhh - dont tell him i said that!!!!!!!) ;D
not that he's a tortie.... just thought i'd add that!!! ;D
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Beth, I wouldnt worry about how the cats would get on, they are usually very good at tolerating each other,even my Fluff tried hard with Smudge.....
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We always said no torties as our longest owned lady Sweetie had a major dislike of Ruby at our old home but now we have 3 feral torties - Xian is our bridle black and gold tortie and she is now 2 and likes all the inter action in the house but no touching or she rips her hair out and she is also daddies DIY Tortie and has loved moving to this house where we had to build a lot of furniture!
Next is Miss Gracie is 16 and is like a galleon in full sail despite having lived with us for 17 months now she is still terrified the food will disappear - she is also toothless and comes for dribbles now and brushing is work in progress as she is longhaired and still skittish but she has her own chair in our bedroom and now sleeps on it whilst we are in the room.
Our final tortie is Amber a returnee from people we homed her to in 2002 but she is Daddies little stalker and will yowl if he stays up late, she has come out of her shell but is still skittish around feet.
All our torties have their moments but all live in harmony with our rainbow faily but all avoid Sweetie as she tolerates them but doesn't do headbutts they have learnt! :sneaky:
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its all a bit like saying blondes are stupid int it....... in people that is..... ;D
Well, I'm blonde and about to own/be owned by a little tortie miss - she's super affectionate and purrs and meows and nuzzles into your neck. The rescue cattery think she's utterly lovely too. Haven't seen naughtiness yet, but she is in a kittycabin at Battersea right now, so not much scope . . . :evillaugh:
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I am sure she will be lovely ;D I am blonde with a tortie too and she is a scaredy little madam :rofl:
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:) not sure ours is a scaredy cat, she mews nicely and looks at you lots; we're all v excited about getting her once she's hormonally over the nursing and deemed fit for spaying. Cutie pie, we're going to call her Ariel.
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She sounds great and can understand you being so excited ;D
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Beth I am sure everything will be ok. Have a wonderful holiday and enjoy your cats when you come back and let us see some photos of them please.
My Bonnie has some tortie in her and she is just so soft as you can see from pic. Her back has the tortie makings on which you can see clearer in the 2nd pic.
Mary
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This be the girl:
http://www.battersea.org.uk/applications/dynamic/?id=7898&
only went up to battersea with kids on off chance they have kittens (they do, hers) but didn't get that far once we saw and heard her! I'm a bit in love with her, like she's a new baby! Poor love had been found in a wood behind a railway station in a basket with her brother, obv pregnant. Nearly started crying when I heard all that!! :Luv: :doh:
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Saw Cheese before on your post - Ariel's a nice name :Luv2:
Mary
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This be the girl:
http://www.battersea.org.uk/applications/dynamic/?id=7898&
only went up to battersea with kids on off chance they have kittens (they do, hers) but didn't get that far once we saw and heard her! I'm a bit in love with her, like she's a new baby! Poor love had been found in a wood behind a railway station in a basket with her brother, obv pregnant. Nearly started crying when I heard all that!! :Luv: :doh:
:Luv: when do you adopt her?
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Just heard from Battersea this morning that she has had to be put back with her kittens as they stopped eating - so may put back the spaying time a little . . . I'm not sure when we'll bring her home, just that she's coming when she's ready. And they've very kindly said we can go and visit her whenever. :wow:
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:) ah right, I bet you can't wait but obviously the kittens need her right now
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Absolutely Janey - on both fronts. I'm perhaps as yet unjustifiably proud of her for being such a good mum . . . nothing to do with me, obviously, I just feel for her!! 8)
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I have learned that you cannot have more than one Tortie in the same house!!! :naughty: maybe it's just they dont like someone as pretty as them being there too? :innocent: :evillaugh:
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My Daisy's a tortie and she's a brilliant cat but very moody with me, never in a nasty way (never once has she bitten or scratched) but she seems to go in the huff for no reason and won't come near me for a couple of hours, never lasts long before she's back for cuddles though :Luv: