Does Your CH Cat Love Being Close to You? (Poll)
Everyone loves a love bug.
It’s that cat who’s always near you. The one who’s affectionate, snuggly and perhaps more loving than others. There’s just something nice about feeling your love reciprocated.
A while back, the question was posed on Facebook: Do your CH cats need closer contact with you than their non-CH pals?
There were a number of interesting responses, and several folks said yes, they do think their CHers are more tactile than their other cats.
Photo courtesy Etolane
I feel this may be for several reasons. I’ve often thought about the relationships we have with our CH cats – how they may be slightly different from those we’d have with “normal” cats since CHers need a little more assistance, encouragement and consideration. I truly think that the additional time we may (sometimes unintentionally) spend with our CH cats may contribute to a different, perhaps deeper, relationships.
It may also have to do with the age of our cats when they were adopted. Perhaps kittens we’ve had since near infancy view us pet parents as their true parents.
Either way, I’d classify Ellie as a prime example of a love bug, and CG as a moderate love bug – unless my husband is around. (CG *loves* Matt to no end!)
They love being around us and showing us affection.
For example, every time Ellie falls into her water dish, we quickly grab a towel and dry her off. Sometimes it’s just a paw, sometimes it’s her entire side. But during the whole process she’s so good and patient, it’s almost like she knows we’re helping her. It’s little moments like that which make me wonder if they really do understand and appreciate our help, and if that translates into special, affectionate moments.
That said, I don’t think there’s any science behind this theory, not to mention that it doesn’t matter if one cat, CH or not, is more affectionate or tactile than another. I just thought it would be fun for us to share about the relationships we have with our CH cats.
Please take the poll below (feel free to answer for each situation that applies), and please share comments about how affectionate (or *unfriendly*) your CH cats can be in the comments!
Life with Cerebellar Hypoplasia Cats 
Half-and-Half is very “loyal” to me, follows me around, greets me at the door, it’s funny and endearing! She was a feral the first year of her life, then was fostered for a year by someone else before I adopted her.
She will bite or scratch if you pet her when she doesn’t want to be petted, and she doesn’t get along with other cats, so her social skills are lacking. But that’s her personality and we accept that she gets defensive and scared easily.
I found my cat Peaches when she was a kitten on the side of the road, right next to a Target shopping bag. Our theory is that she was thrown out of a car window with her inside the bag. This was when I was ten, three years ago. From the beginning she has been a bit different, such as violent shaking (which she has out grown, and now she walks regularly), splashing in toilet water/water bowl, pacing around the table randomly, and what I call “catching invisible elves”, where she runs around trying to catch something that isn’t there. I bottle-fed her when she was a baby, and fed her wet food with a fork when she got older. She couldn’t eat on her own for a long time, because she would inhale her food. She is extremely affectionate, and I give her a lot of attention. She’s just like my baby girl. She’s the sweetest cat ever, and though she can be a bit different I love her for it.
I couldn’t vote since my 3 CH girls are very different in their ways in wanting to interact with me. Roxy is mommy’s girl, through and through. She has no feline social skills whatsoever and doesn’t get along with any other cats but she and I share a very special bond. Kiro on the other hand is very independent and acts offended when I try to help her, cuddle with her, etc. Shinju is just a love bug all over, with people or cats. I do admit that I was definitely a much bigger worry wort with Roxy and was very hands on with her, given that she was my first CH cat. So maybe that had something to do with how she is with me.