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| Male | 63% | 714 votes | Total: 1127 votes | |
| Female | 37% | 413 votes |
Male
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Add to FavoritesI have shared my home with cats for most of my life, and I have to say that, in my experience, male cats have always been the more friendly and loving of the lot. This is not to say that one cannot get love from a female cat, but the female felines tend to be a bit more selective as to whom they get there affections from. Those that the female chooses to give their affection to get in abundance, while everyone else seems to be merely tolerated with a bit of indifference. Male cats, however, do not care from whom they receive affection, so long as they receive it.
During my teen-age years, mom had a cat that she named Sandy, due to the color of his fur. He was a long-haired, blond tabby cat that weight in at eighteen pounds and was nearly three feet from nose to tail. He was the gentlest cat I have ever known, so long as you were not a snake or a lizard, for he was an outside cat and a hunter of reptiles. I never called him Sandy, though, choosing instead to call him Spud because when he spelt, he curled into a ball and looked like a giant, furry potato.
When Spud decided that he wanted your affection, he either received it, right then, or he would climb or jump on top of you and rub his whiskers on your face. As he was a very large and very strong cat, this was effectively a head butt. His favorite form of affection was for anyone, and it didn't matter who, to pick him up and drape him across their shoulders like a shawl. Then you could walk around with a cat shawl on your shoulders that was sleeping very contentedly.
When I got married and moved out to start my own family, we got a cat named Hissy Fit. He was born at our house, and got his name from the first time my wife held him. At barely an hour old, my wife picked him up and he literally threw a hissy fit. He hissed and hissed at her until she put him down. He grew up craving attention almost as much as Spud did, and it just didn't matter who he got it from.
The most unusual cat that I ever had the opportunity to get friendly affection from was my veterinarian's cat, Momar. Momar was a male cat and he was very affectionate, and it didn't matter who the affection came from. As the cat was actually a mountain lion that the vet had raised from birth, I think this goes a long way to saying that male cats are indeed friendlier than female cats.
As you can see, in my experience, the male cats have always been the friendlier lot to have around. This is not to say that it is impossible to find an unfriendly, male house cat, because they do exist. I have just always known the male of the feline species to be the friendliest.
Learn more about this author, David Smith.
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Female
My family and I have had many cats over the years, and it was always a traditional belief in our family that the male cats were friendlier than the female cats. I continued on this tradition for years without giving it any thought, and with absolutely no knowledge of female cats to confirm the traditional family belief, since we only ever had male cats.
Then a number of years ago, the house next door burnt down and the family abandoned it, and also abandoned their female cat and left her to fend for herself. Not wishing to see her become feral or to starve, or to become pregnant over and over again and litter the entire suburb with unwanted kittens, I took her in and named her Florence (don't ask me why - it just seemed like a good idea at the time). I then took her to the vet to be desexed.
Little Florence turned out to be the friendliest, sweetest cat I had ever met. I had always believed cats were aloof, independent, and only cared about getting fed, but Florence was none of those. She loved being around me, was very affectionate, and spent most of her time curled up at my feet, resting on my lap or purring beside me.
Florence wasn't just friendly with me either - she was affectionate with everyone, unlike the male cats I had owned over the years, who were generally very picky about who they would share their affection with, and the times when they would be affectionate.
I thought that it was just Florence, but when she died I decided to get another female cat. This one is called Juliet (which seemed like a good idea at the time), and is the most affectionate, loving cat you could ask for. She loves to spend time with me and other people, loves to curl up and purr, and is just a delight to have around. She also loves the piano, and when I start to play, she runs in from wherever she is so she can sit beside me as I play.
In contrast, my male cat is aloof, independent, and only ever gets affectionate when he wants to be fed. His affection is given sparingly, and when there is something in it for him.
In case you are thinking that it was something to do with being desexed - all our cats, whether male or female, have been neutered or spayed. Juliet was affectionate and friendly from the very first day I brought her home at a few weeks of age.
The family tradition was wrong, in my experiences, and I really don't think I'll bother having any more male cats. The female cats are by far the friendliest and most affectionate.
Learn more about this author, Lin Edwards.
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