by Marilyn Knowles Wilke

Created on: July 17, 2008   Last Updated: October 20, 2009

After having cats for pets for almost 50 years, I have found that the female is usually not as aggressive as the male. Most females would calm down at a younger age than the males. Male cats tend to get testy especially if there is a mating female near by. Try interrupting a male when he is about to mate and a female and see which one is friendlier. I can tell you, there are times that a male cat change their whole attitude when they are mating. Your usually docile kitty turns into a tiger.

Females are more calm about mating. They tend to flirt a long time before they even consider wanting the male to mate. The male wants her and wants her right then. He does not appreciate you interrupting him. Females will even usually come when they hear you calling them a lot quicker than the male. I have had male cats that actually pout with me if I interrupt him. The females were just happy for me to give them a scratch behind the ears.

Most of my female cats, especially my calico cats are so gentle and very good with kids. They will let a kid get away with just about anything without bringing out the claws. The male on the other hand lashes out when disturbed. Females are easier to please except for maybe when it comes to food. They do seem a little pickier than the male cats.

Females tend to get attached more than males. My male cats were more apt to find a new owner if they were outside cats than my females. Females are more faithful to their owners. They will come back home even when someone else feeds them, but my male cats usually stuck with whoever gave them the most food or maybe even a brand they liked better. I fed a lot of my cats dry food only and when the neighbor would give them can food or tuna, I would not see my male cat for days, but my females would return back home as soon as the neighbor opened her door.

My female cats would be even more attached to whoever helped her deliver babies. I delivered many kittens because the mother was too young to know what to do or she just lacked the instincts it took to deliver her kittens. The female cats I helped always became very devoted to me even if she belonged to one of my kids. She would start coming to me to snuggle with and for feeding time. I had one female that I helped deliver her first litter, so when she went into labor with a second litter, she started looking for me. I was work and the kids called me and said "Mom, this cat is calling your name." They would hold the phone and let me listen and I would swear she was calling my name. All I had to do was talk to her and she stopped crying and screaming. The kids put the phone to her ear and I had to talk her through the whole delivery. When they would take the phone away, she would grab it. How funny is that.

My sweetest of all females was Daffy. She was so gentle and even tried to save my life once when my place caught fire. She woke me up and tried pulling on me to get my attention. She then ushered all of her kittens out the door after my dog opened it for her. That was another thing. My female cats got along better with my other pets than my males. Most of my females would lie down with my dog, but the males would not get near the dog.

All in all there are sweet females and males, but males just seem to be more selfish than the females. I think it is because of their motherly instincts. I guess you could say that they are a lot like humans in that way.

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