What's Your Cat's Personality?
by Brad Kollus
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Researchers have studied different aspects of cats' personality characteristics and have determined that there are three personality dimensions that every cat has.
- Active/ Inactive: An active cat runs around the house, loves to play and is constantly looking for an opportunity to get its human to play with it. An inactive cat spends most of its time sleeping or resting with no desire to play.
- Social/Unsocial: A social cat comes to see visitors and strangers when they come to the house, enjoys being petted by them, and even sits on their lap. An unsocial cat hides from visitors and does not want to be petted or approached, sometimes even from certain family members.
- Even Temperament/ Uneven Temperament: A cat with an even temperament does not get scared easily from thunderstorms, loud noises or visits to the veterinarian. A cat with an uneven temperament will hide the moment there is any loud noise, thunderstorm or party, or, when you try to get it into its cat carrier.
Using these three major behavior characteristics, we can divide cats into 5 major personality types:
Personality Type |
Typical Behavior |
| Fun Fluffie |
1. High on activity
2. High on being social
3. High on having an even-temperament |
| Nervous Nellie |
1. Low on activity
2. Low on being social
3. Has a very uneven temperament |
| Steady Sam |
1. Average on activity
2. Average on being social
3. Has a medium temperament |
| Hyper Hanks |
1. High on Activity
2. Low-Medium on being social
3. Very uneven temperament |
| Cuddly Cutie |
1. Low on activity
2. High on being social
3. Has an even temperament |
So, how do you know which personality best fits your cat? Just answer these 20 simple questions...
1. When you interactively play with your cat, what does it do?
a. Plays with you for a long time
b. Runs away from the toy's movement
c. Plays sometimes, and only for a short time
d. Likes to play for a while, but then runs around the house
e. Ignores the toy and continues to sleep on the couch or on your lap
2. When there is a severe thunderstorm outside, your cat typically:
a. Stays by your side, watching the thunderstorm
b. Clashes with your other cats, dogs or chases its tail
c. Doesn't act any differently
d. Runs at every thunderclap
e. Sleeps right through it on your lap
3. A stranger visits your house. How does your cat respond?
a. Slowly approaches the stranger and eventually allows the person to pet it
b. Runs away to its favorite hiding place
c. Approaches the stranger and sniffs him, walks away but stays in the room
d. Doesn't pay attention to the new person
e. Notices the stranger, but stays put where it is
4. How would your cat welcome a new kitten?
a. Approach it and want to play with the kitten
b. Immediately run away and hide from this new competitor
c. Go up to the kitten, sniff it and then move on to its regular activities
d. Hiss and growl at the new kitten
e. Watch the kitten from a distance
5. What does your cat do when you put it in its carrier to go to the vet?
a. Goes in the carrier and is happy to go for a ride
b. Runs and hides when it sees the carrier; when you find your cat, it might scratch or bite to fight against going into the carrier
c. Lets you put it in the carrier, but with some resistance
d. You have to chase your cat around the house. When you catch it, your cat hisses, growls, spits and might pee or poop to fight against going into the carrier
e. Freezes up but lets you put him in the carrier
6. If you were to bring home a new baby, how would your cat react?
a. Your cat would be very interested in the baby and want to be around it
b. It would hide, especially when the baby cries, and might soil the baby's items
c. Your cat probably wouldn't notice
d. It would hiss and growl at the baby and hide from it
e. Your cat would be really jealous and demand for more attention through pawing at you, following you around more or crying
7. When cutting your cat's nails, it typically:
a. Allows you to groom it
b. Runs and hides. When you do find your cat, it fights being groomed.
c. Runs away, but eventually succumbs and allows to be groomed
d. Makes you chase it around the house. When you capture your cat it will bite, scratch and hiss to fight getting its nails clipped.
e. Squirms a lot, but you can accomplish the job
8. What does your cat do when you vacuum?
a. Your cat sees it as a game, and tries to ride it or chase it
b. Hides as far away as it can get
c. Your cat is startled by the vacuum, but then is not concerned by it
d. Runs around the house terrified
e. Leaves the room to continue resting elsewhere
9. What is your cat's night routine when you go to bed?
a. Plays with its toys or comes into your bed, trying to get you up to play
b. Comes out from hiding to eat, uses the litterbox, etc.
c. Sleeps in another room or wanders around the house
d. Races up and down the halls of your house
e. Comes to bed and sleeps with you
10. When another cat that is outside approaches your patio door, what does your cat do?
a. Follows the cat around from inside, trying to play with other cat
b. Runs and hides
c. Sniffs around by the window at the cat, but then wanders away
d. Hisses and growls through the window, may spray near the window
e. Meows or paws at you to get your attention that there's another cat intruding
11. If your cat were introduced to a new dog, what would it do?
a. Chase the dog
b. Run away and hide
c. Ignore the dog
d. Hiss and growl at the dog
e. Climb up on something high to observe the dog from afar
12. When your cat finds a bug in the house, how does it react?
a. Bats and plays with the bug
b. Backs away from the bug
c. Chases the bug for a little bit, but it wouldn't hold its interest for long
d. Stalks the bug until it kills it
e. Your cat would rather sleep than chase a bug.
13. How does your cat react when friends visit?
a. Walks up to the person, expecting to be petted
b. Runs away and hides
c. Sniffs your friend and tolerates a little petting
d. Wants your friend to play with it
e. Curls up in your friend's lap
14. What would your cat do if you moved into a new home?
a. Run back and forth from you to explore the place
b. Look for the best spot to hide
c. Methodically move from room to room, investigating the entire house
d. Race around the place for hours
e. Stay by your side as you move things around and unpack
15. When visiting children want to play with your cat, how does it react?
a. Plays for hours with the kids
b. Hides from them
c. Ignores the children, but runs away if approached
d. Your cat already has its own game of racing up and down the hallways.
e. Allows the children to gently pet it, but isn't interested in playing
16. What is your cat's feeding routine?
a. Immediately comes out to eat
b. Waits for everyone to be gone or even eats at night
c. Comes to eat when it's hungry
d. Jumps and flips whenever food is brought out
e. Eats when you eat
17. How does your cat react when you try to give it a pill?
a. It's not happy, but it will take the pill without too much of a fight.
b. Once your cat realizes it's time for a pill, the procedure is almost impossible.
c. Your cat will struggle, but eventually let you give the pill to it.
d. It will run around the house, making it almost impossible for you to catch your cat, let alone give it a pill.
e. It will freeze up, and it takes several tries to get the pill down.
18. When you pet your cat, how does it normally act?
a. Loves being petted any time by most family members
b. Allows one person to pet it regularly
c. Allows all family members to pet it, but not for too long
d. Doesn't enjoy being petted
e. Loves when anyone pets it
19. What does your cat do when someone pet-sits?
a. Wants to play and be petted
b. Runs away and hides
c. Will come out and see who the visitor is and may allow some petting
d. Runs around stopping to find out who the visitor is
e. Sniffs but once recognizes the smell continues to sleep
20. If you brush your cat's teeth, it typically:
a. Finds it a game
b. Hides so you can't find it
c. Makes the process difficult, but eventually concedes
d. Runs away
e. Tolerates it
Count up your responses:
If you answered mostly “a”s then you have a Fun Fluffy
If you answered mostly “b”s then you have a Nervous Nelly
If you answered mostly “c”s then you have a Steady Sam
If you answered mostly “d”s then you have a Hyper Hank
If you answered mostly “e”s then you have a Cuddly Cutie
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