I’m going to pout just a little bit. I see all kinds of people who have cats adopt them. These cats or cuddly and playful and allow them to handle them. You’ve heard of the Land of Misfit Toys. I seem to have become the Land of Misfit Cats. Except, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with these cats. They just would have preferred not to have been captured by me. They showed up at my feeder, and my policy is if you eat at my feeder regularly, you have to be spayed or neutered and have your shots. All my indoor cats (except Ajax, Tarzan, Lady, and Sneaky) were captured as kittens when they were past the point of easy socialization.

In short, I don’t think they’re Misfit Cats. I think they’re introverted cats who just want to be left to their own devices. Daphne, Sapphire, and Daisy all get along with the other cats just fine. Okay, Daphne can get a little obnoxious with Sneaky every now and then. Delta and Ruby are doing well, but this is coming as they mellow with age.

We don’t know what’s going on with Rossie. I have to wonder if she’s developmentally disabled. We can never tell if we’re going to be able to approach her or if we’re going to get the wild-eyed “you’re going to eat me” look before she runs. She definitely prefers Mr. L to me but even he has trouble approaching her sometimes.

Sneaky adopted us, and that’s what earned her a place in the house. I couldn’t live with myself for keeping a cat that wanted to be with us outside while we had a bevy of cats who weren’t interested in regular interaction in the house. Since she’s come in the house, she’s chosen to isolate herself from the other cats — we have to keep Ajax away from her, and sometimes, we have to separate Tarzan and Daphne from her (other times, they get along fine). This is easy. During the day, Ajax stays in the kitchen and parlor with Rossie. Sneaky chooses to remain in the dining room, but the door is open so the other cats can interact with her if they choose (usually they just eat her food). Sapphire seems to have taken a liking to Sneaky, but Sneaky seems like she ignores Sapphire.

Daisy has recently earned the right to spend time where she pleases in the house. For the first couple days, she was in the parlor when I closed the door to let Rossie out. Now she stays upstairs with Sapphire and the other cats. Unfortunately, Daisy and Sapphire learned well from Zelda, their mama, about staying away from people.

Lady, Tarzan, and Ajax were hand-raised, and they welcome attention. Delta likes her attention on the bed and standing next to our chairs in the evening. Ruby likes her attention only on the bed but not all the time. Sneaky demands her attention when I sit in her chair. Daphne prefers to be stroked when she’s on the floor or sleeping somewhere, but she doesn’t care to be picked up. We can usually approach Rossie when she’s in certain places but not always.

I have good cats, but they aren’t typical pet cats. I suspect most people would not want most of them, because they don’t fit their expectations of what pet cats should be. While I’m disappointed most of my cats prefer to spend time with themselves, I love observing their individual quirks and personality traits.