I also have a manx! I'm surprised how many there are on here, I rarely see others.
Kali: This cat has a tiny head, a complete lack of fear, and a singulary mindset: must cuddle. She's like a dog, she greets me at the door when I get home, stands by the door when I'm trying to leave. Jumps up on me wherever I am, sleeps in my lap, headbutts my chin. I never had a pet as a kid growing up, and we got her through my GF's friend who couldn't keep her anymore, so she was already well into adulthood (around 6) when we got her. She actually lived at my house before my GF even moved in with me. She loves people and and even when we've had parties and get togethers at our place, she's out and about jumping on laps and begging for head pats, and she never claws/scratches even a few times when I thought she should've (I remember one kid kept poking her in the face and I had to intervene lol). Anyway without sounding too sappy, I'm her designated favorite human and she *loves* - so since I grew up without pets and am totally unequipped to deal with loss, I'm pretty sure that when she dies, I'll die. She's 12 or 13 right now so hopefully a few good years left.
And here she is inspecting the amps. She likes Marshalls, they smell the best.
We got a 2nd cat last year because the first cat would cry whenever we were gone for a night or two. I'd get sound notifications on my security camera of her crying at my door and sleeping in my office chair whining for me and tbh that kinda sucked to watch, so we figured we'd get her a friend so she wouldn't be alone. We were wrong, because they are not friends haha. They don't fight or anything, but they merely tolerate each other, they don't really play or interact much at all. Oops?
Sohpia: Anyway the second cat was a stray mother, only 1-2 years old, had 4 babies, then got stuck in a foster, where apparently mother cats have difficulty getting permanent homes. She is the same gray color and long fur, except with a tail, so we applied and got her - the two cats really look like they should be related when side by side. She is incredibly skittish and scared whenever any new human enters the house. She actually will go find a cat-sized hole somewhere in the house and hide face-first into a dark corner and will not move for hours if she hears someone else - in fact, she's so scared, she will stay in that place, eyes closed, and pee on herself rather than risk trying to go to her litter box. She must've been traumatized a few times as a stray, she did live in Florida during a bad hurricane season with flooding and somehow survived so I guess that fear is why she's still alive now. Luckily she has gotten a lot better in the past year that we've had her, she's still scared of other people but when it gets quieter and I come into the room and speak she'll come out for me, so we're past the pee thing (thank goodness).
It's not clear from the pictures, but this cat has a giant head. When they sit side by side it's kinda hilarious to see the difference because their bodies are so similar in size (they both weigh 12 lbs, same length and overall size).
It feels good that in the last year she went from "hiding under the bed peeing herself" to now letting me walk right up and pet her, but she's still a little shaky. One random noise or I bump into a chair or something and she's fully alert and about to decide whether she'll let me pet her or run away and hide. Still, lots of good progress. She does *really* want to be friends with my first cat and the feeling is not reciprocated though, maybe that will improve with time too.
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Interestingly, neither of my cats are climbers. They are both very grounded, don't claw at furniture or amp grille cloth, don't knock stuff over or off of tables. They're actually really well behaved which is cool, because other than vacuuming up little hair tumbleweeds they are super low maintenance, which is the reason why I have cats instead of dogs. If anything I should probably do a better job playing with them so they don't get fat and bored. Also neither of them bite or swipe with their claws, even when I've had to give them a bath, which is a pleasant surprise.
Sorry for the long post, love these two.
Cheers