Burmese and Brite kittens together?

[Lizz_1978]

Hi,

Is there anyone here with experience in having British shorthairs and Burmese cats together? We just got two brites some months ago they are now 6 months. But we are a bit sad that they are not more cuddly. Especially our kids are a bit frustrated. It might have been wiser if we had gotten burmese kittens to begin with. We just had some good experiences told from Brite owners that they also could be very affectionate. Our two can also but its mainly towards me and its for shorter periods of time.

SO the question is: if living in a large house, and the two brites living there are still so young, would you think it would work out bringing in a burmese?

Kind regards

Lizzie

[Mollycat]

Breed characteristics are only an average tendency, cats are still very much individuals and some - I would say many - don't read their breed specifications. My Ragdoll, considered one of the dopiest breeds, would bite my hand if I annoyed him by touching where he didn't want to be touched or brushing in a way he didn't like. Ok I encouraged him to have an opinion and communicate it to me, but there was nothing placid about him when pills had to be swallowed or messed fur had to be cleaned up. So don't rely on a Burmese or any other kitten to give you cuddles.

Your kittens might have been more cuddly if you had just one. They have each other and so less need to rely on humans. Bringing in a third kitten could well result in the two mothering it and taking on its education, and giving humans even less cuddles.

It's been a very long time since I last had a kitten but I seem to remember her being all about playing, pouncing, exploring and getting up to mischief. As she got older she would spend more time cuddling, but as a little one she needed activity and sleep more than affection. Kittenhood is a magical age when they learn through play and gentle guidance, when they can be taught about safety and danger and to behave sociably, like what they can play with and chew, where they can and can't do their claws, and how to keep their claws sheathed to play with bare skin humans. This guidance and encouragement cements the bonds between you and your cats and sets you up for a lifetime of closeness and affection.

Please don't waste it feeling put out that your kittens are not yet giving you the affection you expect from them, invest this magical time in developing the human-cat relationship and you will be rewarded later. Get the kids watching the kittens chasing autumn leaves and stalking shadows and spooking at the breeze in their fur. If the kittens don't go outside, make toys for them with the kids and see who can make the best toy the kittens love best. Interacting with them on their level makes unbreakable affectionate bonds. Drop your expectations and embrace the catness!

[Lizz_1978]

Dear Mollycat,

Thank you so much for your long and wise reply. I will try and make some more toys together with the children. I hope you are right about later getting more cuddly. My boy who's 10 years just feels so rejected and is sad about it. and I just hope i could fix that feeling by getting a Burmese. But i also get your concern that they might just do more cat nursing than human cuddling

and then im thinking should we have that dog thats maybe more cuddly..

[exlibris]

I know how you feel - we got our 2 kittens after our beloved cats of 16 & 18 years died. We were expecting, after gaining trust, a loving cuddly relationship. The kittens are very close to each other, siblings with big brother looking out for his little sis. This closeness is probably why they were disinterested in their humans and kept running away, even though they clearly weren't scared (no hiding or hissing). My partner was particularly disheartened because he's used to hitting it off first time with any cat.
Bonding through play is important, we found that string worked best. Pretty simple, but the bonus is you can get them chasing it all over.....including having a child run around while it's trying to catch it. The kittens will be bursting with energy, same with kids - the perfect way to exhaust both of them! You can end up spending lots of money on fancy toys, but in the end you need something that has a decent amount of reach so they can go a long distance. We left string in places where we spend a lot of time, so we can do quick play with them.

Mollycat is completely right - breed has nothing to do with it.

Even though it's been a few months, don't give up. They'll come around. If you rush off a keep buying other animals you could just end up with a lot of animals who don't get on. Remember, cats can live for well over a decade, that's a lot of responsibility. 4 small kittens is cute, 4 adult cats vying for territory can be chaos - plus that's a lot of cat food and vets bills! Please don't put yourself into the situation where you might have to put an animal into a shelter - the older a cat is, the harder it is to rehome. I can guarantee that at least one of your kids would be devastated with whichever cat you chose to get rid of.

Chin up, things will work out