Reply #107: I had purchased a book on cat psychology/behavior

[bullwinkle428]

a couple of months back, which essentially stated the same thing about interacting with a new cat. They certainly like to make all the decisions!

The socialization that kittens experience is a major factor in personality development, and I'm sure that the large majority of "mean" adult cats were probably mishandled as kittens, and are just incredibly defensive as a result. On the flip side, though, I've seen some formerly feral cats in shelters that were very sweet and trusting, but I suppose they were lucky enough not to have experienced any kind of abusive treatment from anyone as they were growing.

Ginger is a great-looking cat - I love that close-up of his face in the earlier thread picture. Is he one of the "apple-head" type Siamese?