A friend and I were having a conversation last night which included her observation that all Tortoise shell cats are psycho, by which I mean they are friendly and loving one second, and then switch to ripping your hand off a second later. Certainly the theory all Torties are psycho applies to the two I have had and the numerous cats my friend has had.

My shorthaired cat scratches me deliberately and intentionally as a sign of affection, and can't be broken of the habit. But her mood and personality don't change in a split second.

Is this psycho behaviour a feature of all Torties, is there more of a tendency to this behaviour or have we just been unlucky with the ones that have graced our company?

Don't know about torties, but I had a tabby with a real personality disorder. One minute she was sitting on your knee purring, the next the blood was dripping off your hand onto the floor. And I had a big, ginger beggar that could probably have seen off a couple of Rotties without too much trouble :hihi:

lol not sure if any are tortoishell tbh but...
i was in the pub last night and somebody was trying to sell my mate a lovely 3 month old staffie puppy.
he said no way could he cos they have 4 cats that would kill it.
he recounted the story of a neighbour who moved in and had a massive alsation which got mauled by his cats, one jumped on its head pinned its ears to the ground and clawed its eye out.

Torties definitely have this reputation compared with other-coloured cats. Just ask Mojo1 about her butter-wouldn't-melt namesake. :o

Torties definitely have this reputation compared with other-coloured cats. Just ask Mojo1 about her butter-wouldn't-melt namesake. :o

So that's why she had the killer snowball for her Christmas avatar - in honour of the cat :hihi:

I had a tortoiseshell kitten once. She was utterly bonkers. She sadly got hit by a car and I came home to find a carrier bag on my doorstep with her bloody remains in it. Gutted.

I put her in the wheeley bin. I even said a few words as I shut the lid.

I don't think that all torties are bonkers by any means, but we have noted over many years at the Shelter that if there's one who's going to be a bit flaky, 'highly strung', jealous or just plain strange, it's odds on that the cat will be a tortie.

There are plenty of cats that manage to beat dogs up (including my boy Arthur, who's white and preys on spaniels) and plenty who have had damaging experiences which have resulted in bloodshed, cats being so very well armed for defending themselves against all comers (sharp bits at each corner). The cat that I had who was the most violent and vicious was Tetley, but he had been abused and was 13 and set in his ways before I adopted him. He was black and white, so no tortie there. Next in line to him is Baby, who looks remarkably like Tetley did, again not tortie.

So that's why she had the killer snowball for her Christmas avatar - in honour of the cat :hihi:

Yes, the Snowball's code name was Mojo3. :hihi:








Oh, she's going to kill me when she reads that... :help:

Yes, the Snowball's code name was Mojo3. :hihi:








Oh, she's going to kill me when she reads that... :help:

No she won't - she'll just set killer cat on you :hihi:

I have got a ginger tom and he's a psycho! - Like another poster says, sat on your knee purring like a banshee one minute, then scratching your hand the next:loopy:

we have a tortie, had her since she was a kitten. She is completley mental she used to run up the curtains, but she's getting a bit too old for it now. She does have a tendancy to bite at a seconds notice.
When it's windy she tares round the house with those big kitten eyes and bushy tail. I love her very much, just like one of the kids :love:

We have a tortie, and whilst she isnt nasty, she doesnt bite etc, she is completely mental, and has never been right in the head, shes just over a year and been waiting for her to clam down but not a chance, shes still mentally a kitten.

However when we took her to the vets for her injections, she commented on how torties are renowned for being nasty, so must be some truth in it.

We have a tortie, and whilst she isnt nasty, she doesnt bite etc, she is completely mental, and has never been right in the head, shes just over a year and been waiting for her to clam down but not a chance, shes still mentally a kitten.

However when we took her to the vets for her injections, she commented on how torties are renowned for being nasty, so must be some truth in it.

That reminds of an occasion when we took Fred, the savage tabby, to the vet. She bit his thumb so hard she drew blood. We explained it wasn't really her fault - she'd been mistreated as a kitten, before we had her. He enquired how old she was. Upon being informed she was 19/20, he asked if we'd ever considered the fact that she was just a nasty, savage cat!

He was right - even after she'd had to have most of her teeth out, she could still give you a pretty vicious gum when the mood took her :hihi:

I would not say my Tortie was perticually nasty, she is infact very loving, sometimes when she is layed on my chest and I am giving her a bit of a fuss she will stare into my eyes purring and will gently stroke me back with her little paw :love: and she is sooo tolerant of the little one. Sometimes she will grab my arm and stick the claws in, usually she just wants to play. She also opens doors :shocked: she will jump up onto the handle and pull it down

My sisters tortie is a nightmare, not my words, hers. I dont mind her that much, but then I dont have to live with her.

I have a blue tortie and she can have her moments, but not as bad as my sisters.

I have a tortie and to be fair she is rajed in the head. She isn't vicious but she does random things that a cat shouldn't do especially since I've been pregnant :suspect:

She is also the most loving cat I have ever had. :love:

I've always been told that torties are a bit mad 'naughty torties' is the phrase. My mums tortie was lovely...its my very cheeky tabby thats the 'problem' cat in our family

That reminds of an occasion when we took Fred, the savage tabby, to the vet. She bit his thumb so hard she drew blood. We explained it wasn't really her fault - she'd been mistreated as a kitten, before we had her. He enquired how old she was. Upon being informed she was 19/20, he asked if we'd ever considered the fact that she was just a nasty, savage cat!

He was right - even after she'd had to have most of her teeth out, she could still give you a pretty vicious gum when the mood took her :hihi:

Reminds me of my brothers Tortie, Wilma. Even more of a psycho cat than my own. In fact, the only thing that scared it, was the kitten my brother got a year or so later, who unlike every other animal and human recoiled and hid from Wilma, the kitten would deliberately spend all day pouncing and winding Wilma up. :hihi:

The Vets needed to do an examination of Wilma, but she was too wild for the Vet, so they decided to give her an aneasthetic. The first anaesthetic did nothing, so they gave her some more, the maximum they could for a cat her size. But it didn't even calm her down, they had to admit defeat.

Whatever it was the cat fought it off ok on her own, without the Vets assistance.

we have a tortie, had her since she was a kitten. She is completley mental she used to run up the curtains, but she's getting a bit too old for it now. She does have a tendancy to bite at a seconds notice.
When it's windy she tares round the house with those big kitten eyes and bushy tail. I love her very much, just like one of the kids :love:

My cat used to climb curtains, and the house we had had the wallpaper with little bits of wood chip in it, so she could climb up the corners of the room as well. She couldn't get down of course but would get up to the ceiling then hang there Meowing for us to get a chair and retrieve her.

Mine got too old for climbing curtains around 1 or 2 years old. But don't expect her to calm down. Mine is 15 and still hares around the house like a thing possessed from time to time.

Last night she found a new way of waking me up. She jumped of my bedside table landing within an inch of my bleary face turned around jumped back onto the bedside table and repeated 3 times. Never once touching me, but each time landing on my bed infront of my face like a sack of potatoes :hihi:

Our puss is about 9 now, she seems to get excited by changes in the weather she gets all big and fluffy and her eyes get big like when she was a playfull kitten. Bless her it's like having a furry berometer. Shes a bit loopy today running round and wailing, she's not too bad in the night, although one night I had an awful nightmare I was being strangled.. woke up to cat curled up round my neck :shocked: :hihi:

i'm glad someone agrees....we have a REALLY odd Tortie and she is loving one minute, death bound the next!! and our tabby is weird...shes terrified of everyone and everything and refuses to look at anything or do anything!!
but our tortie is definatly a psycho!!
H.P, our Tortie gets all big and fluffy and big eyed in the winter!! she looks funny! how i love my Lula kitten :)

The first cat I ever had was a tortie and white girl which I named smarty, I was 11 and first clapped eyes on her when she was a few days old she was the cutest thing I had ever seen. I loved her to bits but she was mad but mad in a good way, I remember her chasing next doors samoyed dog round and round next doors garden before giving it a right good beating poor dog, it was petrified of her and hated going out if she was in our garden for fear of the same. She was a character that's for sure. I think it may have something to do with the red/cream colouring in the coat. Just like ginger haired people are supposed to have a temper maybe the same goes for cats. The cats I have now are mainly blue, lilac & choc colourpoints, I have one cream girl point girl who has a very short temper though, doesn't take much to get her going, the dog going too close to her food or jumping up on the sofa when she's on there. All my other cats are darlings and happily share their dishes with the dog and will lay forever in your arms but she's a funny old thing, love her to bits mind and wouldn't change her for the world.