Piper was my first furry kid. She was given to me as a Christmas present when I was 16 and I was immediately smitten. My sister was thrilled as well but my parents, not so much. My dad isn’t a cat person and my mom well, she was actually kind of afraid of little 6 month old Piper at first. Animals are pretty in tune with the energy we put off so you really can’t lie to them. Piper knew mom and dad weren’t her biggest fans and therefore she committed to winning them over, and eventually did. Now she knew that I was her mommy and has always come to me for attention, at times of her choosing of course, but she tried extra hard with mom especially. The first time I moved out I couldn’t take Piper with me so she stayed with mom and dad. Later on when I moved to a new apartment, finally Piper came too.
And then we met Chris.
Miss Piper has always been shy of strangers and would tend to hide in the closet or under the bed if someone she didn’t know came over. Eventually she would come around and meet new people and sometimes even allow some attention, but mostly she’s always been a more aloof type of cat with people she doesn’t live with. That was not the case with Chris. As soon as he starting coming around she would be right there by him. If he wasn’t petting her she’d rub her head on his arm until he did. I was shocked. It was like she knew he was going to be her new daddy all along.
Now that Piper gets to live with her daddy she is constantly by his side every time he turns around. Her favorite thing to do is sit on the arm of the chair in the back room while Chris is in there playing video games. She still comes to mommy for attention so I don’t feel forgotten but daddy is “her person”. I sometimes wonder if I was just filling in her whole life while she waited for her special person to come along. She’ll always be mommy’s little princess and my first baby but I really think she’s more proud of being daddy’s little princess.
Since Piper was my first, I didn’t know if her choosing her favorite person was just something unique to her or if other pets do that too. 2 dogs and another cat later I found out that was a pattern, at least in our household. It didn’t happen right away but we did start to notice with each one that they tended to gravitate more towards one of us. Ares was just 6 weeks old when I brought him home and Chris worked a job where he was out of town for weeks at a time. I did see of course see him when he was home but we didn’t live together back then so our time together was limited. He switched jobs and was able to spend more time with us as Ares got older and as Ares neared his 1st birthday it was becoming clear he was also going to choose Chris. As with Piper, it’s not like I feel a lack of attention from Ares, it’s just that he spends more time snuggling with Chris than with me. If Chris is in one room and I’m in another, chances are you will find Ares with him.
Chaos also did not make his choice of favorite person known until he was about 6 months old. He became mommy’s Pit Bull shaped shadow, following me around and always wanting to be by my side. Chaos is a sensitive boy and loves to snuggle over almost anything else so that’s probably why he’s more drawn to me. He cuddles with his brothers and sister and daddy too but his favorite spot is in mommy’s lap.
Last but not least, Little O also chose mommy. Maybe he just did it to even up the score and be fair but either way, we each are now “the person” for 2 pets. Little O likes to snuggle up right underneath my chin. He nestles in like he just can’t get close enough. I actually had to kick him out of my bedroom at night because he would essentially build a nest in my hair, combing through it with his claws, and I’d wake up with a tangled mess I to brush through.
I'm not going to lie, I'd probably be pretty upset if nobody chose me, but the goal is just that they are happy, healthy and feel loved. If there is more than one person in your house or someone who visits often like Chris used to, have your pets chosen a favorite? Or are they unlike ours and like all family members equally? Maybe your pet’s favorite is not even a person but another pet? Share in the comments section.
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