Neither of mine are terribly fond of being picked up or held in the air (not aggressive, just squirmy). But they are snuggly beasts when they want to sleep.

Very typical of a bengal. But many are lap cats and real human smugglers.

I think the real question is how do you keep them out of the Christmas tree.

Spraying a cat with water is not a good idea. No cat behaviorist will recommend this. And ... it does't work. How do you keep a cat out of a Christmas tree?

My elder cat Nina (2yo) loves to butt heads and then rub cheek to cheek. Younger Simon (1 yo) sleeps on my legs every night. They aren't gushy by any means and do want to cuddle on their on timing, but certainly affectionate.

That is typical of most cats. Everything is on their terms. LOL

When we stand up still, our guy looks at us from the floor, then, HUGE jump, right on our shoulder! He then the moves to behind the neck where he settles and purrs like crazy. We can walk around the house with this cat on the neck but eventually have to let him go as he is quite heavy, 16 pounds,
This said, he never sits on our lap!

That is one heavy cat to have wrapped around your neck! But at least he loves that human contact.

There used to be a young woman here in the forum, that had a huge male bengal like that. She would hold out her arms a certain way, and give a command, and this huge cat would leap right at her chest and into her arms, nearly bowling her over in doing so. Hilarious, but also kind of sweet, and impressive.

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The little monsters 3