They differ on 1 of 4 dimensions.
Joins in · Likes the familiar · Stays close · Regular hours
At the sound of keys it runs to the door and follows you in, rubbing against your legs. When the family gathers in the living room, it squeezes onto the sofa too. It asks to be petted at about the same times each day and plays the same few games.
Read the type guide · ESFJ
Prefers quiet · Likes the familiar · Stays close · Regular hours
In the evening, when you sit in your usual seat, it comes over and lies down against you. It hangs back when there are many people but likes to stay close to the ones it knows. Where and when it rests hardly changes.
Read the type guide · ISFJOn these dimensions the two type descriptions lean the same way. Similar habits can mean easy company, and also wanting the same spot at the same time.
The evening game is the one it knows: you roll the cloth ball and it trots along behind.
The cloth ball it has always played with still wins, all the more with your hand nearby.
A new cat, new furniture or a new smell is a big change for either of them. Change one thing at a time, and keep each cat’s own bed, blanket and favorite toy where they have always been.
You open the door and it is at your ankles, winding around them with its tail up.
It leans its cheek into your hand and keeps it there for as long as you stay still.
They may want the same lap. Sit where there is room on both sides, give each cat some time with you on its own, and pause the petting now and then so either one can leave.
It curls up in its corner of the sofa beside whoever is sitting there, as it does every night.
It sleeps on the folded blanket beside your reading chair, in the same place each night.
Meals, play and naps may fall at the same times for both. Feed them at set times in separate places, so a shared routine does not turn into a contest over one bowl.
On these dimensions the descriptions lean in opposite directions. A difference is not a problem; it shows where each cat may need a choice of its own.
With the family sitting on the living-room rug, it settles in the middle of everyone.
It skips the busy rooms and sits beside you on the sofa while you fold the blanket.
Their days may cross only now and then, and that is fine. Keep a resting place the quieter cat can reach without passing through the busy part of the home, and let the more social one come to you for company.
These steps are the same for any two cats, whatever their types. Go at the pace of the less comfortable cat.
This compares type descriptions for fun. How two cats actually get along depends on each cat and their home. How it works
