Do animals, especially ones we know well, have an Enneagram type? And if they do, are we, as humans, able to type them accurately? I would say yes, having had many animals over the years since I’ve known the Enneagram, and my son, who is now 22 and has known the Enneagram since he was 7-years old, would say absolutely yes. In fact, when he was 10, he thought about writing a book for children on type and animals, complete with photos of all his animals who, interestingly, fit 8 types: 2 cats, 3 dogs, 2 birds, 1 lizard. He figured he could find the missing number in a friend’s pet.

Kitty, a 4+ month-old Maine Coon, has been with us for 8 days, and within the first day, it was clear that she was either a type 7, 2, or 3, and a social subtype at that. Although she was initially a bit hesitant, prone to periodically going into corners, she was also a very bright light, highly optimistic and really playful (even beyond what most kittens do). We eliminated type 9 only because she was quite assertive (sweetly so, but determined) to go after what she wanted.

Kitty, who now has a real name which will be mentioned later, was introduced to the world on my personal Facebook as our new office manager, hired due to her intelligence, good interpersonal skills, and how well she knew her way around the office. Since then, our new kitty has shown her type in such obvious ways.

She is extremely charming, likes to constantly play, will engage almost anyone if and only if they are willing to play with her, has an attention span of about 15 seconds (even when eating) unless she is playing with her favorite toy, which is a long furry tail on a stick, but one that requires a human to be moving it around in various directions. And she loves this movement to be faster and faster until everyone is dizzy except kitty.

Even more, kitty does not like the word ”no.” She understands almost everything – for example, “come into this room” or “the washing machine won’t hurt you” – but to her “no” simply means “try it again later.” And “later” means as soon as she can get away with it. Even when she is mischievous or pushes the boundaries, everyone who sees her do it thinks this is just adorable.

She can now go from standing still to 60 miles per hour (so we thought of naming her “Flash”); she jumps straight up in the air double her height just for the fun of it (we can’t see the purpose of the jump except the jumping itself); and when she makes a mistake or can’t do something, she shrugs it off instantaneously as if whatever she was attempting wasn’t really what she wanted at all and her new direction is exactly what she desires. Her fast movement, joyful jumping, and masterful reframing has led us to the conclusion of her type.

New kitty is a social subtype 7, we think! She will wait until others in the social group have had their needs met before she goes after her own desires, but she does get what she wants and in the most adorable way. And she likes to be petted afterward and told, “Good kitty!”

On January 6, just one day after her arrival, Jim Grant from Canada wrote this on Facebook (based on only her picture and his intuition): “Out on a limb here says she’s a ‘Social 7’; in any case they are a wonderful addition to any family, office, household.” Congratulations, Jim, for your excellent typing capabilities!

And her name is officially “Fluff-Kitty.”