I can also pick them up or put them down holding them by their tails and they don't mind at all. I don't hold them up in the air, but if I pick them up to hold them or pick them up to put them on the ground if they are on a table...it doesn't bother them at all. I have done it with them since they were kittens, and they don't mind.
I really enjoy them. I am getting on in years now, and we have had a bunch of cats, but the last one I became very attached to, Boots, had six toes on. each foot, and was quite the character:
He had six toes on each foot, drank coffee, ate marshmallow fluff, and even ate things with habanero peppers in them!
When we had to put him down, it made me pretty sad. I really liked him. Then after a few months, I came home one day and when I made a beeline for the bathroom (as happens when you get up there in age) my wife cautioned me to be careful opening the bathroom door...that there was something in there for me. I didn't get it, but when I opened the door, the two of them were curled up together in the bathroom sink looking up at me!
I love animals. Dogs. Cats. Horses. Love em. They all bring something different to the table. Once you understand cats and their quirks, and what they bring to the table, they can be the most charming companions.
I have always loved this quote by Winston Churchill:
"All dogs look up to you. All cats look down on you. Only a pig looks at you as an equal." Winston Churchill