A cat or two would be quite useful if you had a storeroom full of grain . . .

Dusty extracted a roach for us to smoosh last night.  I thought about this and laughed.

JEALOUS! of you going to the Amazing Meeting!

Pets are subject to the same vicious stereotyping that women are familiar with.

Yes - is it a wonder that cats were used to represent women in a lot of suffragette material? That a fight between 2 women will be called a “cat fight” more often than a fight between 2 guys will be called a “cock fight”? That the slang for cat is slang for vagina?

Some cats, I’m sure either don’t like people or are resentful of thumbs.
Some cats fear and hate driven into them from crappy cat owners.
Some cats are just natural talkers, lovers, social animals. Some are not.
They’re just like people with their own personalities.

I miss being able to have pets… I hope I can find a nice place where I can have them soon.

I know my cats like me. I got locked out of the house yesterday and had to sit by the back door til my wife got home. Both cats came and sat on the other side of the glass door, rubbing against the glass and trying to open the door to let me in. Lucy reminds us when it’s time to feed the fish and Rupert is our backup alarm clock. If we’ve overslept, he wakes us up and even hits the alarm clock with his paw when it’s time to get up.

You hear a lot from people who haven’t had cats that cats don’t actually like people.

It’s not that cats don’t like people, it’s that they actively try to kill us.  Ever try carrying something large and heavy around a cat?  It’ll take the furball all of two seconds to start zooming around your feet, all so you’ll fall and break enough bones to be rendered helpless so the cat can eat you.  Alive, preferably.  Our screams are like aural catnip.

Also, they make me sneeze like a motherfucker.  I’m not sure which is worse.

arr… should say “anti-sufferagette” material up there.

Argh.
Time for me to go home and sleep methinks.

I must lodge a formal protest on behalf of working cats.  All of my cats have provided extremely useful service - namely, the eradication of vermin from my domicile and gardens.  I do not have rabbits in the garden, nor mice in the house.  When I lived in the city, mine was the only 3-flat that was not invaded by rats when construction on the nearby highway began.  Why?  Because my rotten bastard of a cat routinely killed the rats and positioned their bodies along the fence to warn other rats that this might not be the place to hang out.  He did the same with what remained of the rabbits, regularly to be found at the very edge of the garden in neat little corpse rows.  A model of efficiency, that cat.  Heck, he even killed two adult male raccoons one winter, because they kept breaking into the back room and eating the dog food.  Boromir cared not about the dog going hungry, but the back room was his (in the way everything else was his) and therefore the penalty for breaching his domain was death.  The second one got in a good shot, leading to quality time spent with the vet, but I was no longer harassed by raccoons, so it was worth it.  I loved that cat.  Subsequent cats have specialized in particular vermin, which is somewhat useful, but I was spoiled by having an all-purpose killing machine for 15 years.

I’m pretty positive my cat loves me (in her own walnut-sized brain way) when she’s not being distracted by signals from the mothership…

Cats are useful when they have small rodents to catch.

I was staying at someone’s house last summer. They had a cat, a magnificent marmalade tom with a long fluffy tail, who (as cats do) just swanked around looking bored, or mewing for food. Until a mouse scurried out from under the sofa.

The bored layabout went away and a highly focused and ruthless stalking and killing machine emerged.

On this criterion, do you WANT cats to be more “useful”?

“By what right has the dog come to be regarded as a ‘noble’ animal? The more brutal and cruel and unjust you are to him the more your fawning and adoring slave he becomes; whereas, if you shamefully misuse a cat once she will always maintain a dignified reserve toward you afterward—you will never get her full confidence again.”

“Of all God’s creatures there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the lash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.”

“When a man loves cats, I am his friend and comrade, without further introduction.”

“Some people scorn a cat and think it not an essential; but the Clemens tribe are not of these.”

- Mark Twain

Sara, more ‘useful’ cats exist.  But generally speaking, tigers make bad pets.

I used to be a firmly pro-dog person, until I lived with 4 cats.  I have to say that the cats, while less willing to come when called, etc., are somehow more relaxing to be around.  Don’t need regular attention or feeding, and they have a combination of spazzy and graceful movements that I thought was very fun to watch.  Plus, they do like company. 

And I think there are some studies that show that cats, but not dogs, lower blood pressure (probably because the relaxation to additional responsibility ratio is more favorable). 
However, I still think puppies are cuter than kittens.

I’m pretty sure that both my current feline owner and previous owner both liked me.  But that’s the thing, we are companions together and are at least somewhat equal.  As long as I keep the food and water coming and clean out the litter box a few times a week.

What exactly do dogs do, currently, that’s so useful?  Help you hunt foxes?  They obey commands that are usually designed to just keep the dog from doing something obnoxious?

There’s some occasional useful fetching, I guess.

We had a devout vermin killing dachsund (still alive but old) when I was in high school. We called her varmint suppressor.

Bill, we did have hunting dogs for hunting in Alpine. So, there’s that.

Brava, very well said.

I’m completely in the bag for cats—in fact, it’s come to the point where these kinds of discussions make me anxious because when I hear that somebody doesn’t like cats, or takes it as a given that dogs are better, I sort of hate them.

I gotta say that some of my cats have been more affectionate than a lot of dogs I know. I’ve had cats who not only routinely seek out my company but roll into my lap purring, wriggle under the covers at night to snuggle next to me, run to find me when they’re frightened, sprint for the door when they hear me come home, and climb up my chest to ecstatically rub their cheeks against mine.

Some of those cats were way needier and clingier than my current dog is, too. Anyway, I’m just saying I don’t understand where the heck this idea comes from that cats don’t like people or aren’t affectionate or social. It just isn’t true.

By the way, cats train every bit as easily as dogs. They’re not any harder to motivate or reward, goodies will do it unless the cat is overfed. Before my current cat was 6 months old I used a clicker and taught him to sit up and beg, come when he was called and run around in a circle.

The only vermin he gets a chance to hunt are craneflies and moths, but he throws his little heart into it.

The cats I live with are pretty codependent and really needy. I still love them though.
But, yeah, I am definitely a dog person. They are more work but I prefer the bonds between dogs and human to those of human and feline. It feels a bit more familial (to me at least), maybe because dogs see their owners as part of their pack. Plus you can run around outside and play games with them something my cats would have no interest in.

Did someone say cat pictures?

Dogs worry me because they need their people too much.  One of my friends has this terribly sweet old dog, and told me that a trainer he knew once said that most of a dog’s life is spent waiting for his human.  And for this dog, anyway, it’s true.  She’s terribly devoted to him, and whenever he would leave the apartment to do whatever, even though I might be inside, she would go to the door and stand there and wait for him.  No matter how long it took.  I can’t take that kind of pressure!

I know my cats love me, because they are excited when I come home, they always want to be in the same room that I am in, and they do affectionate things all the time.  But when I go away, they’re fine.  They’ll sleep, or entertain themselves.  They won’t sit there waiting patiently for life to begin again when I return.

Besides, I think a lot of cats don’t like people because people are so pushy.  I really don’t have difficulty getting along with cats.  You have to pay attention to them.  You can’t just do any old thing to them and have them interpret it as affection like a dog might.  Some cats like to be stroked, some like to be scratched, some want to smell your hand first, some get really “excited” when they’re happy, others get lethargic.  There’s a difference between happy excited and nervous excited.  A cat won’t get mad at you if you’re too tentative about petting them.  If you let them get comfortable and start trusting you, then they are less likely to run away at the first wrong move.  And then from there you can start getting to know your cat.  I also found it very helpful to learn that most animals consider a steady, curious stare to be threatening.  If you lower your eyelids a bit and don’t look so long and intensely, the cat will be less nervous about you.

i also like that cats are particular about who they like.  dogs seem like, for the post part (like unless someone is invading their turf), they like whoever is going to feed and play with them.  cats, not so much.  they’re choosy, so i feel more special when a cat likes me versus a dog because it means something.

Cats will frequently be standoffish for no particular reason, but if a dog doesn’t like someone, I’ve always considered that a very bad sign.  Dogs like everyone, more or less.

And I think there are some studies that show that cats, but not dogs, lower blood pressure (probably because the relaxation to additional responsibility ratio is more favorable).

I’m kind of surprised by that since dogs need to be walked, but there probably are an unfortunate number of dog owners who just direct the dog to the backyard to take care of its business and don’t ever walk the poor thing.

A cat won’t get mad at you if you’re too tentative about petting them.

I have a friend whose cat will bite you if you don’t pet her enthusiastically enough.

I always figured that domestic cats were just another example of a symbiotic relationship between humans and animals.  And we do both benefit from the relationship.

What’s the practical difference between a wolf that decided tens-of-thousands of years ago to leave the pack and hang with the humans, and a cat that sees an opportunity presented by human habitation and takes advantage of it?

In the end, it’s really the same thing, just with different spices…

My childhood cat came when I called.  As in I would go in the backyard and holler her name, and Christie would come from wherever she’d roam.

She’d follow me around like a dog, without need for a leash.

She killed every varmint in the neighborhood.  Brought home a dove larger than she was while still a kitten.  Brought home FISH from the pond a half mile up the road.  Dogs were afraid of her.  The only animal I ever saw her fear was a possum.  That one she watched from the side of the porch as it ate her food.

“They’ll give me more.  Eat and get out.”  Though I never saw the possum again…

When she gave birth to her first litter, she was yowling at the back door.  I thought she’d killed something, but she put it down and licked it.  It was a kitten!  She hadn’t gone and hid; she came to us for help.  She had 7 kittens in that first litter, and later the same summer had 4 more, at which point we got her to the vet pronto.  She was still nursing the runt from the first litter (we’d given all the others away) when she gave birth to the second litter, which is why my mom refused to believe she was pregnant a second time in one summer.

In the mornings, when I’d feed her, she’d try to talk to me.  Instead of the usual “meow”, it was “me-e-e-ow-ow-ow” breaking it up trying to make words! 

When, at 8, she was struck by a car, we took her to the vet.  She hated cars and was straining to get out of the box.  Her paw came down on my hand, and she realized it.  The three paws that were on my thumb RETRACTED, while the two on the box stayed out.  I didn’t know cats could do that.

She was the best pet ever.  30 years later, my mom still gets choked up about her.

Cats aren’t needy? What about when you’re trying to type and tiny feet keep walking across your keyboard, because what could possibly be more interesting than the cat you’re currently denying attention?

I do love and miss them. Well, one of them. The other one can go straight to hell.

My cat is very affectionate and often brings me her toys when anxious.  She sleeps with me and will give me the “I want to go to bed” meow if I stay up too late.  Our boy cat is much more independent and snuggles only on his own terms.  However, when he’s in the mood to snuggle, you cannot deny him.  He’s a face kisser.

I concur that cats can be easily trained if they have a strong relationship with you.  I’ve taught my cats to sit and stand up on their back legs on command.  Still working on the second girl, but she’s strong-willed. 

As to cats not being useful: cats are just as useful as dogs (read into that what you wish).  And who said that everything in life has to have a use?  By the same yardstick, vacations are useless.  And I’m still travelling to Hawaii this year anyways.

My cats are extremely useful, they kill all the rats and mice on the lot.  I have a huge canary palm tree, the rats love palm trees, and after four years of holding a nose and burying the filthy gross corpses the little motherfuckers are gone.

Cats are always useful in any endeavor to grow food.  I have a few good friends at my food bank garden, they know they are always rapturously welcome.

Cats are useful in real time, bad ass motherfuckers, in fact.  I have three.

Kitties! I have too many pictures of my kitties so I am doing that to fill content next week.

I think that some people just don’t like cats, and with good reason - I love them, and I’m pretty sure they love me, but they’re temperamental creatures.

I love all animals, even the ones that have tried to <a >kill me</a>.  But I’ve chosen to live with cats.  I even give them <a >publicity</a> when I can; two of them have appeared in pictures in books I have written…

Pluto, our youngest cat (she’s just now turning one) really, really, really wanted to get to play outside, so we started letting her out.  Then Kitten wanted to start going outside, too.  We were OK with that; small town, not a busy street.

Thing is, once they had a taste of the Out, they wanted continual access.  Thus, a screen which had served perfectly well as a barrier was shredded, almost certainly by Pluto, and now they can get in and out as they please—and we have a ragged-looking screen out of the bay window ontomthe front porch, where everyone can see it.  :(

Well, yesterday evening, Kitten came back inside, and promptly deposited a dead mouse on the living room floor.  My darling bride was not amused.

Two cat pictures included.

I’ve had cats for the last 24 years and will never be without at least 1 ever again.  I’ve had dogs for the last 14 years.  I currently have 2 of each.  Like others have noted above, I think the relationship I have with the dogs is kind of like having kids.  They need a lot of attention and rely on me for everything.  Their lives revolve around me and what I’m doing.  I can’t even go to the bathroom without them following me.  It’s a lot of pressure to be hero worshipped like that! 

Cats are more like roommates.  They like hanging out with me but they have their own stuff to do.  They may curl up on the couch while we watch a movie but then they gotta go do their own thing.  I may not see them all evening because there are bugs to chase, birds to yell at through the screens and a few items left around the house that have not yet been destroyed but at some point during the night, one furry body will plunk himself down on my head and purr while the other curls up next to my pillow.  Cats aren’t affectionate?  They’re very affectionate when they feel like it, not on demand.  I can respect that.

There’s some occasional useful fetching, I guess.

My cat fetches.  Loves it.  I’ve had two male cats that loved to fetch, and two females who couldn’t care less.  Actually, Annie is just puzzled by the concept—she’ll run after a toy that I throw, but then she comes trotting back like, “Make it move again!”

G. thought he was a dog person until he lived with my cats.  Now he loves the little effers.  But how can you not love something that runs to the door to greet you and then tries to pretend it just happened to be walking by the door at the same time you were coming in?

Exactly Laura - we live near a large intraurban woodland tract and we would have all the problems that our neighbor has if we did not have two purrtrolling felines to keep the infiltrating rodents down.

When I ripped apart the kitchen, I realized how damn useful those cats are - there were numerous dead nests throughout several walls of the kitchen and in the ceiling that I had to remove carefully with a shop vac.  None of them appeared to be recent - which makes sense as we have had cats in this house for a decade now and the previous owner had a small dog.

Reba, in an extreme chipmunk and squirrel year, our neighbors actively encouraged our cats to patrol their gardens by rewarding them with kitty treats whenever they came by.

If cats are useless in the modern age, why do bodega owners in New York keep them in defiance of the health codes?  It’s not because they’re such soft-hearted animal lovers—it’s because the cats kill mice and rats far more efficiently than poison and traps.

Oh, and my cats?  They now find my boys when it is bed time and nag them into bed for pettings.  Sister prefers younger brother’s ikea loft bed, while brother prefers older brother’s company these days.  The kids were very young when these cats came to live with us, and their relationships have grown and changed as the cats have aged and the kids have grown.

In the end, it’s really the same thing, just with different *spices*…

You can’t escape now, MikeEss - there’s no way to interpret that as anything besides an admission that you EAT PETS.

AMANDA!

I LIVE IN VEGAS!

Can I buy you a drink?

Two words: black plague.  Guess how the hell that got spread around to kill half of Europe?  Hmmm?  Something about actively persecuting and killing cats?

“You can’t escape now, MikeEss - there’s no way to interpret that as anything besides an admission that you EAT PETS.”

...um, I guess I let the cat out of the bag…

...the bag I was bringing it home in for dinner…

Arrggg! This idea that cats are useless drives me insane. I know other people have commented on a cats’ usefulness in a grain silo, farms and gardens. But they also went for a high premium during the plague in the middle ages because they killed rats. They were used to protect the food stuffs on ships carrying supplies to “the new world.” A cat named Simon has even been awarded the Dickin Medal (a medal given to animals) for honor during wartime on the HMS Amethyst.

While my roommate and I got one of our cats from the local shelter we also have a Maine Coon we got through a breeder. Not our original intention, but everyone who owns a cat knows once you find THE ONE that will interact well with your other cats you hold on to it. Even though the history of the breed isn’t completely known, they were bred to protect grain during harsh New England winters, hence the big paws and tufts of fur around the pads. They are also one of the few breeds actually bred for a specific function, not just looks. 
Since someone already mentioned the blood pressure issue I won’t rehash.
I have to go because I am receiving the cold hard stares of two hungry demanding kitties.

I am definitely, definitely co-dependent with my dog.  On the other hand, in the very particular kind of Buddhism practiced in Bhutan, they believe that it was the dog who interceded on behalf of the human race to procure food from the gods.  All I know is I’m the only one doing any food procuring around here.

Cats get such a bad rap. Our cat provides us endless hours of amusement as he pioneers new ways and places to sleep.
Plus, he reminds me to enjoy life. Just today he laid in the courtyard sleeping in the sun for about 5 hours.
Wore himself out, he did.

Nothing makes me sadder than when I visit someone, make friends with their cat and hear them exclaim “look at him, he loves you! he never acts like that with us!” Because it’s clear to me that they probably ignore their cat and assume he’d show his needy side like a dog would, without understanding that cats have their pride and are too dignified to beg for attention. Unless the cat already knows via lots of lavish compliments and petting that you’re wrapped around his paw, of course. So many people have no idea of the devotion and snuggles a well-loved cat can give, if you make the effort. I think a lot of the so-called “aloof” cats are just used to being ignored.

I do like dogs, but I’m always suspicious of those people who wax lyrical on the lure of canine mindless subservience. If it’s not being put to a practical purpose, isn’t it kind of sad to need a creature to worship you so totally? I don’t even like it when people refer to me as my cats’ “master.” They’re my companions, not my slaves.

Even though the history of the breed isn’t completely known, they were bred to protect grain during harsh New England winters, hence the big paws and tufts of fur around the pads.

We’re pretty sure our boy is at least part Maine Coon.  He’s bigger than average with giant paws, a ruff like a lion’s mane, and the tiniest meow you’ve ever heard.  When people hear him at the vet, they’re convinced he’s a kitten and I have to explain that, no, he’s a 15-pound full-grown cat.  Big fluffy tail that he’s very vain about and furry toes.

What’s really funny is that our girl looks exactly like a traditional Maine Coon—brown tabby, tufted ears, furry toes—but she’s smaller than average.  She’s like a miniature Maine Coon.

I like both dogs and cats.  I would never own a dog; I was very happy occasionally taking care of my roommate’s dog, but I was relieved that wasn’t my full-time job. 

My current cats fall on the dog-like scale of things, what with the fetching and the requiring attention, but on the whole they are easier to care for.  And utterly rewarding to care for.  They are sweet, hilarious, and empathetic.  I fully believe that having cats kept me anchored while I struggled with depression - you can’t really spin too far down the spiral while someone is purring on you or bringing you fake mice, can you?

That’s useful enough for me.

I don’t know what people are talking about with cat’s hating people.  My Yog-Sothoth is about the clingiest cat I’ve ever had, loves the attention of people, and makes a point to snuggle with me every night as I go to sleep (even to the point of making it hard for me to sleep).  But the upside is I still don’t have to take him for walks or chaperone him when he has to take a shit or piss.  I consider that a real plus.

A couple of summers ago, I was walking by my living room and just about had a heart attack as I realized there was a bat flying around the room. I love bats, but not in my living room. I felt extremely vulnerable, since the second thing I think of when I think of bats is rabies (first thing: they eat mosquitos, god love em). I put on my earflap hat and winter boots, and with an oven mitt on each hand, I attempted to catch the bat in a couple of pots.

I was approaching the bat pretty gingerly, and then he swooped over my head and started upstairs, where my kids were sleeping. I knew that if I didn’t get the bat out of the house, we were going to have to get rabies shots (since its hard to tell if a bat has bitten you, if you wake up and there is a bat in the room, rabies shots are recommended).

And then Casimir, our tuxedo cat, leaped into the air and grabbed the bat before it could get into my kids’ rooms. I was so grateful. I’m sad that I couldn’t get the bat out of the house while he was alive, but I’m glad I didn’t have to get a rabies shot. I like to think that Cas saved me from that fate.

We have 2 cats, and they seem pretty fond of us, since they like to sleep in our beds and cuddle with us while we’re reading or watching TV.

I don’t know about cats not being useful.  One of my cats has a pretty successful “career” as a therapy cat—in addition to being something like the Magic Johnson of cats, truly born to cat better than any cat that’s ever played the catting game, she’s possessed of an almost supernatural power to calm people, especially crazy people, down.  It even works on people who don’t like cats.  Because of this her services are sometimes contracted weeks in advance by friends and family in anticipation of hard times, and occasionally fought over bitterly.  She definitely earns her keep.  (My other cat is as dumb as a post and just craps, purrs and chews on things.  I love him too of course.)

To me the magic thing about cats is that they managed to become domesticated without giving up any of their essential wildness.  They’re the only animal that’s only domesticated when they feel like it.  It’s something to aspire to, in my opinion.

  Dogs like everyone, more or less.

That really depends on the breed of the dog.  Wolf-type dogs (Akitas, Huskies, Samoyeds, etc.) often have a fiercely protective streak and can be very arbitrary about who they decide is “in the pack” and who is not.  You can’t just win them over with some belly scratches and that goofy “talking to dogs” voice people use.

My tortoiseshell tabby, Catwoman, lives up to her feline independent-minded reputation like no cat I’ve ever had before.  She actually chose her own name.  I had named her Dumplin because she was such a chubby little kitten.  Taking great offense at this, she refused to acknowledge it.  Just joking around, I started calling her “Catwoman,” and she came right to me every time I did. 

“Yes,” she was saying, “this is who I am—a super-shero.”  Talk about high self-esteem. 

Whenever I tell people that Catwoman steals my covers every night, they’re sure I lead a very interesting life.

Post is by Nicholas Wade.  Nothing is worse than cat trolling.

I dunno. Anyone who talks about mindless canine subservience has obviously never had a dog.

I like cats, i like dogs. I’m suspicious of people who don’t like companion animals of whatever flavour (ha@MikeEss)

“And then Casimir, our tuxedo cat, leaped into the air and grabbed the bat before it could get into my kids’ rooms. I was so grateful. I’m sad that I couldn’t get the bat out of the house while he was alive, but I’m glad I didn’t have to get a rabies shot. I like to think that Cas saved me from that fate.”

Growing up, our maine coon Skywalker (yes, 5 year old me got to name him) was the source of the bats flying around our house. Two separate times, he dragged a bat inside and then let it lose. And he he just watched the fun.

The best way, I found, to catch bats is a table cloth. When we were in college, my now wife was renting a house that was often a bat cave, so I got used to that. You just flop the table cloth up into their flight path and they get caught up in it. Then you fold it around them and take it outside and dump them out of it. I used the bathrobe I was wearing once, being just roused at 6 a.m. My now wife really, really doesn’t like bats, so I was acting quickly to get rid of it and I didn’t quite think about the implications of that until I realized I was naked on the back stoop, gently shaking the bat out of the robe.

As I was reading earlier in this thread Conan the aptly named started a fight with our 65 pound sheperd mix. My wife always says that his self image is of a mountain lion and he’s surprised when he can’t send you sprawling with a flick of the paw.

if only cats could learn to catch trolls..

It’s not that cats don’t like people, it’s that they actively try to kill us.

that’s right - the catriarchy hurts everyone.

Man I’m convinced that there’s some really weird confirmation bias going on. Because none for the two dozen odd dogs that I’ve lived with in my life have ever asked for more than a little food once in a while. Meanwhile every cat I know refuses to take no for an answer when it comes to wanting constant attention and won’t shut up if you’re more than 30 seconds late with food or un-forthcoming with table scraps.

I guess when cats can’t handle five seconds without people they’re “demanding” not “needy.”

Well yes, my cast demand attention frequently.  And are super annoying when they aren’t getting what they want from me.  However, what makes me like cats more than I like dogs is that I don’t have to worry about leaving them alone in the house for too long.  I know not all dogs are like this, but the of the 3 dogs in my life (only one of them is mine) they do the following:  Dog 1 gets bored and goes through the bathroom trash and tries to find women’s panties to play with.  Dog 2 gets bored and destroys things unless she is in a crate.  Dog 3 stands or lies at the door waiting wistfully for her owner to return.

In my experience, dogs depend on their owners a lot more.  Like cats, they depend on them for food and love.  Dogs seem to depend on their owners for, like, everything.

My tortoiseshell tabby, Catwoman, lives up to her feline independent-minded reputation like no cat I’ve ever had before.

I didn’t hear this until 10 years into owning my (late) cat Natasha, but apparently there’s this personality called “tortie-tude” that tortoiseshell cats tend to have.  She definitely had a bit of it—she was very stubborn and wanted what she wanted when she wanted it.  She died of cancer but fought it every single step of the way, to the point that, the night before she died, she shoved Boris away from the food dish so she could eat in front of him and remind him who was boss.

I’m convinced that there’s some really weird confirmation bias going on. ...

I guess when cats can’t handle five seconds without people they’re “demanding” not “needy.”

Yes! I think this is it exactly. When a cat does want attention, people say things like “Oh he wants his slaves to hop to and serve him!” Whereas when a dog begs for attention she’s slavish and devoted, of course.

The same thing with the neediness versus independence question. I’ve known plenty of dogs who were more than happy to just have their own lives and would prefer humans not interrupt them until dinnertime, thanks very much.

Maybe another part of this is that we already regard dogs as trainable and moldable: because we’re used to the idea that we can extract certain behaviors out of them, those behaviors become what we expect from dogs and we talk about how devoted and subservient they are and how dignified cats are. But cats are every bit as trainable as dogs, most people just don’t bother (perhaps because training dogs has come to be seen as manly and worthwhile and everyone knows only silly ladies mess about with cats too much). And anyone who talks about the inherent dignity of cats has never seen a cat chasing imaginary gremlins across the kitchen.

Cats aren’t any more independent than dogs, really, in the big picture; they’re both domesticated and dependent on humans for safe lives. Loose cats and dogs will both go feral in groups, eventually, but their lives will be nasty, short and brutish. I hate the “cats are independent” meme because it seems to almost encourage neglect.

teac, the TAM convention is at the Southpoint Casino.  If you want to come.

Amanda, I’d love to——I’m studying for the Bar exam so my time is not unlimited.

I know where the casino is. How can we work this out? Do you have access to my registration info? If so, if you want send me an email.

My wife works at one of the Cirque shows - can I tease you with that??

YES! Very much yes.

And now that we have no cat of our own, the local “apartment complex cat” has adopted us as her primary, or near primary, source of affection. They put out food for her at the office, sure, but do they have the time to stroke her or tease her with makeshift toys? Not as often as we do. She likes the food we give her, but today she made her priorities absolutely clear by walking around for pettings far from our door for a number of minutes, when she knows we can’t feed her until we get inside.

By the way, our last cat actually did something quite useful.

We’re asthmatic and have air filters going most of the time, but one is rather loud and we would need to turn it off sometimes to deal with a poor cell phone connection or a movie too pianissimo. Then we’d forget to turn it on again later.
If the air was smoggy, she would notice the difference(or noticed we were breathing hard, I’m not sure which) and sit on the air filter machine and meow until we glommed on to what she was telling us. As soon as we reached for the switch, she quieted down.

Besides, their purrs lower blood pressure and bring people comfort. How is that not useful?

Well, I’m going for my second guide dog on Sunday, and guide dogs have been extremely useful to me…but they are needy and do take a lot of work. I’m allergic to some cats, but like them very much and try to make a point to spend time with friends cats (which I can do in small doses with the help of Claritin). But the second there could be a non-allergenic guide cat who could compromise crossing the street to a human speed, I’d be all over that. They would be so easy to travel with! I’d have room for my feet on the airplane rather than being in the “stirrup position” all the time.

In any case, I am always suspicious of guys who say they vehemently hate cats. It always clues me in that they can’t be around things that cannot be dominated and view relationships in hierarchal terms. Not a good start to get on my good side.

Having 3 dogs and 2 cats at the present, I can’t say (nor would) what species I prefer.  They are family pure and simple, and I feel sad for those who can’t get enjoyment from the wee beasties.  And as for those who use the excuse of allergies as the reason they don’t like said beasties - there is something fundamentally wrong with them and should be examined.

Yes I like cats too.
socre

I have a dog, and many cats - so what everybody else said above… I just have to respond to express how impressed I am with Reba’s former cat that killed a pair of adult racoons. That is truly f***in’ impressive! Hell, even most big(ger) dogs I know of would hesitate before taking on one of those nasty bastards (and lest anyone misinterpret this, I do not hate racoons, but still do not like them in the yard knocking over garbage cans or in the house, rummaging through the cupboards…)

I love cats and dogs the same, and hope I never have to be without either. My partner and I have two of each right now and couldn’t imagine our lives without a single one of them. All four of them are extremely affectionate. This is 100% the truth: as I type this, one of my cats is draped across my shoulders drooling on my head (it’s just what he does sometimes and the other three critters are lying on the bed next to my chair. The other cat comes running across the room meowing when she wants petting, and loves to roll around on the floor while I pet her. Also, other peoples’ cats always always love me, no matter how misanthropic they are. My dogs are a little high-maintenance, it’s true, but they’re also so sweet and funny, and such good company, that they’re worth it.

I really don’t get people who don’t like animals at all. I have a friend who always wants to come over (I think because I like baking, honestly) and yet she freaks out if one of my pets even breathes on her, let alone touches her, and I have to hold onto all 4 of them the whole time she’s here. It’s exhausting and it makes the animals unhappy, so I don’t have her over anymore unless it’s a group thing. My crew are all well-behaved, she just thinks they’re gross (which they’re not - they’re clean). Sigh.

if only cats could learn to catch trolls

Funny that ... we just watched Stephen King’s Cat’s Eye on Wednesday night…

Another cat lover here. My cats have been mousers in their day, and even though most of their “hunting” these days takes the form of chasing after laser pointers, they still act as very low-cost stress relievers for my husband and I. Nothing quite relaxes you like having a furry head nuzzle up against you and start purring. In fact, a recent study found cat owners have a lower heart attack risk.

You hear a lot from people who haven’t had cats that cats don’t actually like people.

And I tell those people that just because cats don’t like them doesn’t mean that cats don’t like any people.  Every cat I’ve ever met has liked me.  My own cat gets excited the second I walk in the door.  It’s amazing how relevant this is to the post yesterday where some guy claimed that women don’t like any men.  Just because we don’t like that specific man doesn’t mean we don’t like any of them.  In fact, didn’t Limbaugh once use a cat as an analogy for a wive?  Understandably, neither cats nor women like Limbaugh, but that doesn’t mean cats and women don’t like anyone.

Also, cats are pretty useful.  They were domesticated because they were beneficial to people.  Tierney apparently does not know much about history.  Cats always have been and still are useful for killing vermin.  Not only did this protect grain and other crops from pests, it helped to limit the spread of certain diseases.  I’d say that’s pretty damn useful.  Even now, I don’t worry about bugs in my apartment because I know my cat will catch them (unless there’s a whole nest of cockroaches or something).

Cats are also extremely useful in teaching kids (and adults) important life skills.  You have to learn how to communicate non-verbally.  I know that growing up with cats and other pets made me better at caring for young children who can’t talk yet.  I’m more aware of the signals of discomfort if I’m holding them wrong.  I understand how they need to be supported when I’m holding them.  I can more easily determine how they feel, and I have better insight into how to comfort them when they are stressed.

Katz iz smartur thn dogz.
Can I haz tuna now?

signed,
Katz

Teddy bear hamsters kick both canine and feline ass.

Cat v Troll

(I really should have put this in my earlier comment)

Teddy bear hamsters kick both canine and feline ass.

This another one of your duct-tape fetishes, norbizness?

“All the other species, in the authors’ view, were bred by people for their desired qualities. Cats, being without utility, were not.”

Then the author is ignorant of the subject and isnt worth taking the time to listen to

Cats were not bred????

Take a look at a cat statue from ancient Egypt and tell me its the same animal as a Persian.

They are as different as a Beagle is from an African Wild dog

Kate: This is not the correct use for a perambulator.

Somebody failed to read Guns, Germs, Steel, and Cats.

Didn’t get to read all comments as I am late to this thread, but I will say that I love my cats & I know that they love me. Anyone who says cats are useless is lying. 

Cats are the best. I’ve always had a deep affinity, and I can convince almost any but the feral or psycho kitties to come say hello. I have a Platonic feline life partner who actively competes with my wife for my attention. When we have people over, she’ll park herself in the exact center of social gravity for maximum attention. She’s more sociable and engaging than a lot of dogs.

Useless is a defining feature of the Little Yappy Dog (and my baby is bigger than lots of little LYDs). Actually useless is a complement to the wretched things. I’ve loathed them ever since one tried to emasculate me when I was seven (I jumped at just the right moment, and the beast only took a chunk out of my inner thigh).

I really wonder why there needs to be any usefulness in having a pet.  There’s guard dogs, hunting dogs, and cats that get rid of pests, but when it comes down to it, there isn’t anything inherently useful about having a pet.  In other words, having a pet isn’t about its usefulness to you, it’s about the companionship that a pet can provide.  It’s not exactly useful to keep birds, fish, turtles, ferrets or hedgehogs, etc., but people do keep them as pets.  It seems to utilitarian to have an animal around to do something and refer to it as a “pet”, when really, you just want to guard your property or get rid of mice.  I don’t think everything in life has to be useful, and the joy of having a pet is worth it for the entertainment value.

I don’t see that everything has to be about work and “the bottom line” (or “usefulness”) or just in having basic needs met.  People don’t need or want to be serious all of the time, and pets provide a wealth of frivolous entertainment as well companionship, cat or dog or whatever pet.  If you’re assessing a pet solely based on its usefulness to you, that says more about you than it does about the animal.

prime evidence of feline utility:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ0nE1u7cv4

Cats are also extremely useful in teaching kids (and adults) important life skills.

@ catgirl:  This reminds me so much of the poem _Jubilate Agno_, by Christopher Smart.  He was an insane (literally) poet in the later 18th century.  Anyway, he had a cat named Jeoffry, and his feelings about the cat are all mixed up with his feelings about religion.  Here’s a sampling:

For in his morning orisons he loves the sun and the sun loves him.
For he is of the tribe of Tiger.
For the Cherub Cat is a term of the Angel Tiger.
For he has the subtlety and hissing of a serpent, which in goodness he suppresses.
For he will not do destruction, if he is well-fed, neither will he spit without provocation.
For he purrs in thankfulness, when God tells him he’s a good Cat.
For he is an instrument for the children to learn benevolence upon.
For every house is incomplete without him and a blessing is lacking in the spirit.

—“For I Will Consider My Cat Jeoffry,” Christopher Smart.

And anyone who talks about the inherent dignity of cats has never seen a cat chasing imaginary gremlins across the kitchen.

lol Yes.  I have a calico but I also have two siams, so I get lots of their so “refined”, “delicate”, “dignified” kind of comments.  All I can think at the point is “Yeah, until they run headfirst into a wall chasing the used q-tip they pulled out of the garbage.” Dignified, that’s it.

So three cats and I have a dog, really my whole life I have inundated with animals. I have to say with the experience that kind of lifestyle you really start to realize how different they all really are.

They do have some similarities. My cats all come by name, instilled in them for safety reasons.  All of them are complete snuggle addicts who love tummy rubs but they have such distinct personalities. My eldest siam is the biggest suck in the world, he will crawl on to my chest to demand kisses and to be held like a baby.  So much for aloof! Even then however he will take some time to warm up to strangers. Which might be part of the reason some think that cats don’t like people but then I have my calico who falls in love with everyone and everything that walks through the front door!

My dog is also the complete opposite of the “stereotype” as well, she has no use for anyone except for me.  Most of the time she won’t even take an offered treat from a stranger (aka the vet tech, or one of my family members) and if she does she’s actually pretty conniving about it.  Pulls the whole ‘I’m a cute puppy’ routine then snatches the treat, turns heel and runs so they can’t pet her.  Then she will continue to ignore them completely. Even my poor partner is largely ignored; though we have had her for over a year she is just finally starting to greet him when he comes home.

My cats all know their names, and prick up their ears and turn their heads when I call.  Whether they come is whether they think I am more interesting than whatever else they are currently doing (and if what they are doing is napping in the sun, it’s unlikely). 

Mine also have “needy time.”  They can go for DAYS where we barely see them, as they are Cats of Industry and have Things To Do (like the aforementioned running headfirst into a wall chasing the used q-tip.  They LOVE them some q-tips).  Then, all of a sudden, it’s like WE’VE been neglecting THEM, and they beg and meow and beg for pets and more pets and special pets and bathroom time (don’t even TRY going to the bathroom alone).

Siobhan, we have LOVE TIME.  Time for love, kitty love, warm soft kitty loving.  Love time.

This is around 4 pm and 10 pm daily for my big boy; little girl wants love when younger boy goes to bed and when I go to bed and when I wake up (or am SUPPOSED to wake up!)

Flip, thanks for the poem!  Though, sometimes they just can’t help themselves - a little destruction never hurt anyone, especially when the paper bag calls you a dirty name.

Lexie, that’s exactly the advice my aunt gave me many years ago - if a guy says he “doesn’t trust” cats because they’re so “independent” and stuff, ‘nuff said.

Cat #2 doesn’t even let my husband put down his thermos when he gets home - lap time commences within 5 seconds of key hitting lock. It doesn’t last very long, but she protests loudly if he delays. Cat #1 is already on my lap, helping me read the paper.

Oh, and to get a bat out of your house: if it’s dark outside, try turning off all the lights indoors, turn on a porch/outside light, and leave that door open (first securing all indoor kitties, of course). The bat should fly to the light. Cats I had growing up were very useful in that they let us know about the bat, but then their work was done.

Ms. Kate,

I would love it if our cats would go on schedule.  MOST days my alarm goes off and our youngest, m0053, comes a-running for morning pets.  But not every day.  And MOST of the time when we get home and get chores done and hit the couch our oldest, Sophie, comes and snuggles.  But not every time.  As I said, sometimes they have Things To Do.  One thing you can count on:  if there is a new person in the house who has Not Petted the p1ng, she is all over said person until they do.  It took my cat-hating brother 2 solid days of p1ng appeal, but he finally succumbed.  Her greatest conquest to date.

Shiny:  for some reason, bag time always seems to be the middle of the night.  And if there is no bag to be found in the bedroom, they will find one and bring it in.

Most of my current kitties are complete lap sluts.  The second anyone sits down, they’re inundated with demanding cats.  The exceptions are my special boy, Ronin, who only recently deigned to let my husband pet him or crawl up on him.  We’ve had him for 14 years.  He spends most evenings parked on my shoulder while I type on the laptop, which is a compromise from the kitty bandolier position that was screwing up my shoulder. 

We just got a new kitten, and she’s very busy killing… everything, but when she starts to wind down, she crawls up next to me or my husband and purrs her little motor right out, before falling asleep on whomever.  She came to us after surviving a 30 ft fall off a balcony and only scratching up her nose, hence the name “Jimmy Superfly Snookums.” 

People who come over frequently comment on how affectionate my cats are.  But since they’ve been with me they haven’t known anything but love, affection and care, so they mostly have no reason to be distrustful.  If someone comes over and isn’t immediately mobbed by cats, I generally don’t invite them over again, and frequently things will come to light later that validate the cats’ opinion. 

I like dogs too, but you can’t just leave a dog for the weekend with a self-feeder and several bowls of water.  Although, we are considering adopting a retired racing greyhound.  Fortunately my family are available for dog-sitting duty (since I dog-sit frequently for them), and we don’t travel that much anyway.

my only beef with cats is they usually hate ME. we’re talking biting, chasing, hissing, etc.

Also, the dog is a shit-eater.  She’ll eat cat shit from the litter box.  She’ll eat dirty diapers.  (The shit she makes from digested diapers is a mess, almost as bad as partially digested rat.) She’ll eat other dog’s shit.

Ted Rall had a great cartoon about that where a couple decided that they were looking at the coprophagia from the wrong angle.

“We don’t have to keep buying dog food!”

“We never have to clean the litter box again!”

it’s that they actively try to kill us. 

schism

It’s true.

My girlfriend refuses to believe me but I know her kitten thinks of nothing but murder all day

I had a kitten that constantly climbed my pants leg for petting, treats and to reach my jugular.

Somehow I end up with affectionate cats, but not lap-sitters.  Keaton requires me to pick him up and give him a hug every morning, and then he’s ready to jump down and get back to cat business.  Annie will not let me go to bed at night until I spend 10 minutes rubbing her belly, but she won’t sit in my lap.  She will snuggle down next to G. and fall asleep across his arm, trapping him on the couch for at least half an hour.  Not that I’m jealous or anything ...

To be fair to her, though, she’s (a) an unusually small cat (she barely tops 6 pounds) and (b) she lived with ferals for a while, so she still doesn’t entirely believe that we’re not planning to kill and eat her one of these days.  G. still says that we didn’t get a cat—Keaton got one, and sometimes he’ll share her with us.  They really are totally bonded.  Nothing blisses her out more than to have one of us petting her at the same time that Keaton is washing her face—it’s kitty heaven!

I had a kitten that constantly climbed my pants leg for petting, treats and to reach my jugular.

Keaton is smarter than that—he goes for the joints.  Take the monkey out at the knee and go for the jugular when they’re immobilized on the ground. 

The cats get a treat of wet food every night and one night G. was a little late with it.  Annie walked up to him while he was sitting on the couch and (lightly) bit him on the arm.  I still think her message was, “Look, pal, either you put out the food or I eat you instead.  Your choice.”

I’m not a cat person.  But on reflection, it occurs to me that I’m not an “outside” cat person, but indoor cats are okay.  I live out in the country where I get actually wildlife, beautiful birds, lizards, rabbits, etc., in my yard. I don’t appreciate it when someone else’s pet shows up and slaughters the wildlife (and yes, cats, as a non-native predators, do slaughter the native wildlife) and shits in my flower beds.  I’m otherwise predator friendly and have no issue with the roadrunners, hawks and coyotes.  But cats are not welcome in my yard.

On the other hand, I take issue with the idea that a pet must be useful.  Perhaps this was true when we were hacking out a living on the frontier, but by and large few modern pets aren’t particularly useful.  And so what?  Cat, dog, hamster, horse…whatever, they each can bring joy to our lives.

My current dog is a retired racing greyhound.  As a breed, greyhounds are notably lazy, and moreso retired hounds.  They certainly aren’t prone to the kind of slavish, obsessive compulsive need to please you as other breeds (borders collies, I’m looking at you).  This greyhound is especially leery of strangers and really only likes my husband and I.  He’s more high-maintenance than a cat because he needs to be let outside to do his business, but spends most of his time asleep on his huge pile of bedding.

My other pet is an independent-minded, opinionated Arabian horse.  Frankly, he is the smartest animal I’ve even owned (or been owned by).  I figure his personality is more like a cat than dog, since the best way to approach any new task is to try and convince him that it is actually his idea and not mine.

“by and large few modern pets are particularly useful.”  Ugh.  Hit preview twice, still missed that.

I live out in the country where I get actually wildlife, beautiful birds, lizards, rabbits, etc., in my yard. I don’t appreciate it when someone else’s pet shows up and slaughters the wildlife (and yes, cats, as a non-native predators, do slaughter the native wildlife) and shits in my flower beds.

Fair enough.  One of the reasons our cats are not allowed outside is that we can tell from playing with them that they would terrorize the neighborhood prey animals.  They’d probably manage to decimate the bird population within a 3-mile radius all by themselves. 

The ideal for everyone would probably be for us to move into an old mouse-infested house—they could hunt to their heart’s content without harming the outside ecosystem.

I love both cats and dogs, and I really, really look forward to when we have the money and a place to have a pet.  When I was a kid, we had a cat who was very affectionate.  Dumber than a pile of bricks, but loved to sit in your lap and purr.  Meanwhile, my parents were adopted by a mini-Schauser, and while he likes to have his belly rubbed, he’s quite happy to take most people or leave them. 

In the cats killing things file:  Mom is convinced that our other cat, Blackie (yes, yes, we were so inventive as kids!) was attempting to teach us how to hunt.  He would bring us dead mice and birds, and was mildly disappointed when his gifts would end up as compost rather than food.  He brought a live baby rabbit into the house one day, and our reactions so disappointed him that he reverted back to small, dead prey.  He was affectionate, in that pretend-aloof way that cats have.  He used to sleep on my bed at night, until I was asleep, then jump off the top bunk to go do his nightly cat things.  I only found out about this when he became too arthritic to jump down, and would instead wake me up so I could place him on the floor.  I still miss that cat.

Oh, and to get a bat out of your house: if it’s dark outside, try turning off all the lights indoors, turn on a porch/outside light, and leave that door open (first securing all indoor kitties, of course). The bat should fly to the light. Cats I had growing up were very useful in that they let us know about the bat, but then their work was done.

Shiny on 07/10 at 12:30 PM

Works for birds in daylight too.  But cover all the windows with towels first, or they’ll beat themselves silly flying at the window.

Every cat I’ve ever met has liked me.

Same here.  Everytime I’ve visited a house with 1 or more cats, the cats come out to greet me at least….if not mob me then and there.  This is in contrast to several friends who would either be ignored on the same visit…or treated with downright hostility. 

As for cats being “useful” for hunting rodents and vermin….many may be capable of that….but this is not a trait applicable to all cats.

Heard a story of one kitten who ended up being chased by several rats* and ended up running into a local police station in 1950’s Taipei.  When the police chief saw this, he shooed the rats away and took care of the kitten until she was given to a child of one of the police officers. 

Also, a younger friend who grew up in a rural part of Maine had one male cat who preferred to befriend and play with the resident mice rather than kill or chase them out of the house.  Closest metaphor for their relationship is Tom and Jerry relaxing together singing kumbaya while ignoring the exasperated humans. 

* And these rats were nowhere near as large as the monster-sized ones in the NYC subway system or the one’s I’ve seen in the Fenway/Kenmore area of Boston.

((PSST AMANDA:  John Tierney is not the author of the article, Nicholas Wade is.))

I (heart) my babies: a Russian Blue female and a male B/W Tuxedo.  If I were ever to purchase a breed of cat, I would purchase a Russian Blue in a heart beat.  Anyone who thinks that cats cannot be companion-oriented needs to read up on this breed.  That said, I’m pretty sure that *I* am their pet and not the other way around… 

I find them very sensitive - when I’m sick, they’re on me or laying next to me.  When one ran away for a few days, the other one stuck by my side.  (To be fair, these two animals are “mama’s babies”)  And my girl will lay in your arms if you pick her up or perch on the shoulder.  The boy, not so much, but every now and again he deems it acceptable to stay in my arms for a minute or so.  But he’s really into rubbing his head against your head.  And he purrs in a snap—one or two pets and turbo-purr is in effect. 

Prior to the water fountain, they were boarded at their vet.  Upon p/u, there were compliments galore about them and two offers for a home *if* I was to get rid of them ((Not gonna happen)).  Apparently, it’s the boy who is the attention seeker and would crawl over his sister or lay on top of her to get the first pets from the techs. 

My girl loves to play fetch - I throw her ball, she goes to town on it, then brings it back to me to start all over again.  And yes, Q-TIPS!  Wonderful, cheap toy that entertains them for hours. 

And the ease of a clean litterbox, a self-feeder and a water fountain allows for guilt-free long weekend trips.  When the trips are longer, someone stops to check on them and give them some companionship. 

Overall, not opposed to dogs, but they are a lot of work/time whereas my cats are not.

I’m also a cat magnet. Even the most “OMG that cat does not like people!” cat has at least come up to me for skritches.

I would never let my cats outdoors, they rely on me completely for protection and safety and there are too many dangerous outside of the house: in the city it was traffic, in the more rural areas its larger predators and all-around asshole creatures (possums, raccoons), not to mention rabies. Plus, people always compliment me on how silky and shiney my cats are: it’s because they don’t roll around in the dirt all day!

I don’t appreciate it when someone else’s pet shows up and slaughters the wildlife (and yes, cats, as a non-native predators, do slaughter the native wildlife)

Thank you for bringing this up. It’s all well and good to have your babies hunting rats and mice outside but the songbird population in the US is plummeting and pet cats (not feral cats, pet cats) are believed to be a major factor. The large numbers of outside pet cats in the country have a giant ecological impact.

And don’t even get me started on the cat shit in my flower beds. Ugh. I’m responsible for *my* cat’s shit, why should I have to be responsible for the neighbor cats’ shit as well?

Nothing makes me melt like when my cat Harriet is curled up next to me and snoring.  Kitty snores are so fucking cute.

@kristin:

That’s one of the reasons my horde never go outside.  That and we have coyotes, raccoons and bad-driving morons.

GGR, at least 3 cats on our block (one of them my baby, sadly, who escaped several times when he wasn’t supposed to be out) were hit by cars and killed in the last 2 years. I don’t understand how my neighbors could lose 2 cats in 2 years and still be letting their cats outside.

And if you don’t have traffic, seems like you have coyotes and stuff. Yup.

Mom is convinced that our other cat, Blackie (yes, yes, we were so inventive as kids!) was attempting to teach us how to hunt.  He would bring us dead mice and birds, and was mildly disappointed when his gifts would end up as compost rather than food.  He brought a live baby rabbit into the house one day, and our reactions so disappointed him that he reverted back to small, dead prey.

It’s very likely your mom was right.  Here the poor cat was saying, “Look, I’m not going to be around forever, so you kids are going to have to learn to do this for yourself” and being rejected.  So he went back to, “Fine, I’ll keep feeding you, but don’t come crying to me after I’m dead and you don’t have anything to eat.”  Hunting is, to a large extent, a taught behavior for cats, so he was probably doing what his mother did when he was a kitten:  bringing back half-dead prey so you could practice on it.

Also, I have a real bone to pick with the people who do let their cats outside: we live “in town” and a lot of people have outdoor cats. Our properties aren’t exactly huge, most houses sit on their property line with only a few feet of yard space on any side. There are catfights all the time, and when cats come cruising by my house, it drives my cats INSANE. So, because people have decided to let their cats out ... to get in fights, to risk getting killed by cars or predators or rabies ... I get the added pleasure of worrying if my cats are going to go so apeshit about their territory that they’ll try to spray my house.

And yes, my cats are fixed. Cats that are fixed still spray if they think their territory is in danger.

And if you don’t have traffic, seems like you have coyotes and stuff. Yup.

Both of those, plus our very own mountain lion (though it seems much more interested in eating the deer in Griffith Park than in bothering humans, fortunately), mean that if our cats ever do get to spend quality time outdoors, it will be inside an enclosure.

Mnemosyne—one thing I say over and over again is that it’s a popular fallacy that “cats think they’re human.” They don’t. They think of you as a very large, bald, insane cat who happens to be the pride leader. So they hunt for you, and they bring you things, and occasionally they try to save you from yourself (for a while, my boy cat was very concerned by this habit I had of stepping under a stream of water for several minutes every day. Finally, he started jumping in the tub while I was getting ready for my shower, feverishly start cleaning himself, then when I approached the tub, give me a look like “hey, I’m using this!” in hopes that I would find something else to do).

@Mighty Ponygirl:

Also, girl cats will spray.  Fortunately the new addition has not engendered any pee-wars, just a lot of growling and hissing, which is mostly subsiding as they discover, “Hey, this thing’s pretty fun to bat around.”

One thing that drives me nuts around Seattle is all the people who move “out” into areas that are still predominantly forested, if not actual wilderness, and then bitch about the cougars and bears.  Kind of like the idiots who move into the nightclub district and then bitch because the noise doesn’t stop at ten.  Do some research morons.

Karinna wrote:

Blackie (yes, yes, we were so inventive as kids!) was attempting to teach us how to hunt.

Given that we’ve had cats named Orange, Grey, Black, Little Grey, Pink and White, I certainly can’t criticize naming a cat “Blackie.”

(for a while, my boy cat was very concerned by this habit I had of stepping under a stream of water for several minutes every day. Finally, he started jumping in the tub while I was getting ready for my shower, feverishly start cleaning himself, then when I approached the tub, give me a look like “hey, I’m using this!” in hopes that I would find something else to do).

Boris would just sit on the edge of the tub and peer at me around the shower curtain like, “What in the hell are you doing?”  Keaton is scared of the shower but tries to pretend his quick walk out of the bathroom when the water goes on is totally coincidental.  Both of the girls were completely uninterested in the shower.

Boris used to love to lounge in the empty bathtub—again, that thick undercoat in Southern California meant he was probably roasting all of the time—but when we got Keaton, he decided to pee in the tub.  And worse.  So now we have to keep the sliding door closed all of the time lest he decide to use it as his litterbox again.

Oh, wait, Annie is somewhat interested in the shower, at least to the extent of wandering around on the top of the shower door.  Not while the shower’s on, just when she’s bored.  Yesterday she figured out how to jump from the top of the bookcase onto the curtain rod in the living room.

I could do without this dog, but it will break my wife’s heart when she goes. She had her before she met me.

“He accidentally ran in front of a lawn-mower.  Let me commiserate with you.”

Same here.  Everytime I’ve visited a house with 1 or more cats, the cats come out to greet me at least….if not mob me then and there.  This is in contrast to several friends who would either be ignored on the same visit…or treated with downright hostility.

I’ve also got this problem.  I tend to get mugged by cats on the street.

I think they can tell somone who knows the sweet spot under the chin.

Mnemosyne: When Mrs Pico and I were first married, we had a longhair tortoiseshell cat named Jill.  We didn’t have a shower.  Jill would sit on the corner edge of the bathtub while one of us would bathe, and she’d flick her tail around.  Occasionally the long fur on that plume of hers would hit the water, getting wet—and slightly heavier.  By the end of a bath, Jill’s tail would be straight down, into the bath water.  We then had to wring out Jill’s tail, or she’d track water all over the apartment.

“He accidentally ran in front of a lawn-mower.  Let me commiserate with you.”

“Grimalkin” by Thomas Lynch

He also has an essay about the same cat in his book, Bodies In Motion and At Rest, that he wrote almost 10 years after “Grimalkin,” because the damn cat refused to die.

@ Mnemosyne:  Huh, that’s really cool!  Although, we got Blackie when he was a kitten, and he was largely raised by our black lab.  The poor cat was so lost when the dog died that he didn’t clean himself for a week. 

And ooooohhhhh yes, female cats can still spray.  Actually, our dumb kitty was a spayed female, and after a series of life- and place-changing events, she sprayed everything in our basement.  Repeatedly.

<i>A couple of summers ago, I was walking by my living room and just about had a heart attack as I realized there was a bat flying around the room. I love bats, but not in my living room. I felt extremely vulnerable, since the second thing I think of when I think of bats is rabies (first thing: they eat mosquitos, god love em). I put on my earflap hat and winter boots, and with an oven mitt on each hand, I attempted to catch the bat in a couple of pots.</e>

I would have paid good money to have seen this.

HTML FAIL.

now a tale of a cat that eventually died, but must have had a weird genetic mutation to possess 27 lives or more.

Muse was born in germany.  A tiny calico, Muse trapsed along with her female soldier companion and made it back to the US when she did.

Soldier woman married and had a baby and moved into a cozy A-frame in the woods by a pothole lake. 

Muse was sleeping in a loft high in the a-frame when the garage under the first floor exploded and fire rapidly engulfed the house.  Somehow, badly burned, she escaped the burning building when the lower wall burned through. 

Her ears were gone
Her pads were gone
Much of her fur was burned off
Maggots infested her wounds where she walked on her arms to spare her destroyed foot pads
She survived two weeks in the woods, was rescued, and fully recovered save for her obvious damage.

Battle scarred, she followed her family to a new home, in a small northern city.  No ears, half a tale, no fur in places, and somewhat insensitve feet.  One day, she slipped outside when nobody noticed and ended up locked in an abandoned house - for a month.  Of course, when she was found, everybody knew who she was and where to take her.

she recovered, and lived to age 13, quietly dying in her sleep with no drama or trauma.  Not long for a cat to live, but an extraordinary amount of time given her extreme trials.

Cats got humans to invent the internets so that they can be dedicated to cats.

That’s pretty smart.

This is the best thread eva!

after reading this thread, I have decided that people should just post random cat pictures whenever the discussion becomes too heated or when a parady troll like NoSafeSpace decides to hop on and make a mockery of feminism.  That would warm my heart.

if you wake up and there is a bat in the room, rabies shots are recommended

Only if the bat gets away and the brain isn’t tested.  If it wasn’t rabid, they’ll know that, because there’s a 10 period before the modified Pasteur vaccine must be administered, and you don’t want to know the injection site!

So folks, if you think you’ve encountered a rabid mammal, GET THE HEAD.

As for this underrated creature of the night:

I was walking out at night around here when all of a sudden, a bat flying perpendicular to my path flew within mere inches in front of my face.  I didn’t even have time to respond physically until he was gone.

Think about it.  He not only knew where the insect was in the dark(that’s their gig, unless you’re a fruit bat or something else), he knew that I was there at a slow speed, and his little bitty gray matter was able to do the math and give him the green light to acquire the target.

Oh, and anyone who thinks humans haven’t interfered with cats’ breeding plans should probably have a word with the ghosts of several billion drowned, gassed, smothered etc kittens.

10 period

Should be 10 day period. 

From G.B. Shaw’s Back to Methusela:

But pigeon fanciers, dog fanciers, gardeners, stock breeders, or stud grooms, can understand Circumstantial Selection, because it is their business to produce transformation by imposing on flowers and animals a Selection From Without. All that Darwin had to say to them was that the mere chapter of accidents is always doing on a huge scale what they themselves are doing on a very small scale. There is hardly a laborer attached to an English country house who has not taken a litter of kittens or puppies to the bucket, and drowned all of them except the one he thinks the most promising. Such a man has nothing to learn about the survival of the fittest except that it acts in more ways than he has yet noticed; for he knows quite well, as you will find if you are not too proud to talk to him, that this sort of selection occurs naturally (in Darwin’s sense) too: that, for instance, a hard winter will kill off a weakly child as the bucket kills off a weakly puppy.

If cats had opposable thumbs, none of us would be safe. I used to tell my mom that the reason my sister’s cat Tammy ran to the doorbell was that she thought someone was finally delivering her acme-brand human dominating machine.

I love cats anyway, though. They bypass the rational, cynical part of my brain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LBKVXyrHcw

This is totally feral, and my dogs recognize the sound because they are the same breed.

Smoky

Smoky’s tricks enabled her to become a hero in her own right by helping engineers to build an airbase at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, a crucial airfield for Allied war planes.[6] Early in the Luzon campaign, the Signal Corps needed to run a telegraph wire through a 70-foot long pipe that was eight inches in diameter.[2] Soil had sifted through the corrugated sections at the pipe joinings, filling as much as half of the pipe, giving Smoky only four inches of headway in some places. As Wynne himself told the story when he appeared on NBC-TV after World War II:

  “I tied a string (tied to the wire) to Smoky’s collar and ran to the other end of the culvert . . . (Smoky) made a few steps in and then ran back. `Come, Smoky,’ I said sharply, and she started through again. When she was about 10 feet in, the string caught up and she looked over her shoulder as much as to say `what’s holding us up there?’ The string loosened from the snag and she came on again. By now the dust was rising from the shuffle of her paws as she crawled through the dirt and mold and I could no longer see her. I called and pleaded, not knowing for certain whether she was coming or not. At last, about 20 feet away, I saw two little amber eyes and heard a faint whimpering sound . . . at 15 feet away, she broke into a run. We were so happy at Smoky’s success that we patted and praised her for a full five minutes.”

Smoky’s work prevented the need to move 40 United States fighter and reconnaissance planes while a construction detail dug up the taxiway, which would have placed them in peril of destruction by enemy bombings.[8] What would have been a three-day digging task to place the wire was instead completed by this little dog in minutes.[5]

Heard a dog-loving comedian once try to shut the door on the pet wars with three hyphenated words:

Guard-cat
Police-cat
Seeing-eye-cat

But seriously,  I grew up a dog lover and was somewhere between indifferent and hostile to cats.  My allergies were congruent with if not determinative of my negativity towards felines.  Then something happened that openned my eyes.  I moved in with a cat.

I like that she is independent but affectionate.  Dogs make a lot less sense as a pet for me right now - they are too needy.

I am also one of those people to whom cats seem to take an instant liking.

  Not to over dramatize, but my cat saved my life. I adopted her from a litter of trailer park kitties destined for the local pound during a time in my life when I had few friends and little family support. She was there when I came home from school or work and I would talk to her and sing to her (or rather about her) or just hang out with her on my lap or shoulder. I was depressed and desperately lonely and she acted like any loyal friend by being there for me when I needed her. It is a testament to the utter coolness of my cat that she has swayed a few hardline dog fans into the cat camp.

  I know the same could be said of any pet who helps ease loneliness and sadness, but I cannot think of a more useful thing to do than just be a friend to someone who needs one.

  Needless to say I am a total nerd about cats in general and mine in particular!!