Poll: Why all the hate on Cats?

[Wakefield]

Exactly, dog are loyal and love you, cats just stick around long enough for you to shell out food then leave again.

I have a cat sleeping next to me while I'm on my computer right now. She follows me around everywhere, so I don't think that really works... Maybe in some cases but certainly not with my cat.

My cat loves everyone, stranger or family member.

That being said I would definitely prefer to have a dog, but cats are nice too.

 

[infinity_turtles]

Of course your cat is excited to see you. It's thinking: "Yay, that human who usually gives me food and scratch me behind my ears the way I like just came home."

Towards strangers your cat is wary and revert to become more solitary because it does what most solitary hunter animals do. They keep shy of strangers and try to gague if they can trust the stranger not to jump them at any opportune moment.

But they don't "love" you because of that, even if that's something you like telling yourself because it makes you feel better than acknowledge the fact that you are nothing more than a food and petting machine on legs in the eyes of your beloved pets.

My stepsister's cat, whom I have never fed, runs to her front door when I visit. It never rubs against me though, and in general hates being touched and picked up. It does however like being within' my general area. If I'm the couch, it's on the cushion next to me. If I'm at the table, it's usually under the table. It also hates strangers. I really can't see anything it's possibly getting out of being near me, but it still likes to be.

 

[snowman6251]

I much prefer dogs to cats. Cats are mean and have attacked me before. Dogs are nice.

 

[MattyDienhoff]

I think one reason cats are viewed as cold and anti-social is that cats tend to be very nervous and distrusting of people they're not familiar with, more so than dogs, which would further this perception. Also, sometimes a cat won't warm to a certain person no matter what, even if they're familiar with that person. My household of four people has three cats and each one has developed an affectionate bond with at least one of us, but they're all wary of my dad, they just don't trust him. He's spent plenty of time around them and has never done anything to hurt them, it's just that he has a somewhat loud and obnoxious manner about him which they don't like.

As for the whole "cats are only affectionate for selfish reasons" perception, that's not always the case. One of our three cats bonded with me soon after we adopted her as a kitten, and is always following me around. She sleeps on or near me almost every night, walks on my desk and rubs her head on my nose several times a day, and has never been known to purr for anyone but me. The unusual thing is that I almost never feed her (feeding the cats is part of my sister's routine), so she has nothing to gain from being so affectionate towards me.

 

[Terminate421]

Heres one:

He's totally a good guy

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

My stepsister's cat, whom I have never fed, runs to her front door when I visit. It never rubs against me though, and in general hates being touched and picked up. It does however like being within' my general area. If I'm the couch, it's on the cushion next to me. If I'm at the table, it's usually under the table. It also hates strangers. I really can't see anything it's possibly getting out of being near me, but it still likes to be.

Well, put yourself in the solitary hunter mindset for a while and tell me, what would you do if some person just came into your home like that?

You know that you can't do anything to chase the person out (because your home is owned by someone else), but you don' really trust the person to be "safe" either.

So would you:

a. go about your business as usual, leaving yourself and your source of food and water completely vulnerable to this stranger in your home.

or

b. keep that person at arms length at all times, but still keep checking in on him/her as to make sure that he or she doesn't get the drop on you or try to steal your stuff.

 

[The DSM]

I like cats.

Which is ironic as I have 2 dogs.

I prefer cats, there more indepedant.

 

[Marik2]

I have no problems with cats. Sure I like dogs better but there is nothing wrong with a cat.

Thanks for the nostalgia attack OP, I grew up with that movie!

Also, without cats we wouldn't have Catgirls!

Yup Im in the same boat as you without cats we wouldnt have kinky catgirls :3

 

[Audio]

Because cats kill stuff for fun then drag it back home for their owners to see. Poor pigeon was having breakfast ;__;

 

[monstersquad]

People either love or hate cats, it seems. There's no middle ground. I personally don't like cats. I'm allergic to them, they scratch the shit out of you, stink up your house, etc. I respect cats as animals, I just think it's foolish to keep one as a pet. If you let a cat go feral, it's not like it's changing behaviour. It just doesn't have some desperate human that it can mooch off of.
It's literally like this, would you take ANY other wild, predatory, wholly carnivorous animal into your home other than a cat? Probably not. And dogs aren't carnivores btw, they're omnivorous.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

Because they're stealthy, aloof, apex predators. Also, they hiss like rattlesnakes.

 

[LorChan]

I loooove Milo and Otis. It was my favorite movie as a kid.

I don't hate cats, but I distrust them until they prove that they are good. Why? I think the many, many scars on my hands and feet from she who is known as 'Pepper' can explain that.

I'm out to get you, Pepper. I swear I will have my revenge. Hiss at me all you like, but I will have a victory.

 

[Red Albatross]

I'm terribly sick of the whole debate on which is better. Dogs and cats are simply different, like PC and console gaming. Some people like one, the other, or both, and it'll always be that way as long as they exist.

I have six cats myself. It's quite a lot, but unfortunately there are a lot of people in my immediate vicinity who don't think they should have to pay to have their cats fixed, so we have a colony of sorts in the area. I just take care of as many as I can because I have a soft spot for them.

I don't dislike dogs completely, but I can't stand the little yappy ones. My aunt has a toy Yorkie, a miniature Dachshund, and some other annoying little thing. I pet them and all, because I can't be mean to animals, but I don't really like them. My grandmother had a German Shepherd/Collie mix, though, and I loved that dog. He was extremely intelligent and protected the hell out of my grandma, living alone like she was. If I were to own a dog, it'd be like that.

Anyway, cats and dogs do have vastly different mannerisms and some of the things that one person likes about one, another person won't like. Plus, people who love one and not the other tend to stereotype. Some cats are aloof, yes, but not all are. One of mine is the most affectionate animal I've ever had, he loves curling up with me when I'm sleeping and he cries outside my door if he gets lonely.

/yeah, yeah, cool story bro

 

[infinity_turtles]

My stepsister's cat, whom I have never fed, runs to her front door when I visit. It never rubs against me though, and in general hates being touched and picked up. It does however like being within' my general area. If I'm the couch, it's on the cushion next to me. If I'm at the table, it's usually under the table. It also hates strangers. I really can't see anything it's possibly getting out of being near me, but it still likes to be.

Well, put yourself in the solitary hunter mindset for a while and tell me, what would you do if some person just came into your home like that?

You know that you can't do anything to chase the person out (because your home is owned by someone else), but you don' really trust the person to be "safe" either.

So would you:

a. go about your business as usual, leaving yourself and your source of food and water completely vulnerable to this stranger in your home.

or

b. keep that person at arms length at all times, but still keep checking in on him/her as to make sure that he or she doesn't get the drop on you or try to steal your stuff.

That might make sense if she didn't run and hide from every other stranger that goes in the house. And she does the whole "Stay close but not too close" thing with my step-sister too. The person who feeds her.

 

[esin]

Dogs are easier to train and place in media settings, so they do what the director wants more often. As a result, they are placed in roles sympathetic to the audience and get more screentime. This usually means making them the "good guys." Also, dogs are more "interactive" in the sense that Lassie as a concept works, but a cat is less able to fill such a role in a believable way.

Once dogs are established as good, their natural foil is the cat.

Nail on the head. The reality is that people like what and whom they can control better than what they can't.

 

[volcanblade]

I've always found cats to be very social and interested in people. They are actually very loyal and intelligent.
Dogs on the other hand I like as well, but I'm less fond of them because they smell, bark way too much (forgive me those of you with dogs that don't but my friend's dog drives me nuts he barks really loudly at anything even if its a person he knows), and most importantly for me is that around here a lot of people don't clean up after their dogs.

All that being said I like both I just prefer cats

 

[Worgen]

because cats are confusing, like women so they tend to be portrayed as evil alot and if I were you I would have punched the shit out of your cousin, no one fucks with cats when Im around, that sort of thing tends to make me see red

and yes I can back up that statement about women, look at how often the villian of a game will be a female compared to how often they are the main hero

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

That might make sense if she didn't run and hide from every other stranger that goes in the house. And she does the whole "Stay close but not too close" thing with my step-sister too. The person who feeds her.

Are you saying that the cat didn't run and hide the very first time you came around the house then?

Im betting that it did.

It's just that you've come around several times since then, and thus the cat remains to be wary of you rather than trying to hide from you since you didn't try to catch and eat it the first time.

 

[Wildcard5]

I absolutely adore cats. Mostly because they are one of the few types of animals that will immeaditally approach me without barking or attacking.....