# Cats: Natures Most Perfect Living Thing **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 19, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-natures-most-perfect-living-thing/658767 "2013-05-19T22:55:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-natures-most-perfect-living-thing/658767/41 "2013-05-20T16:57:51Z")
They _are_ edible. I think you mean socially acceptable as a food animal. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-natures-most-perfect-living-thing/658767/42 "2013-05-20T17:23:49Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Can there be any debate that it was really the feline that was made in the imageof God? > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Cats are psychopaths. Charming but amoral and unempathic. Well, there you are, then! ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-natures-most-perfect-living-thing/658767/43 "2013-05-20T20:55:28Z")
At one time, cats were worshiped as gods. They have never forgotten that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-natures-most-perfect-living-thing/658767/44 "2013-05-20T21:02:43Z")
I honestly don’t know how you live without having a cat inside your house. It’s like having a little living piece of art that is also very warm and soft. ~ Hank Green. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-natures-most-perfect-living-thing/658767/45 "2013-05-20T21:14:06Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I honestly don’t know how you live without having a cat inside your house. It’s like having a little living piece of art that is also very warm and soft. ~ Hank Green. And poops in a box that you have to clean. Sorry, not gonna happen. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-natures-most-perfect-living-thing/658767/46 "2013-05-20T21:20:47Z")
Sometimes you can train them to use the toilet but really, that sounds like an argument against having a pet at all. ---
**Author:** ![Shoujin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoujin/32/3884_2.png) [@Shoujin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoujin)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-natures-most-perfect-living-thing/658767/47 "2013-05-20T21:25:26Z")
[Cats just want to lul you onto a false sense of security, …and kill you.]([How much do cats actually kill? [Infographic] - The Oatmeal](http://theoatmeal.com/comics/cats_actually_kill)) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-natures-most-perfect-living-thing/658767/48 "2013-05-20T22:32:13Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > In my humble opinion, [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfS258irGaQ&t=0m14s) says it all. > > They are horrible for the environment. Too many people don’t know how to take care of them. Feral cats are a big pest here in S. Texas and a lot of other places. [That guy in New Zealand who wants to ban the damned things has the right opinion.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/new-zealand-cat-ban-gareth-morgan_n_2551243.html) > > [http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-01-31/national/36650863\_1\_outdoor-cats-feral-cat-george-h-fenwick](http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-01-31/national/36650863_1_outdoor-cats-feral-cat-george-h-fenwick) > > 1.4 to 3.7 billion birds killed annually by the little fucks. > Up to 20 billion mammals killed by feral and owned cats. > > And this is just the US alone. God knows what the worldwide total is. I’ve seen the recent spate of articles about this topic, and I’m always curious what people think the numbers mean. Is there a reason to care that cats kill 4 billion birds a year? Is there some species that’s about to go extinct because of murder cats? Is there a precipitous drop in some small mammal population that is cause for alarm? If you think that’s too many deaths per year, what do you think would be an acceptable number of murders by cats and what do you base that estimate on? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-natures-most-perfect-living-thing/658767/49 "2013-05-21T00:14:40Z")
Well, according to [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_cat), cats are blamed or at least partially responsible for the extinction of 33 species world wide. Part of the reason is that there are so many of the things, since they have thrived as one of our companion species. Part of the reason is that, like us, we’ve spread them throughout the world, which allows them to be sheltered by us AND to do what they would naturally do in the wild, which is prey on other species. I don’t know what, if anything can be done about it, but you need to consider the fact that cats aren’t JUST our furry and cute companions, and because they are one of our companion species they have grown in population and well beyond their natural territory, going were we go and expanding their population many, many times over what they would be in the wild. Just a reality check on the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-natures-most-perfect-living-thing/658767/50 "2013-05-21T01:27:16Z")
It’s true that in modern times, most domestic house cats are pretty useless but barn cats and kitchen cats - working cats - play an important role in pest and vermin control which, in historical times, also played an important role in disease control. Cats are fascinating creatures but the idea that humans are their blind slaves is just a silly internet conceit. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-natures-most-perfect-living-thing/658767/51 "2013-05-21T01:50:14Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Well, according to [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_cat), cats are blamed or at least partially responsible for the extinction of 33 species world wide. Part of the reason is that there are so many of the things, since they have thrived as one of our companion species. Part of the reason is that, like us, we’ve spread them throughout the world, which allows them to be sheltered by us AND to do what they would naturally do in the wild, which is prey on other species. Australia does have this rabbit problem . . . ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-natures-most-perfect-living-thing/658767/52 "2013-05-21T04:10:13Z")
I haven’t properly introduced our new kitty yet, but she is an expert snuggler, something I don’t think could be accomplished by a llama or dolphin or what-have-you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-natures-most-perfect-living-thing/658767.md?page=2)