# I Pit Cats In General **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 21, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787 "2008-11-21T04:39:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/41 "2008-11-21T16:25:18Z")
I really think the OP choose some unfortunate phrasing about the stray. Your pets are your responsibility so taking out a threat to them is justified, it’s the pleasure expressed that’s the sore point. I read it to mean he was just happy it wasn’t terrorizing his pets anymore. Not joy in the actual kill. Maybe I’m wrong. At rate I think this post is more frustration for the way the kitty hurt his daughter. **Shagnasty** I think it’s a conflict of natures here. Humans are social. We have social rules, and expectations for how we treat each other. As well as social needs. Cat’s don’t. They’re loaners. It’s just way nature made them. It’s not their fault nor does it make them evil. You might as well pit the sun for being evil because it gives people skin cancer. It’s just nature. They just are. True a human that acted like a cat would be a sociopath but that’s because humans are different. A cat that acted like a human would have something abnormal going on too. Chickens don’t quack. I’m sorry for your daughter and your loss. If you do try getting another pet for her please consider a more social animal that’s suited to being hugged and carried around alot. Both her and the animal will be alot happier with that arrangement. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/42 "2008-11-21T16:33:33Z")
\*\*Rubystreak \*\* beat me to the question about “dishonest.” Well, let’s see. Someone who’s dishonest lies, cheats and steals, right? Cats can’t speak, so how the hell can they lie? They cheat? Again, how? Steal? Well, yeah, I suppose they might, but dogs do as well. Only the VERY MOST well-behaved animals could be trusted with an unattended food item. I give up. HOW are cats dishonest (especially in ways that dogs are not?) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/43 "2008-11-21T16:44:16Z")
> [@TroubleAgain](#): > > \*\*Rubystreak \*\*I give up. HOW are cats dishonest (especially in ways that dogs are not?) I once went to an old lady’s house with my grandmother. When I sat down, her cat came up to my leg in the way that cats do. Then, the cat jumped into my lap and just sat there while I gently pet it. The old lady was amazed because she said the cat didn’t like other people in general. The next few milliseconds were a blur but the cat struck like a cobra and chomped down on my thumb hard and then shredded my arm with its claws for no reason. I have been bitten and scratched by cats many, many times and this was nothing like that. I was bleeding a little and had to wear long-sleeve shirts for a couple of weeks. That cat lied to me even though it couldn’t speak and it was a sociopath on top of that. Ted Bundy often used similar tactics. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/44 "2008-11-21T17:00:37Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > Whenever people say they hate cats, and claim to enjoy hurting them, I figure it says more about them than it does about cats. And it doesn’t say anything good. Couldn’t agree with this more. Anyone who enjoys harming animals or children has some serious issues. Not that I put the OP in this category…I assumed he was being sarcastic. That said, cats do like to get out and cat around then they usually return home after a few days of fun and frolic…unless of course one of the neighbors finished him off with a 30.06. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/45 "2008-11-21T17:14:00Z")
Cats that you know are not unpredictable. I know exactly what each of my cats is going to do in any situation (and when I get clawed or bitten, it’s never a surprise, and I usually earned it). And cats aren’t loners - my husband’s cat cries for him when he comes home and has to run right out again. Both of our cats are never far from us when we’re home - that is not the action of uncaring, loner animals. Hate cats all you want, but don’t make up shit to hate them for. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/46 "2008-11-21T17:30:11Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Humans are social. We have social rules, and expectations for how we treat each other. As well as social needs. Cat’s don’t. They’re loaners. It’s just way nature made them. I’m not sure anyone really wants to see a reasoned debate break out in the Pit ( I understand the OP is venting and I feel for his daughter ), but the above is incorrect. Cats are not _pack_ animals ( unlike dogs and humans, who are ). However cats ARE _social_ animals, at least facultatively so, as anyone who has ever observed feral cat colonies can attest. This as opposed to, say, wolverines, which will never congregate for any reason. While cat behaviour varies widely among individuals, the vast majority of non-abused pet cats I’ve known are pretty affectionate and bonded to their owners, just as they can be with their “siblings.” The difference between them and dogs and how they relate to humans is more one of a very loose hiearchy vs. a very sharp hiearchy. A pet cat will almost invariably still regard you as the boss and dominant figure in your householod just as a ( properly trained ) dog would, but how it responds to that fact is rather different than how a dog does. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/47 "2008-11-21T17:34:44Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > I don’t pride myself on making one I shot linger and suffer. Better a 30-06 than a .22 gut shot. We have our $$$ and our time and effort where our mouths are. You rescue more animals than us, then your opinion might matter if it is more reasoned than killing a bad animal is creepy because he was not all sorry about it.. No, it’s creepy that he _enjoyed_ it. Putting down a stray that’s bothering your pets/children/whatever, and not feeling remorseful: not bad. Putting down a stray and reminiscing about it on a message board as if it were the happiest day of your life: bad. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/48 "2008-11-21T17:51:25Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I’m not sure anyone really wants to see a reasoned debate break out in the Pit Don’t worry about it, it happens all the time. To the OP–So you don’t like cats. Whatever. That doesn’t make them evil or sociopathic. It just makes them cats. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/49 "2008-11-21T17:55:47Z")
When I was nineteen, my father died. Our cat missed him terribly and left several care packages in the middle of the floor, apparently in a bid to get Dad’s attention; I’m told this can happen. I’m sure the cat would move on because cats have brains the size of walnuts, not to put too fine a point on it. But this jealous behaviour annoyed my mother, so she had me take the cat to be put down. Perfectly healthy cat, not nine years old, and beloved pet of her dead husband and my dead father. I’ve never forgiven her for it. And this is my mother I’m talking about. So imagine the contempt I hold for a total stranger who claims the most enjoyable experience of his life is shooting a cat. **Shagnasty** , you are swine. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/50 "2008-11-21T17:58:32Z")
Just for clarification, I don’t enjoy killing cats or most other mammals for that matter. I was a teenager and the stray was screwing with our own cats (sometimes literally) for weeks. I finally got sick of it and got one of my trusty 30.06 rifles with a scope and went out side. The predator was somewhere between 50 and 75 yards away and I was standing so it was far from a certain shot. I made a bet with myself that I only had one shot and that would be the end of it if I missed and I would have to come up with something new with no more shooting although I had no idea what that would be. We lived in the country. The shot was a beautiful one and caused instant death. The 30.06 round is often used for deer hunting and even larger big game animals. The combination of getting rid of a perpetual pest and a nice clean shot is what made it satisfying. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/51 "2008-11-21T18:21:19Z")
Oh, whatever. This OP says things for shock value in this and lots of other threads. Can’t people keep notes or something and ignore him? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/52 "2008-11-21T18:44:56Z")
> [@LadyMack](#): > > Did you read the black parts on the white page? One should always read directions before using explosives. > [@Lady Mack](#): > > Besides, ammo is cheaper than fuel or TNT. Not with gas prices as they are right now. Still, for economy you can’t beat the old truss-'em-up-in-a-sack and toss into the pond. You can recycle the sack. > [@LadyMack](#): > > There are people who want to die and come back as one of my cats. This is an odd fantasy. It is tempting to say that one should always choose life. But each to their own. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/53 "2008-11-21T18:47:58Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > It. > Cats are not _pack_ animals ( unlike dogs and humans, who are ). However cats ARE _social_ animals, at least facultatively so, as anyone who has ever observed feral cat colonies can attest. [Indeed. Not mother/kitten; not related at all.](http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2801444340000735275lItVAQ) [They like hanging out together.](http://pets.webshots.com/photo/1188292633000735275PRiNgG) [Mine often sleep together in clumps.](http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2269697800000735275kGUNto) [Antisocial? Not so much.](http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2175386960000735275wDjRTp) [Another observation.](http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2331387670000735275zIYAVC) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/54 "2008-11-21T18:58:55Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I’m not sure anyone really wants to see a reasoned debate break out in the Pit ( I understand the OP is venting and I feel for his daughter ), but the above is incorrect. > > Cats are not _pack_ animals ( unlike dogs and humans, who are ). However cats ARE _social_ animals, at least facultatively so, as anyone who has ever observed feral cat colonies can attest. This as opposed to, say, wolverines, which will never congregate for any reason. While cat behaviour varies widely among individuals, the vast majority of non-abused pet cats I’ve known are pretty affectionate and bonded to their owners, just as they can be with their “siblings.” The difference between them and dogs and how they relate to humans is more one of a very loose hiearchy vs. a very sharp hiearchy. A pet cat will almost invariably still regard you as the boss and dominant figure in your householod just as a ( properly trained ) dog would, but how it responds to that fact is rather different than how a dog does. Well factually I don’t dispute you’re correct. I meant social in they way the OP apparently expects them to be social. Like dogs are social. I confused terms and sorry about that. I do agree they can be very affectionate to humans. My kitty loves me to death, and I’ve seen my mom’s cat get between her and a large dog. The neighbor’s dog snuck in one day. It was friendly but the kitty didn’t know that, and everywhere the dog went before we chased it out that cat always move to right between my mom and the dog. I just think expecting an inherently independent animal to stick around for something it doesn’t like out of loyalty is a bit much. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/55 "2008-11-21T19:07:02Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I once went to an old lady’s house with my grandmother. When I sat down, her cat came up to my leg in the way that cats do. Then, the cat jumped into my lap and just sat there while I gently pet it. The old lady was amazed because she said the cat didn’t like other people in general. The next few milliseconds were a blur but the cat struck like a cobra and chomped down on my thumb hard and then shredded my arm with its claws for no reason. I have been bitten and scratched by cats many, many times and this was nothing like that. I was bleeding a little and had to wear long-sleeve shirts for a couple of weeks. > > That cat lied to me even though it couldn’t speak and it was a sociopath on top of that. Ted Bundy often used similar tactics. Wait hold up. I retract what I said about you maybe misspeaking. You’re clearly nuts. possible explanations for that cat’s actions are: 1 it’s a lying sociopath out to deceive you 2 it’s a cat, an animal, and therefore doesn’t always act rationally 3 you touched it somewhere it didn’t like and that set it off 4 something about you made it decide you were a threat and should stay away. I’d normally pick option 2 or 3, but after reading that I think 4 deserves some consideration too. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/56 "2008-11-21T19:13:51Z")
Just to correct a misconception from upthread: a 30.06 is not a shotgun. ---
**Author:** ![LadyMack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@LadyMack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LadyMack)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/57 "2008-11-21T19:49:24Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Just to correct a misconception from upthread: a 30.06 is not a shotgun. That was me. Sorry. I know better. Mental inventory of house guns to grab. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/58 "2008-11-21T20:06:42Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Wait hold up. I retract what I said about you maybe misspeaking. You’re clearly nuts. > > possible explanations for that cat’s actions are: > 1 it’s a lying sociopath out to deceive you > 2 it’s a cat, an animal, and therefore doesn’t always act rationally > 3 you touched it somewhere it didn’t like and that set it off > 4 something about you made it decide you were a threat and should stay away. > I’d normally pick option 2 or 3, but after reading that I think 4 deserves some consideration too. For the record, I’m not busting your chops in this thread. I agree with you. Cats are an absolute good (well, perhaps excepting the litter box thing). My little [Clovis](http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z40/Samnite_photos/DSCF0375.jpg) makes me smile like a fool every day. To the OP: sociopaths? Anthropomorphize much? ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/59 "2008-11-21T20:34:37Z")
> [@Roland\_Orzabal](#): > > I don’t know about that. Does your best friend jump all over your other guests on a regular basis? Does he shout his damn fool head off every time someone gets within fifty yards of his house? When you’re eating, does he sit down right next to you and stare until you give him something? > > My friends, when I have guests over, greet them politely or take no interest at all. They pay no mind to people walking past the house, and rarely if ever start screaming for no particular reason. They eat their own food and ask politely for more if they want it. > > Sure, you can train dogs not to do all these things, but cats generally work that way straight out of the box, with little assembly required. I’ve lived with a good number of cats and dogs, and if I ever feel the need to have pets again, I know which way I’m going. Besides, cats aren’t half as aloof as their reputation suggests…they just leave you the hell alone occasionally, which in my opinion is a desirable quality in a pet. Clearly, YMMV. So you’re saying dogs are PCs, cats are Macs? ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787/60 "2008-11-21T21:00:00Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Just for clarification, I don’t enjoy killing cats or most other mammals for that matter. Notice you said most. Nothing like beatin" the chrome off a fuckstain. Just sayin’ 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cats-in-general/473787.md?page=4)