# Starving Kitten: AKA...What the Hell Is Wrong With People? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 21, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457 "2010-07-21T13:04:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/81 "2010-07-23T23:44:31Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Okay, I \*have \*been drooled on by one of my boyfriend’s cats. (Sometimes she gets really into it when you pet her.) But that’s not remotely comparable to constantly trying to lick any exposed bit of skin you can find, especially my face, with a big slobbery tongue. I’ve owned four different dogs in my life. Never been licked by any of them. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/82 "2010-07-24T00:22:19Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I would take that blog post more seriously if it didn’t seem to be on a website that is promoting corgis, one of the worst victims of human breeding programs for purebred dogs (in my opinion, of course). Really? I think the British and American fancies have done a great job with the breed; the dogs have lovely personalities and are very healthy on average with great care being taken to health-test dogs to prevent proliferation of the issues they are prone to. They are dwarfed because a dwarfed dog of their type was considered functionally useful for herding [everything but sheep], driving, ratting, guarding, and hunting in the mountains of Wales for the last 3000 years or so; not because someone thought it was cute and inbred a bunch of dogs to look that way. She’s got [a lot to say](http://blacksheepcardigans.com/ruff/591/implications-of-the-kennel-club-decision-on-the-pekingese-pedigree-dogs-exposed/) about ‘the victims of human breeding programs for purebred dogs’, too (pertaining especially to the sensationalist, anti-purebred special _Pedigree Dogs Exposed_ which got so many people excited). Most of which I strongly agree with. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/83 "2010-07-24T00:38:47Z")
Didn’t mean to abandon my thread…my computer went down and now I’m heading off to work shortly, so I haven’t read all the responses yet, but… UPDATE ON THE KITTEN: I found her a foster home where she’s fed and safe and happy until I can find her a permanent home. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/84 "2010-07-24T00:49:29Z")
That’s so nice of you Audrey. She sounds like she’ll make a lovely pet for someone. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/85 "2010-07-24T02:58:52Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I like cats. Dogs, on the other hand, slobber and shit and stink. Slobber? Yes, many do. Some breeds are notorious for slobbering. Some don’t. My black Lab does not slobber. Stink? Some dogs can if they’re left outside all the time and never properly groomed. Dogs pick up odors from their environments. If you take care of them, they don’t have offensive odors. A bad odor on a well-taken care of dog can be a sign of illness. Not a problem with my dog or any other dog I’ve had in the past. They’ve all been indoor dogs and have had regular grooming. Regular brushing for the short-haired ones and professional grooming for the long-haired ones. It’s my experience if you keep a clean home and the dog spends most of its time in the home, neither the dog nor the home will stink. Dogs do shit. All living beings excrete. My dogs have had proper training however. Dogs can be trained to only urinate and defecate outside and signal their owner when they need to do so. My present dog has not had an accident inside the house in nearly five years. I leave it up to him most times to let me know when he has to go outside and don’t think twice about it. I only have to deal with the shit when I go outside to clean it up. And all of my dogs have been spayed or neutered. I firmly believe in it. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/86 "2010-07-24T03:44:02Z")
> [@Audrey\_Levins](#): > > Didn’t mean to abandon my thread…my computer went down and now I’m heading off to work shortly, so I haven’t read all the responses yet, but… > > UPDATE ON THE KITTEN: > > I found her a foster home where she’s fed and safe and happy until I can find her a permanent home. 🙂 Oh, I’m so happy to hear that! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/87 "2010-07-24T04:11:00Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > It’s hard to describe the personality difference. In general intact males just seem more intense. They have a masculine ‘energy’ so to speak. And they are much easier to keep slim and muscular. Yep - [super masculine](http://www.flickr.com/photos/52395807@N08/4823031384/) ETA - good news on the kitten!! ---
**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:** [July 24, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/88 "2010-07-24T06:13:01Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > Really? I think the British and American fancies have done a great job with the breed; the dogs have lovely personalities and are very healthy on average with great care being taken to health-test dogs to prevent proliferation of the issues they are prone to. They are dwarfed because a dwarfed dog of their type was considered functionally useful for herding [everything but sheep], driving, ratting, guarding, and hunting in the mountains of Wales for the last 3000 years or so; not because someone thought it was cute and inbred a bunch of dogs to look that way. > > She’s got [a lot to say](http://blacksheepcardigans.com/ruff/591/implications-of-the-kennel-club-decision-on-the-pekingese-pedigree-dogs-exposed/) about ‘the victims of human breeding programs for purebred dogs’, too (pertaining especially to the sensationalist, anti-purebred special _Pedigree Dogs Exposed_ which got so many people excited). Most of which I strongly agree with. She’s saying they make the breeds as healthy as possible within their extremes and mutations, and I’m saying (and other critics are saying) the mutations and extremes themselves are the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/89 "2010-07-24T13:40:55Z")
(I’m hoping her foster mom will fall in love with her and keep her, but I’m still gonna take cute baby kitty pictures and post them on Facebook and Craigslist…) Shhhhh… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/90 "2010-07-24T15:52:49Z")
> [@Audrey\_Levins](#): > > (I’m hoping her foster mom will fall in love with her and keep her, but I’m still gonna take cute baby kitty pictures and post them on Facebook and Craigslist…) Shhhhh… 😃 _ahem_ And here. ---
**Author:** ![SweetLucy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@SweetLucy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SweetLucy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/91 "2010-07-25T23:52:37Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I like cats. Dogs, on the other hand, slobber and shit and stink. Ditto! 😃 You forgot to add “bark and yelp and make other mega-annoying loud sounds.” ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/92 "2010-07-26T02:20:57Z")
If you had some radioactive material, you could have put the cat in a box. That way it never dies. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/93 "2010-07-26T03:03:56Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > > [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > > > Obviously you’ve never met my cat, 'cus he does all these things too. > > Okay, I \*have \*been drooled on by one of my boyfriend’s cats. (Sometimes she gets really into it when you pet her.) But that’s not remotely comparable to constantly trying to lick any exposed bit of skin you can find, especially my face, with a big slobbery tongue. > > Also, yes, cats shit, but you don’t need to let them outside for them to do it, nor do you have to pick up big stinking globs of shit. > > **And I’ve never met a cat who had anything approaching the funk most dogs do on a regular basis**. You like the smell of ammonia permanently permeating your house? Cat piss freaking stinks, and its the only reason I won’t keep them, and I like them generally. But without fail, I can always tell a cat household almost immediately upon entering despite a well-tendered litterbox. That stench of their urine is just sickening to me. Sorry cats. I’ll take the random stinky dog farts that dissipate rather quickly. Cat piss stench NEVER goes away. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/94 "2010-07-26T04:34:36Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > So, if an old dear feels the need for a protective dog to accompany her to the post office when she cashes her pension money, anybody should be able to walk within the circle of her leash’s limits without fear of being bitten? Are you fucking kidding me? Yes, they should. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/95 "2010-07-26T15:23:52Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > > > Okay, in what universe do dogs actually eat cats, outside of Tom and Jerry cartoons? From the way people are talking, throwing kittens to dogs to get eaten is something that happens on a regular basis. I’ve never heard of it. > > No, the dog probably won’t eat the cat, only tear it to shreds. Cold comfort for the cat. > > Using cats as bait animals is common practice in dog fighting circles, a practice that is apparently just fine with **Chessic Sense** , our resident sociopath. Again with the sociopath thing? They’re fucking CATS! They’re not part of society; they’re fucking animals. I love that according to the SDMB, if you don’t worship **Teh Kitteh** , you’re now a sociopath. The bar has never been lower, lemmetellya. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/96 "2010-07-26T15:33:02Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > > [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > > > So, if an old dear feels the need for a protective dog to accompany her to the post office when she cashes her pension money, anybody should be able to walk within the circle of her leash’s limits without fear of being bitten? > > Are you fucking kidding me? Yes, they should. Why? A dog’s protective nature is one of the first things early humans would have harnessed them for. The main reason old dears don’t have large, ferocious-looking dogs is because they couldn’t guarantee always being able to control them, not because they don’t want them. So, if an elderly person needs to rely on a smaller dog, she should have every right to train it to bite people who enter her space uninvited. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/97 "2010-07-26T15:35:56Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Again with the sociopath thing? They’re fucking CATS! They’re not part of society; they’re fucking animals. I love that according to the SDMB, if you don’t worship **Teh Kitteh** , you’re now a sociopath. The bar has never been lower, lemmetellya. If you can be devoid of positive feelings for teh cute kittehs and puppies, you’re definitely on the sociopath ladder by my scale. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/98 "2010-07-26T15:38:12Z")
> [@Audrey\_Levins](#): > > Didn’t mean to abandon my thread…my computer went down and now I’m heading off to work shortly, so I haven’t read all the responses yet, but… > > UPDATE ON THE KITTEN: > > I found her a foster home where she’s fed and safe and happy until I can find her a permanent home. 🙂 Glad to hear it! Thank you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/99 "2010-07-26T15:38:39Z")
[quote=“ivan\_astikov, post:96, topic:547457”] > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Why? A dog’s protective nature is one of the first things early humans would have harnessed them for. The main reason old dears don’t have large, ferocious-looking dogs is because they couldn’t guarantee always being able to control them, not because they don’t want them. So, if an elderly person needs to rely on a smaller dog, she should have every right to train it to bite people who enter her space uninvited. Her space? So someone who accidentally bumps the “old dear” or brushes by her when it’s crowded is allowed to get bitten? Within the circle of its leash can be a pretty big area. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457/100 "2010-07-26T16:03:23Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > > > Again with the sociopath thing? They’re fucking CATS! They’re not part of society; they’re fucking animals. I love that according to the SDMB, if you don’t worship **Teh Kitteh** , you’re now a sociopath. The bar has never been lower, lemmetellya. > > If you can be devoid of positive feelings for teh cute kittehs and puppies, you’re definitely on the sociopath ladder by my scale. Coming from you, that’s…meaningless. I’m having trouble expressing how little your evaluation of mental imbalances really counts for something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starving-kitten-aka-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-people/547457.md?page=6)