Why do some people (especially, it seems, men) hate cats?

[pseudotriton_ruber_ruber]

@AnalogSignal

Paging pseudotriton ruber ruber…

See, this is how you get a reputation AS a bigot BY people who are bigots.

I don’t hate cats.

I don’t like them especially, but my strong feelings aren’t directed at cats nearly as much they’re directed at cat-owners (or companions, or whatever you feel like calling yourselves.)

And not at cat-owners so much as at cat-owners who anthropomorphize their cats (hint: if you think of yourself as your cat’s “mommy,” you might be anthropomorphizing your cat just a tad.)

And not at cat-owners who anthropomorphize their cats so much as cat-owners who anthropomorphize their cats in public (i.e., not as a game they play by their lonely selves but actually in front of other people). This includes allowing or encouraging their cat to do something some human person might reasonably object to (like say walking across a surface used for food preparation) and being offended at the suggestion that the cat might be trained to do otherwise on the grounds that it (sorry, “he” or “she”) might have his or her feelings hurt by being banished from food-prep surfaces. He or she has a right, after all, to walk anywhere he or she likes.

And finally I don’t really give a shit if you’re one of these women, so long as you tell me clearly upfront (so I can sprint in the opposite direction) if I ask you out.

Nonetheless, this position has richly earned me the reputation as a cat-hater, which leaves open the question of who is the unbalanced person here.

[kanicbird]

I’m not all that fond of dogs, and perhaps through that some insight to the OP. I guess the main reason is I don’t care to micromanage their lives, which dogs seem to require. Going to what some have commented, control is part of it. Dogs can be under such complete control over every aspect of their lives and I hate hate hate that concept. Cats don’t live by hard and fast rules but have minds of their own that adapt to the situation, they are the free thinkers.

[Scumpup]

One of the great changes I’ve had to adjust to in my life is a close friend who, in middle-age, suddenly turned into just such a cat lover as PRR describes. He turned from the guy with whom I used to motorcycle, shoot, drink, and generally gad about into the guy who wants only to sit on his couch while petting and cooing to his cat. Said cat is allowed on every surface in the house. There is cat hair everywhere. He insists on telling me cute kitty stories the way some parents insist on telling you the latest cute thing their kid did. I believe he senses my distaste when the animal wants to climb on me or do that “cute” rubbing against (i.e. scent marking) my legs.

[svrider]

I don’t hate cats, but I strongly dislike them. The homes of cat owners often smell, they leave hair everywhere and I’ve seen my share of them walk around on tables, eat from their owners food etc.

I would never hurt a cat on purpose, but I’d certainly also never want one.

I don’t particularly like dogs or any other pets either for that matter, so it’s not because of some cat vs. dog thing.

[HazelNutCoffee]

My boyfriend was not very fond of cats before he met Olive. Now he keeps getting our names mixed up when he talks to either of us.

[AnalogSignal]

@pseudotriton_ruber_ruber

Nonetheless, this position has richly earned me the reputation as a cat-hater, which leaves open the question of who is the unbalanced person here.

I didn’t want to mention your name. My daughter Fluffy made me do it.

[spankthecrumpet]

Also, cats tend to be around “cat people”. And the kind of people who love cats (I am not talking about your typical one or two cat owner, but someone with at least six) is usually at best irritating, more often hellishly annoying through their patheticness. They want to be abused but can’t even attract a human jerk to abuse them!

But not evil, I suppose.

[Sigmagirl]

I am allergic to cats, so I’ve never been around them much. They seem nice enough to me, but when I visit a friend who has cats, I can’t pet the cats. I don’t start stop breathing or anything, but my eyes swell up and my hands itch.

Somehow, people think that means I don’t like cats. I just don’t go around hugging them.

[Corcaigh]

@Scumpup

I’ll step on the brakes when one runs into the street in front of me.

Not around here they don’t - seems to be a local sport, “how many cats can you kill” and “who can make the biggest mess when killing one [with your car]”. People will even swerve across the road in order to hit a cat, and I’ve seen someone go up on the grass verge to get a cat who was minding his own business.

[FordTaurusSHO94]

They jump on cars. That’s reason enough for me to hate them.

[Inner_Stickler]

I understand that people who live on farms often have less of a tolerance for cats as in some places the rural feral cat population is enormous. Perhaps that’s where it comes from.

Me, I’ve lived with 2 different cats now and they’ve never shredded anything or pooped in inappropriate places. Mostly they sit on the couch, which being cats they don’t take up enough of to prevent me from sleeping on the couch and sometimes they sit on my stomach and purr. They also don’t make a lot of noise and can move quietly, which is a blessing. I have yet to meet the dog who doesn’t sound like a clacking herd of typewriters on a hardwood floor and until they invent one, fuck dogs.

[madmonk28]

I’m a dog person in that I kind of just get along better with dogs, but I’ve had cats and my wife is a cat person. Cat’s are okay, they’re just little mammals who will play with string, it’s hard not to like them on some level.

I’ve found that the people (I agree it’s usually a man) who really don’t like cats are usually pretty insecure. Somehow cats trigger that insecurity in a way that budgies, dogs and goldfish don’t. They feel the need to go out of their way to tell you they don’t like cats, do they feel the need to register their feelings rabbits, squirrels, or giraffes? No, but they just have to let you know that they don’t like cats.

[Vihaga]

I am a cat-hater, but I don’t run around advertising it, because I think it’s rude to people who love them. I mean, I’m a dog person and I think it’s rude when someone finds out I have dogs, then goes on and on about how they hate them, so I refrain from doing the same to cat people.
I even have a cat. By cat standards, he is an awesome cat: he’s never gone outside the litter box, he doesn’t destroy things, he doesn’t bite (anymore- he did as a kitten), he’s friendly, he doesn’t hide, and he doesn’t get up on the tables and counters (a huge pet peeve of mine with cats). We’re nice to him and take care of him, but we’re not getting another one unless our kid ends up being a cat lover.

My reasons for disliking cats are merely that 1) I loathe the idea of a litter box with a burning passion, 2) my dogs provide me with far more companionship and I have the resources and time to have dogs, so I have no use for a cat, and 3) half the people I know have shitty cats so I think we really lucked out by having a decent one (this might be training like it is with dogs).

We have a cat because my husband had never had one and he thought it would be like having a dog, so I got him a cat. He found that it’s not, and 9 years later, we still have the cat. He’ll probably live to be 30.

/shit, zombie! I didn’t even notice because it was on page 1 for a while!

[madmonk28]

Another strange manifestation of a certain type of cat hater (not someone who just doesn’t like them), is that they feel the need to engage in macho posturing about how they would like to kill them and make food or mittens out of them.

Uh, what? I’m supposed to be impressed that you’re boasting that you could defeat a housecat in armed combat?

[Shodan]

@HazelNutCoffee

My boyfriend was not very fond of cats before he met Olive. Now he keeps getting our names mixed up when he talks to either of us.

I do that with the dog and my wife. My wife hates it, especially when I am talking about having sex.

The dog doesn’t seem to mind.

Regards,
Shodan

[yoyodaman234]

@Gatopescado

They have no redeeming value.

They stink. They ruin furniture with thier claws and various offensive bodily fluids and semi-solids. They don’t stay where they belong and always go where they do not, like counter-tops, tables and stoves. They are dis-loyal. They are picky eaters, yet will often eat thier own vomit. They shed excessivly. They cheat at “games of chance”. When caught licking their genitalia and anus, they give you a look as if to say, “What’s your problem, Girlfriend?”. They are financially irresponsible. They can’t use toilet paper, so basicly, whenever they are on the couch, they are wiping their ass on it. One hyphanated word: Hair-balls.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again:

I hate cats.

I beg to differ:

Cats do not stink, as they clean themselves when dogs need to be cleaned.

Cats can be trained not to ruin furniture, by simply running towards them and scaring them (not attacking them) when they do.

Cats have much more dignity with urine and faeces then dogs do, being able to be trained to use a toilet.

Anyone who finds cats dis-loyal, obviously does not have the required skills to make a friend (cats are like another person, and will not be enslaved like dogs. You must make friends with them).

Cats will eat any food as long as you don’t give them a preference (if they don’t eat the food you give them leave it there until it is eaten), and they are hygienic enough not to eat their own vomit (though they may sniff it, like people inspect they vomit after throwing up).

They shed only if they are long haired, and only in the transition between summer and winter and vice versa.

Cats do not like to play games when they don’t want to, but can be taught to (but you cannot train them the same way you train a dog).

Cats usually don’t look at you when caught licking their genitalia or anus, but if they do it is to say “I enjoy my privacy, please leave.”

Cats have no knowledge of finance, so they cannot be blamed for financial irresponsibility.

They do not go around wiping they anus on furnature, and fur-balls only occur when a cat is either stressed, or dehydrated.

The cat you have described is the image of an abused, untrained and uncared for cat who hates their owner, who obviously lacks the skill of friend making.

Anyone who finds it hard to make friends with cats is not ready for life.

This is quotable.

[Jackmannii]

I don’t like cats much. Except the two abandoned ones we took in. They were great. Other cats I can do without.

[Infovore]

@yoyodaman234

Cats will eat any food as long as you don’t give them a preference (if they don’t eat the food you give them leave it there until it is eaten), and they are hygienic enough not to eat their own vomit (though they may sniff it, like people inspect they vomit after throwing up).

They shed only if they are long haired, and only in the transition between summer and winter and vice versa.

I mostly agree with you–but though I love cats and have several, I’ll call shenanigans on these two.

Cats will most assuredly eat their own vomit (or each other’s). In fact, in a way it’s kind of nice, because if they hork up semi-solid food, you can be reasonably sure somebody will be along to take care of that for you pretty soon.

And short-haired cats do shed. Either that, or the massive quantities of hair that end up in my vacuum cleaner come from me and my spouse–and if that were true, we’d both be bald by now!

[yoyodaman234]

@BrotherCadfael

Because cats are assholes. Don’t get me wrong - I like cats. But they are definitely assholes.

The old saw about “Dogs have owners, cats have servants” is pretty true.

But a servant is not a slave correct? A servant can become emotionally attached to his ‘employer’, and as the friendship continues, the employer will become kinder, as well as the employee.

An owner can also become emotionally attached to whatever he owns, but never in the same way as servant to employer.

Let’s switch the point of view of the saying:

Owners have slaves/furniture, servants have employers.

The phrase has kept it’s honesty.

[Labrador_Deceiver]

I may not be overly fond of cats, but they’re certainly smart enough not to respond to a nine-year-old post.