Describe your level of aversion to them:
They’re pointless —> They bug —> Get the gun!
They’re not pointless to everyone; I can appreciate other people’s cats; I just choose not to live with them.
2) What specifically do you dislike about them?
Mainly that GODDAMN AWFUL AMMONIA STANCH THAT CAT OWNERS CAN’T FRICKEN SMELL! I have some friends who have cats and, apparently, no sense of smell. Whenever I visit, I wish I were staying in a hotel.
After that… The schizophrenia of cats. The emotional range of I love you, I don’t care for you, I HATE YOU DIE! that they will go through in a minute.
I have met one cat I liked. (A momentary RIP for he poor bugger.) He was the most “dog-like” cat I’ve met. Very sociable and likable; his only downside was his ability to take up more than half of the pull-out bed I was borrowing. He did not, however, feel the need to wake me up by sitting on my face. Good cat; I’m sorry to my brother and his family for their loss.
Do you like ANY kind of terrestrial pets?
Dogs. I am definitely a dog person. The only advantage I see cats having over dogs is their ability to be alone for longer periods. We have to hire a dog sitter to come over when our work schedules are too long.
BTW, I just want to say how much I love everyone else in here professing their mistrust of cats. I love you guys, man!
Empirically speaking, there is a lot of incorrect information in this thread. I wouldn’t argue with anyone’s reasons for hating cats, but some of this stuff is just blatantly untrue. It’s like saying I hate dogs because they’re so blue (I don’t actually hate dogs).
It’s factually correct that they stink.
It’s factually correct that some people are allergic to them.
It’s factually correct that they lick their assholes.
It’s factually correct that a litterbox is a box of shit and piss kept in the house.
It’s factually correct that some cats destroy furniture.
Is there something else you meant?
The big problem is not the odor of the actual cat, but the urine.
Some dogs stink (if unbathed) and some don’t, but a good house cleaning, airing out, and a dog wash will make the aroma disappear (unless there are thoroughly soaked carpets.)
But if you move into an apartment or house where multiple cats lived, well… you’ll know about it for a long time.
If you do online research for products or techniques to get cat odor out of furniture or out of walls and floors, you’ll see an endless stream of posts saying, “That didn’t work for me.” Or, “It’s mostly gone now, except when the weather is real humid.”
I like other people’s cats. I’ve enjoyed living with cats in the past. But, as others have said, I don’t like them enough to enjoy cleaning up after them. I don’t like the smell (or the potential for smell) and I don’t like the hair everywhere. I don’t like cleaning the litter box.
Describe your level of aversion to them:
They’re pointless —> They bug —> Get the gun!
Meh. I wouldn’t even go as far as pointless - the can be cute and amusing.
What specifically do you dislike about them?
Don’t like aloof cats, don’t like cats with personality issues - unfortunately for me, most of my cats have been aloof with personality issues - and agree about the smell. That gagging smell that greets me when I walk into a home with a litterbox.
I also have issues with “rabid cat people” - the “OMG YOU DECLAWED YOUR CAT” crowd is more of an issue than the actual cats (and most cat people do not fall into this category).
Do you like ANY kind of terrestrial pets?
Dog person. The also have a doggy smell, but it isn’t a litterbox smell. The yard will have a smell if we don’t poopy scoop though.
I have never in my life gone out and purposely obtained a cat. I always end up with them though. Either I’m living with someone with a cat, or a cat wanders into my life because apparently, cats can sense when there is a not a cat in a human’s life, and there must be one.
I love animals in general, so I’m a sucker for this.
But, I won’t go get one. I hate the puke, the scratching, the moods, the whining - oh, I hate the whining. “Let me out! Let me in! Feed me! Let me out! Let me in!” They’re primary method of training humans is to be whiney assholes until you give them what they want. If you don’t give them what they want, something’s going to get broken or damaged.
Did I mention the puke? I hate the puke.
Cats like me, because I couldn’t care less about them, which automatically makes them want to make me care about them. They get really cute and affectionate, and I fall for it, then the puking and damage starts but by then it’s too late.
I’d happily adopt a dog, but would never go out and adopt a cat on purpose.
There are currently two or three stray kittens that occasionally run through my yard. Thus far, they’ve been really afraid of me, and I’m hoping it stays that way. I do not want a cute little kitten coming up to me and meowing, because then I’ll probably end up with another damn cat.
I have nothing against them from the standpoint of their behavior, but am extremely allergic to them. Because of that, I’m not really that fond of them.
I lived with indoor/outdoor cats for my entire childhood. Both spent most of the day outside. We had several pieces of furniture with destroyed legs, and our house often smelled of litterbox. Granted, it was nowhere near as bad as a house with an indoor-only cat, but it was there.
Most cats don’t go from purr to psycho with no warning. If they claw you it’s usually because you were doing something that pissed them off or scared them. And if you can’t tell when they’re pissed off or scared, it’s because you suck at reading their (extremely non-subtle) signals. If you maul them the way you’d play with a dog, you are going to get nailed because they hate that, which might be the problem in some cases here.
Other stuff is all personal taste, pet peeve, or related to how individual owners keep their cats, so nothing to argue with or refute. The comments on cat behavior bugged me though. For the record, I had both dogs and cats and worked in the family dog grooming business on weekends from about age ten. We also groomed cats. Believe me, I’m intimately familiar with how both kinds of animals behave. Cats were actually more predictable most of the time because dogs were more individual in their responses.
I don’t get the bit about loyalty. Perhaps it’s a difference in how you define loyalty. My cats are all very affectionate towards me-- 3 of them come when called by name, all of them allow me to pet them, pick them up, even brush their teeth. 4 of them will not allow anyone but me or my husband to pet them and will not go near strangers. THAT to me is loyalty-- they only love us. Why should they love anyone else? They are lavish with their affections towards the person to whom they are loyal, and no one else. Dogs will jump and slobber and love all over anyone. You could be a total stranger and they will treat you like you’re their new best friend. I find that weird and wouldn’t call that loyalty.
Also, the idea that dogs are smarter than cats. Huh? I’ve had both, and they’ve varied in intelligence, and their intelligence is geared towards different things. Sweeping statements like “dogs are smarter than cats” are just not fact-based.
As for pointless… my house would literally be overrun with rodents if I didn’t have a team of cats working 'round the clock. Thus, they provide a valuable service. Non-working dogs, OTOH… they are pointless. Unless you count companionship, which would work as a point for both cats and dogs. Also, pets don’t need a point beyond companionship IMO anyway.
Experience varies. My cats have a litterbox available, but generally do not use it. They confine their clawing to trees outside, and so I’ve had the same, undestroyed, furniture for almost 20 years without a single claw-mark.
There is no necessity that cats = smell and destroyed furniture. Some cats smell up the house because of their filthy habits, yes. So do some people.
I do not know what your experience of cats is, but cats do not normally spray stuff indoors. Doing so is a sign of either illness or behavioural dysfunction.
Cats will rub against stuff to mark it, but their rubbings contain pheremones which, again in a healthy cat, do not leave an odor detectible by humans. Unless you are a cat yourself, it should not bother you.
If you have a cat that is hosing down your indoor walls with pee, what can I say? it isn’t normal behaviour, much less universal.
People think I don’t like cats. I do like them. I am, however, allergic to them. Exposure to cats makes me itch, my nose run, my eyes swell to the point it interferes with vision, and at times makes me wheeze and gasp for breath. For this reason, I have an aversion to being with them. I don’t have anything against them, and back before the allergy I was happy to own two very nice cats. I just can’t co-exist with them anymore and stay healthy so I really do not want your cat on me or near me.
The one exception is the feral cat(s) that keeps digging up my garden and crapping in it. THAT cat I’d like to kill. The homicidal urge has nothing to do with it being a cat, but rather because it is damaging/destroying part of my food supply.
I like pretty much all critters. Except spiders. And animals in direct competition with me for my food.
