Why don't you like cats?

In My Humble Opinion
81

I have a cat, and I still don’t like them. We got him because my husband had never had one and wanted one, and because our lifestyle at the time was not conducive to having dogs. Now we have two dogs and the cat, and we’re never getting another cat unless we have a child who absolutely wants one, or something. That being said, our cat is a good one, as far as cats go.

1) Describe your level of aversion to them: I’d say somewhere between “they bug” and “get a gun.”

2) What specifically do you dislike about them? Oh, lots of things.

1)The litterbox smell is annoying, but I can deal, and ours is in the basement, so it’s much better than when we lived in an apartment. Mild, but still there. Having him crap outside is not something I’m willing to do, because I believe that outdoor cats in highly populated areas are an irresponsible imposition on one’s neighbors and should be illegal.

2)He’s annoying. The cat bitches incessantly if I haven’t fed him yet, the most the dogs do is go over and look at their bowls. I haven’t figured out a way to get him to knock it off; if the dogs are jerks about something, a simple “no” or “lie down” is enough to end it.

  1. He took a frigging TON more training than the dogs to get up to acceptable behavior levels, because he was an aggressive kitty who used to get up on things he wasn’t supposed to and bite when he was pissed off. It took a couple months of constant vigilance to eliminate unacceptable behaviors, and he still occasionally has lapses. At least he always uses the box, which is a good thing, because that’s a dealbreaker for me. He still doesn’t listen worth a damn unless I call him or hiss at him, whereas the dogs will come, sit, stay, lie down, go away, and drop whatever I tell them to. It also took no effort to train them not to bite me.

  2. He’s a vastly inferior companion compared to the dogs. If I want to do something with the cat, it’s got to be on his terms: drag the feather toy around, pet the cat, use the laser pointer- stuff HE wants to do. The dogs will play hide games, go on walks, play frisbee with me, go out to dinner with us if it’s an outside cafe, or just hang around watching what we’re doing.

Now, our cat is a good cat by many people’s standards- he’s affectionate, he doesn’t hide, he doesn’t claw the furniture, he doesn’t get on the counters with his shit-feet (though that took some work), he doesn’t pee anywhere, he only yaks up a hairball occasionally, and he doesn’t bite or scratch (also work). I understand why someone would get a cat if their lifestyle wouldn’t support a dog, or if they didn’t want to put the effort into keeping a dog and they wanted something to pet. For me, though, cats are vastly more trouble than they’re worth.

3) Do you like ANY kind of terrestrial pets? Yes. Dogs. I find most cage pets to be “meh,” but I have had rats that I liked.

82

Unfortunately, my experience with cats is that you can’t really tell before bringing them home if you will get an affectionate, loyal little cuddler (had one, if all cats were him, we’d have cats) or what appears to be “the reincarnation of your brother’s ex-girlfriend from hell with permanent PMS” (I’ve had THREE of those). Nor can you tell if your cat will prefer the outside to the litterbox, or the litterbox to your basket of clean laundry.

Dogs aren’t completely predictable - but they seem to be more trainable and less stubborn about such things than cats - as a generalization. Now, dogs need people a lot more than cats do - when we’d go on vacation with a cat, you’d clean the litterbox before leaving, pay a neighborkid to feed them twice a day and make sure there was water, and clean the litterbox when you come back. That’s a definate plus for me in the cat column. The dog requires someone willing to take the dog - or an expensive kennel bill.

83

I have two kitties that I think are fantabulous, so this post isn’t about me.

My mother is actually terrified of cats. One of my kitties hides when people come over but the other is very affectionate and likes to come out and meet new people. My mom came into the house and Taz walked up to her and meowed (and, FWIW, he weighs about 7 lbs). She backed right into a corner and started squeeling the way many people do about snakes or big hairy spiders or lizards or something.

She was scared to pieces. I’ve never seen a reaction like that from anyone else.

FWIW, I picked him up and when I was holding him she was ok to come up and look at him and say he was nice. I think she thought he was going to jump on her or attack her or something. He IS all black so maybe that was it; although she really doesn’t like my other cat either.

84

  1. Describe your level of aversion to them:
    They annoy the hell out of me, I would absolutely refuse to have one in my house. (I am allergic, but I’d refuse outright even if I weren’t.)

  2. What specifically do you dislike about them?
    Pretty much what Scissorjock said. “Furniture with legs.” What’s the point? Get a teddy bear, those tend not to smell bad. And yes, cats can have a very disturbing effect on otherwise-intelligent humans.

  3. Do you like ANY kind of terrestrial pets?
    I love dogs, and I volunteer occasionally at a rescue organization. And while dogs can also have some of thse negative attributes, it’s less common, and dogs have, y’know, personalities that can outweigh an annoyance factor.

85

I hate *indoor *cats. Everyone I know who has an indoor cat also has a home that smells like shit.

We have two cats. They’re outdoor only. They’re not pets - they’re tools. They patrol the grounds and kill rodents. If/when one gets eaten by a coyote, I simply pick up another one for free.

86

Al Swearengen’s take on cats is good enough for me, even though the scene is about something else.

Oh, and every house I’ve seen where cats live is just flat out nasty. I don’t understand how people live this way. They all act as if their house is different and a clean environment, but then you go over there and, no, it’s just like any other.

I like cats. They’re beautiful animals, and they almost always love me, but I can’t have one in my house.

87

Another thing: Cat owners always seem to go out of their way to defend every stupid thing their cats do. For example, I had a friend whose cat would viciously attack my legs every time I went to her apartment. The stupid cat drew blood through a sturdy pair of jeans once. And instead of disciplining it, as anyone with a dog would do, myself included, she would just laugh and laugh…“Oh, I guess she’s not very well socialized…hee hee hee.” And then sometimes she would shut the cat in the bedroom, but never until after I’d been used as a scratching post. I was seriously put off by her lack of concern about her cat’s bad behavior. And many cat owners seem to be the same way–the bad behavior is “cute” or somewhat excusable because “that’s a cat for you!”

88

Yeah, my best friend’s cat was cute. I’d rub his belly. Then I was done. Then she’d say, “rub his belly some more.” It got creepy. Like Stepford Wives creepy.

“He wants his belly rubbed. Rub. His. Belly.”
“That was enough.”
“Rub. His. Belly. Some. More.”

“This is weird. See ya!”

89

I was hoping to be surprised that cat people would not come into a thread entitled “Why don’t you like cats?” to explain to us why we’re all wrong about cats. Silly me.

90

Cats go from playful friendly to “HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME?! GET THE FUCK OUT!” too quickly. They’re like the kid at high school you’re afraid to joke around with because you’re afraid he’ll jam a pencil into your eye socket.

It is impossible to train a cat not to scratch stuff. It’s impossible to train a cat, period. Whatever habits or personality or neuroses the cat has when you get it, you’re stuck with forever. Cats will do stuff intentionally because they know it makes you angry. Cats don’t want to make you happy. Cats don’t want to BE happy.

91

That’s why I won’t adopt a cat. You have to let the cat adopt you, or there will be problems. A cat that wants you, can make your life a joy. A cat that you want, will punish you forever.

92

I’ve known only a couple of people with phobias of cats. One was a mover who was bringing furniture from my mother’s house to mine. He was a grown man who took one look at my eight pound Persian cat and said, “Oh, no!” and backed out the door.

Having had a couple of phobias myself, I reassured him that he didn’t have to explain and that I understood. I locked the cat in the bathroom and he was just fine as long as he knew that he would not be confronted with her.

He could not have told me why he was afraid of her. Phobias are irrational fears. They don’t have to do with stinkiness or allergies.

93

Well, I love cats, but my mother loathed them.

  1. Halfway between “they bug” and “get the gun”.

  2. She was attacked by one that was living under the front porch, when she was a child. Gave her a lifelong aversion (naturally, the one time she visited a home of mine while I had a cat, the cat LURVED her).

  3. She liked dogs OK. She tolerated (but did not go near) hamsters and one canary that she allowed us to have as kids.