Why I don't like cats

In My Humble Opinion
1

I adore dogs. I’m just stupid crazy about them and it gets more true with every single passing day. I have never lived one single day of my adult life without one, usually two, and I never intend to. My life would be a barren place without them. And I could list all the reasons why. But I’m here to express MHO about why I don’t really like cats.

Actually, that’s not true. I like some cats. I had a cat I loved to pieces, his name was Schmabe (whymes with “babe”) and he was wonderful. Big grey Abyssinian mix, lovable and funny, and it was very hard to say goodbye when he died.

But I will almost certainly never have a cat again, because there is just too much about them that I do not like, and the two biggest things are

  1. Dealing with their waste. Boxes are gross and the smell is horrible and the litter tracked everywhere makes me nuts and I’m just not a great housekeeper to start with and so devoting my life to making sure I stay on top of keeping the litter clean is not going to happen so screw that.
    If the cat goes outdoors, they ruin the garden and leave buried surprises.
    Worst of all is if it is male there is a 50/50 chance it will spray somewhere at some point, and then the house will have to be burned to the ground to get rid of the horrifying stench.

  2. Destruction. Both dogs and cats can be destructive. The major difference is that dogs can be taught not to be, almost without exception, because they are innately interested in being accepted and following the rules. Also dogs can be limited in their impact by their size, general clumsiness, and limited tools.

Cats are preternaturally agile, crazy fast, and they have both razor teeth AND 4 sets of razor claws. Also, they don’t give a flying fuck, having no inborn desire to please anyone or anything except themselves.

I have lived with cats and many dogs. And overall, the cats did WAY more damage. WAY. WAY WAY. All over the house.

Finally, I think it’s stupid that cats are so damn tense and scared. Yes, a cat could conceivably be killed by a really big, nasty, vicious dog, but as a general rule, MOST cats could, if they wanted to, kick the asses of most dogs, who would end up whimpering heaps of self-pity in the face of a pissed off cat, before they even knew what hit them. So chill, kitties: you are the badasses and your general tenseness is irritating.

Having said all that, kittens are delicious and I think Scottish Folds are ridiculously cute and I wish all the above wasn’t true so I could enjoy having a cat.

2

Oh, it is ON now, girl :stuck_out_tongue:

I wouldn’t generally get into a debate about the merits of dogs v cats. You like what you like and it’s all good. But you didn’t think you’d start a thread *here *and not get some flak, now didya?

  1. Dealing with their waste - This is probably the sole reason I will never have a dog. I love dogs and had the most awesome dog growing up. However that was before we gained a sense of decency and dog poop laws were passed (sorry to all my neighbors in Torrance, CA). There is nothing, NOTHING, that would make me pick up dog shit with my hand. And I sure as hell wouldn’t leave it on someone’s lawn so that’s the end of that. I’ll concede that cat waste doesn’t smell any better (nor does it smell any worse) but at least it gets covered by odor nullifying sand and can be scooped with a shovel.

Also, your male cat is not going to spray after you have it neutered (there’s no “ifs” about this one. Be prepared to neuter or don’t get one).

  1. Destruction - I got nothing. My new living room set was shredded within two weeks. That, however , is my own fault for neither declawing (couldn’t bare it) nor training the little bastards.

In conclusion Madam, you are woefully misguided :wink:

3

Dogs shit, too, Stoid, and you are supposed to clean it up. No matter the pet, there is shit involved.

4

I currently have both a cat and a dog. I had another dog that I had to put down a while back. You have to deal with waste and destruction with both species, I’m afraid. But I understand it’s different. It’s probably more of a matter of personal preference (if there can be a “preference” for shit and destruction).

With the cat, all the shit and pee is in one box that I have to clean out daily. If I keep on top of it, it doesn’t stink up the house or even the room where the box stays. Likewise, if I keep on top of it, the cat doesn’t pee or poop outside the box. But there is that one time of day where I’m assaulted by the smell and sight of cat waste (and there are very few more noxious substances than cat pee… I swear it should be classified as a lethal weapon). And you do have to keep on top of it.

With the dog, I have to pick up the poops with a bag on our walks. So I have to walk around with a bag of poop during that jaunt. It doesn’t really bother me much, but I can see how it would be worse to some people because most of the walk involves carrying around a bag of shit. Also, if I’m late getting home, there’s always the risk that the dog will have an accident. I have a dog walker and I’m pretty good about getting home for the poor guy. But there’s always the risk of a multi car pile up or a last minute work crisis, and I hate having to scour the house for a mess when I get home.

As for destruction, my dogs have always been worse than my cat during the puppy stage before they’re trained. They can wreck more havoc with their chewing and much more quickly than my cat can do with her claws. However, they do get trained out of it, so it’s a much more short term thing. My cat can be discouraged from clawing on things, but she’s never going to be trained out of it. Then again, “training” my particular willful cat is a laughable concept. Other cats are probably very different.

Can’t speak to the skittishness because I had one very social dog who was afraid of nothing while my current dog is the biggest wuss on the planet. The cat is somewhere in between.

5

I too don’t have much interest in arguing about whether cats or dogs are inherently “better” - but good lord, I’d rather scoop a litter box than pick up dog shit. My cat’s box doesn’t smell much, and everything is pretty well mummified before I get to it.

The flip side about cats not caring about pleasing anyone but themselves is that they only do what they really want to do. So if they come sit on your lap, they’re not trying to ingratiate themselves or get food. It’s because it pleases them, and I find that honest and endearing.

6

With my cats, I can work a 12 hour day or go away for the weekend and just leave some extra food and water. Try that with a dog.

Not to put too fine a point on it but…most dogs smell. A LOT. Cats clean themselves and have no odor.

7

Lets see:

  • cats will poop in the same location making it easy enough to automate the process with a litter cleaning machine. Plus 1
  • dogs are terrorist defaecators who continually plant landmines that make backyards a toxic dump no matter how vigilant the owner is. Minus 1
    -cats are self cleaning. Plus 1
    -Dogs require regular bathing and actively seek turds to roll in. Minus 1
    -Cats will briefly jump in your lap and make pleasing sounds to entice you to pet them. Plus 1
    -Dogs will paint the arm of anyone within range with dog snot until they pet them. Minus 1
    -Cats will silently hunt mice and other vermin. Plus 1
    -Dogs will bark at ever !@#@% thing for hours. Minus 10 million
    -Cats can be exercised from your chair with a laser pointer. Plus 1
    -Dogs require walking or some other activity. Minus 1

So lets tally up the list.

  • Cats +5
  • Dogs - 10,000,005

Cats win.

8

I have to sadly report that this is not necessarily true. One of my neutered (at six months old, as vet recommended) male cats started spraying in the house as a response to stress (there were three other cats in the house at the time, and he was a neurotic little kitty to start with). He is currently on kitty Prozac, and the problem has not happened since - knock on wood. So, it is rare for neutered males to spray, but not impossible.

9

I definitely prefer the independent nature of cats. Not to say I don’t like dogs, but I don’t have the room in my life right now for the increased responsibility of dog ownership.

I like that when I go on vacation, all I have to do is hand over my keys to a friend and ask them to come over every other day to make sure the automatic feeder and water fountain are working properly. If it’s an extended trip, tack on cleaning the litter box every other day. No way I can do that with a dog.

And cats can be trained not to scratch furniture. You just have to give them something appropriate to scratch, like a cat tree or a cardboard scratcher.

10

I hate cats because they try and steal your breath.

11

Now, I do not hate cats. I have 2 cats that I love dearly. I just happen to like dogs better.

-cats puke. A lot. For no reason. Wherever they happen to be standing. My dogs rarely puks, and will actually normally run for the back door.

-if a dog gets on my lap when it’s not convenient, I can simply say NO and put them down. If one of my cats does the same and I try to put them down, they dig thir claws into my flesh in an effort to keep their seat.

12

I had a cat and she was ridiculously easy to train. She never destroyed anything, 'cause we trained her. She had a scratching post, and it was done correctly, meaning it was anchored. The cat only used the post. She was clean and had the exact same habits for 10 years.

Morning wake up, inspect house, eat, lounge about in the sun rays, till it got dusk. Then go out and hide under the bushes for a few hours. Then when I was ready to go to bed, I’d flick the porch light off and on a few times. Within five minutes the cat was at the door ready to come in.

You got ready for bed, the cat slept at my feet.

Repeat same thing for the next ten years :slight_smile:

13

That’s why ours aren’t allowed in the bedroom at night.

14

Have a dog AND a cat, and the dog will eat the cat poop for you. Problem solved!

15

I love the smell of my dogs, generally. Especially POPCORN TOES!! Kitties actually have popcorn toes, too, but it’s much fainter. And in the morning, after sleeping in his kennel all night (voluntarily, I don’t put him in it, he likes it there) he smells just like a bowl of buttered popcorn. I dont’ know why, exactly, since dogs don’t sweat, but being in the enclosed space just pumps up the volume on his popcorniness for about 5 minutes after he emerges.I love it.

Well, it’s actually because it pleases them to be petted. Same with dogs. The big difference is that my dogs learn the command “boogie!”, which means “I’m done now/busy, please go away until it pleases ME to interact with you.” Cats? No. Toss off your lap, they come back. Again. Back. Again. Back. Again. Back. CAT GET THE FUCK AWAY YOU ARE DRIVING ME BATS. Cat:“Okay FINE! Just for that I will NEVER ASK AGAIN!” True story.

One of their finest qualities, for sure.

Well, they have a reason: they have been swallow vast amounts of their own hair and they can’t digest it so they puke it up everywhere. Neat.

GAH! I know! Another reason not to have both at once…the kittypoo ruins the dog’s breath! GAH!

And I never get within 4 feet of my dog’s shit, because he only poops in the yard, where I clean it up with my handy-dandy Pooper scooper! My dog doesn’t poop on walks. My golden Maggie did, though, and that was no big: turn the bag backwards, grab the poo, slip bag back over it, tie up, and toss. Didn’t stink up the whole house…

16

Also, regarding the foulness of dog vs. cat waste: dogshit smells closer to human shit, which is also disgusting, but there’s something very ALIEN about the smell of cat shit and oh lord cat PISS that is just horrible.

17

To me, my dog doesn’t smell because I’m accustomed to her. I’m certain that she must smell to others. Given that, other peoples’ cats do too smell.

18

-You don’t have to house break a cat – that’s instinct. Mama cat teaches her kittens how to use a litterbox, so they do it automatically. You have to teach dogs not to pee and/or poop inside.

-Dogs smell – yep. Probably my main problem with dogs. Dogs are cute, but they can be smelly. And they’ll eat their own poop, or someone else’s.

-Barking is louder than meowing.

-Cats CAN be trained not to destroy things. You squirt them with water.

-Dogs can be very territorial and harder to control than cats – especially since most of them are bigger.

-Cats don’t really require much training.

19

I fukkin hate cats. Nasty, filthy, mean little bastards. A world without cats would be a mighty fine place indeed. Fukkin things.

20

Thanks for sharing. I’ll put in on my large list of Things Stoid Does Not Like.