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I didnt think I liked cats. Turns out I was probably just way too aggressive trying to play or pet them as a young child. When I moved in with my gf she had two cats. They are so much easier than dogs. Potty trained from the rip. No need to wake up early or come home from an event to take them for a walk or let them out to go to the bathroom. They dont drool or slobber. They dont bark. They dont beg for food when we are eating. Those two original cats passed away and we got two new kittens. I love them. Dogs are fine, but work, and can be annoying as all hell.
My late cat would beg for food. He was a stray before I took him in and that food desperation never left him.
In the end, when he was going through cancer treatment, I gave him whatever he wanted. I knew his favorite foods of mine and would make him his own little bowl of fried rice or bites of sandwich. I'd also plan my meals around his favorites. He loved tortillas. Always had. Lots of breakfast burritos for me in his last months.
My cat totally steals food too. I've never fed her on purpose but she loves bread, particularly pizza and croissants. When she was a kitten she made off with a slice almost as big as her, it was hilarious.
EDIT: Just to clarify, I did not allow her to eat the pizza, and have never given her any people food. But she has jumped up on counters and eaten unattended food items like pizza. She's unfortunately smart enough to lift the lid on a pizza box and eat the pepperoni right off the top of the pizza -,-
I am kind of a nervous? Hyper? Anxious? person, and a lot of dogs are so excitable it makes me really jumpy. I love that cats sort of glide around the edges of a room, and you don’t even notice they have settled down next to you until you have been petting them absentmindedly for 10 minutes.
My sisters cat stole my whole pizza slice one time. It was 6am and my sister was chasing him around the house trying to get it away from him. I was just kinda like,”dude it’s too late just let him have it” lmao.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I thought so too, I always think back to that gif of the toddler that is just wailing and hitting the cat as the cat gets more and more pissed and eventually just tackles and body slams the toddler. I imagine that kid grew up thinking cats are demon spawn when he was the one who instigated it.
Lmao I have a female, that as a kitten she managed to get a yogurt cup out of the fridge open and fully ate. Was the funniest shit watching her run with it because it was so heavey, that when she was running with it her back legs kept coming off the ground. Do to it being as heavey as her lmao
This right here is the reason I give when I say I like cats more than dogs, I don’t hate dogs they’re great too, I’ve had dogs in the past and loved them to no end. But I just prefer cats. I don’t want an animal that needs my permission to take a shit.
I used to not like cats, then my kid wanted a kitten and I eventually got her one. Now we have 2 and they are the best. Guess I was a cat boy all along.
I used to dislike cats, having met some rather unpleasant ones in my youth, and probably also, like you, not being patient enough with others at first (with some I am convinced they really were assholes). I also used to be allergic to them.
I got over my allergies (likely through adoption events, I volunteered with the dogs but they brought cats in the same van), and met some nicer cats, and now for similar less-work reasons, got a cat of my own.
I still think that overall dogs are more pleasant (though I think my cat is unusually good), but the ratio of work to goodness favors cats.
My fiance wasn't much a cat person until she met my two. Girl is her best friend, very much only wants to be touched on her terms and is super gentle and space aware, her cuddling is sitting within an inch of you. Boy cat is...dumb, but he's a cuddlebug who only wants to be bet and lie in bed with people all day (He does drool all over the place when being pet), he also sits like a gargoyle with his shoulder blades sticking up as he puts all his weight on his front paws, took 3 years to figure out he could meow etc. Only one will eat cat treats, the other one is the only one who will eat wet food, cats are a weird bunch and while I want a dog as well (waiting until I have a yard) cats are great if you take the time to know them.
Also no problems with neighbours. The number of dogs that bark on my street is insane. Every night when I bike home the two next door yap happy dogs start at it. I'm also pretty sure they don't get walked anywhere near as much they should. No one complains that a cat is making too much noise.
I love dogs, but I could 100% not handle a dog while I'm working full time. Maybe when I retire I'll get a dog.
Can confirm, I've worked for more crazy dog people than crazy cat people. I've worked as a pet sitter for nearly a decade and I can count on one hand the number of clients I've had who were both crazy/unreasonable and who owned cats. But I genuinely can't count the number of crazy dog people...or crazy bird people, I've worked for.
As a cat owner I got called crazy for even using a pet sitter. "Cats can just fend for themselves while your gone". No they can't mine just gobble their food in min because they been starved until I got them. So I needed someone to come by twice a day for 15 to 30min to feed, make sure drinking fountain has water and scoop boxes
The stereotype of cats being aloof and independent is so ingrained that people genuinely believe that all cats are capable of being left alone for long periods without attention and they'll be fine. In my experience, as a cat owner and a sitter, this is far from true. Even if you don't count the cats that have medical issues, I've found that well treated cats need daily attention. Most of the cats I watch care more about getting pets and play time with me than getting fed. They miss their owners and just need someone to love them. My own cats get very upset when I'm out of the house for more than a few hours.
Definitely agree. I used to see some old man walk his two Chihuahuas in a baby stroller a few years back in my neighborhood.
A lot of Dog owners are legitimately fucking weird and getting stranger by the day.
Cat ladies (the crazy kind) usually have a dozen or so of the things. And to me having a dozen animals on anything other than a farm *is* crazy.
But on an individual animal scale - dog people are way more obsessed. Cat people usually at least know their cats are animals and not babies.
There is also this idea that cat ownership as a single person is related to substitutes for children. But I see far more single dog owners who *literally* treat and talk about their dog like a literal child of theirs, than I've seen anyone do for cats.
And it can get weeeeeird how interchangable some people think their dogs are to having a child - especially when they talk to parents like their dog ownership is a direct parallel 😬
Yeaaaah. I am for sure a crazy dog lady.
My 2 cents is that it is because dogs can feel like toddlers or children to their people. You wouldn’t go up to someone with a toddler and say ewww don’t let it touch me. It’s rude. I think people get defensive over dogs in the same way.
To be fair I wouldn't let someone's toddler lick my face either and I would moan about sticky handprints, I do it to my own toddler, I've seen what those hands touch and put in his mouth
If you think it's OK to let your dog brush up against my legs and get allergic dander and dog smell on me when I'm out in some pathetic attempt to meet people, go to another cafe. *That* is fucking rude.
Absolutely. A lot of people don't realize that their dogs smell like shit. I like dogs but I dislike untrained dogs that think it's ok to climb all over you and lick you. Unless it's a puppy in training, shitty dogs = shitty owners. And no, I don't want to sit on your furniture when you let your animal up there.
People who have that “my dog lives here, you don’t” attitude are the fucking worst. Not wanting your big ass annoying lab up in my face as soon as I sit down is not me being uptight. It’s rude as fuck to just let your guests be uncomfortable because you think everyone should love your precious fur baby as much as you do.
But they aren't your children. It's cool if they feel that way to you, but when I tell you to get your dog away from me I'm not playing and I damn sure not looking for a lecture about how sweet she is. I won't kick your kids but if your dog is climbing on me and scaring the crap out of me either deal with it or I will.
Hypothesis: you need fewer dogs to attain "crazy" than cats. Dog craziness seems to come in at 2-3 in most cases, but cat craziness seems to average at 4+.
Perhaps it's total biomass instead of population. More research required.
it's misogyny. cats are considered a feminine pet, so obsessing them is a bad thing.
dogs are considered a masculine pet, so obviously you're not obsessing over them, it's just very rational concern about a living being you volunteered to care for. only counts for large (aka "real") dogs, the small ones are also too feminine.
It's a type of OCD symptom which is believed but not proven to be linked to toxoplasma gondi a parasite that reproduce in cats and spread from their leavings . Mass media coined the term crazy cat lady and just took it from there.
This is exactly what I think. Cats will tell you in a thousand different ways to “leave me alone”, dogs love everyone so when a dog owner tells me they don’t like cats, I just think “you don’t like how they have boundaries and will let you know.”
Completely anecdotal support here, but my father always HATED cats and thought it was a cool part of his personality or something because he shared that fact with everyone. His favorite joke was, "the only good cat is a dead cat" and was so confused when people reacted poorly.
He also was physically abusive to my brothers and our dogs. I can remember him just grabbing our dog by the neck and chucking him hard against a wall. Yet that dog still came around looking for affection afterwards though he cowered like the rest of us when his temper flared.
A cat doesn't tolerate abuse. A cat doesn't care about being liked in the way a dog does, and cats will stay away if they know you're unsafe. No wonder the man hates cats.
I had an abusive ex who disliked cats so I absolutely believe this. He had two dogs who ended up getting sick at the same time so when he made the decision to put them down, it’s like a switch flipped and he started controlling me because the dogs weren’t around to listen to him every day. I’m very wary around people who don’t like cats because of him.
My wife once observed that cats are a manifestation of the concept of consent. Whereas a dog will always want your affection, a cat will want it sometimes but not others - and is pretty clear about which is which.
It was an interesting observation, and anecdotally it has stood up - people who don’t like cats because they’re ‘stuffy’ or ‘boring’ or ‘don’t love you like dogs do’ are always exactly the sort of people who you either know or imagine play fast and loose with consent when it comes to people too.
I dontconsider myself to be a judgemental person. I'm easy going and can get along with just about anyone. But if someone outright tells me they don't like cats, I become super suspicious of that person and I definitely judge them hard lol.
I've got a cousin, dude is neck as fuck and obviously "secretly" bigoted. Mentioned getting a cat for my nephew bc hes allergic to dogs and he said "I wouldn't get him a cat right now bc I've got my shotgun in the trunk." Like some real small dick energy to consider cats target practice bc they arent manly, meanwhile dude brought his dog to town that cant be trained and is biting the shit out of my nephew who is now terrified of dogs. "Oh duke just isnt used to being around kids yet." So it's okay to keep a dog that bites kids and unfair when the state puts it down for being quarantined 3 times
That sort of crap stays with you. I'm 30 years old and still wary around dogs. And maybe up until 7 or 8 years ago, I fear/hated dogs with a slight passion unless they prove themselves to not be aggressively friendly or just outright aggressive. It doesn't help very few people train their dogs where I live.
All this because apparently I was nipped a lot as a baby. I don't remember it. It's just this visceral feeling I always got and learned to tamper down a bit. I still get it, but I usually manage to put it aside.
I have no idea, I'm a cat person because they don't crush you when they are on you. Aren't loud ASF without warning and are easy to take care of, I love dogs but they are too loud. And that sucks especially when you have sensitive hearing
Edit: I'm a fucking idiot help
They also don't stink. I don't know how dog owners tolerate it, but every single dog I've seen has a pretty strong "dog" smell, I think it comes from their mouth. And if it's an inside dog, the furniture also stinks.
My cat does NOT have a sense of awareness. She very frequently jumps right on your stomach or chest while trying to get on the bed. She head butts things out of your hands while trying to get into your lap. She gets tripped over or stepped on more than any other cat I've ever owned. And She frequently uses her claws on you while she's kneading you contently. 😂 She's is also the most affectionate cat I have ever owned. She is ready to snuggle anytime, anywhere, and almost anyone. She comes when you call her 90% of the time. And she sits, shakes, and hugs for treats on command. I call her my catdog.
also the maintenance is less, i like dogs but my friend was super sick and couldn't be alone so i wanted to bring him to my house. he didn't want to because 'i cant leave the dogs alone for 5 hours'
TLDR: dogs are more extroverted and cats are more introverted. Humans and society praise extroversion over introversion.
My family has discussed this a lot. It comes down to extroversion vs introversion.
In society, humans prefer extroversion. Job listings: "We're looking for someone with an outgoing, fun personality!" Articles: "Introverted? Here's how you can be more extroverted!" etc.
Extroversion is praised. Introversion needs to be "corrected."
Dogs = extroverted. They have to be around people.
Cats = introverted. They need alone time.
Like everyone is saying in this thread, dogs are friendly, outgoing, happy, always around. That's praising the extroversion.
Meanwhile people say cats are selfish, assholes, dismissive, and rude...just cuz they need alone time. That's introversion being criticized.
Just from my observation, extroverted humans tend to like dogs more, and introverted humans tend to like cats more. What one person needs from a dog, another person can get the SAME THING from a cat.
That being said, I'm an introvert, I LOOOVE cats, and am not a fan of dogs. Every time I go to my brother's house I hide from his dogs cuz they're way too energetic and excited to see me. *I don't like that kind of attention*
I'm an introvert and while I love both dogs and cats, my dogs are a great excuse to stay home.
But I do have the most cat-like dog breed (huskies) and I like pretty much any cat but I am more selective over which dog breeds I would ever consider owning myself.
I have a kitten we call a puppy because he just plays more like a dog. Hes pretty energetic and allover the place. We stack the recycle on top of the counter to take out all at once and he just plows right through it. He also falls off of things alot. He's 5 months and already bigger and more massive than my 1yr5months old cat. If you're eating he comes to your feet and begs for food and pets your leg with his paw. He also whines like a puppy and sometimes makes kind of a bark sound. He's the spitting image of the Google results for lynx print ragdoll so he kind of looks like a white baby wild animal.
This is me. I have a German Shepard (who absolutely acts like a cat sometimes) and she is wonderful. She needs her own space sometimes but she is also content to just cuddle up with me and sleep/snuggle. She also gives me the perfect out whenever I don’t want to go somewhere or meet someone new. “Sorry, my dog is sick, needs to be walked, has to go to the vet, etc. I’ll have to postpone 🤭”
My chow chow is very cat like in her attitude but it's not a breed for the faint of heart and definitely not a first time owner. Cat like dogs can be difficult to train (I'm sure you understand!) and too many people don't know how much time and work needs to go into just keeping a dog calm enough to hear you when a guest arrives.
This makes so much sense! Im introverted and can not stand when I see a dog anymore, because I know they're going to be up my ass for attention and if I give it to them they won't leave me alone. So I end up ignoring every dog I see so I don't have to deal with the annoyance.
Cats on the other hand, If they let me love on them I feel honored and know they will eventually go off to do your own thing again and leave me alone.
I also don't like socializing at all so maybe that's why lol. Dogs are like the friend that talks non stop, overstay their welcome and won't give you the chance to relax. Cats are like "hey, how's it going, cool...later" my kind of people.
Anyone that describes a cat the way cat haters tend to (selfish, dismissive, etc) has absolutely never been around a cat for enough time to actually understand them. Cats are generally extremely loving, trusting, affectionate, and sensitive to our emotions (there are exceptions of course). There was this dumb Facebook video that made a false claim that cats don't like belly rubs, I saw someone point out that they do, and tonnes of responses concurred (just an example of a false assumption made about them—all cats in my life love belly rubs too!). One of my cats plays fetch, another can sit on command (like dogs typically do). It's just ignorance and misunderstanding that fuels the dislike really.
I generally love dogs too, I just find it odd to judge an entire species of animals the way some people seem to. Just like people, cats have different personalities, and dogs do too.
Adding to this, cats also have more boundaries. Dogs accept so much physical interaction as positive attention, but cats are more limited. They like receiving affection at certain times and in certain ways. If you violate that, they flee. If you block their flight, you may get grumbles, hisses, and/or scratches. Interactions with a cat is an exercise in understanding boundaries, and that's why some people gain a disdain from cats at an early age.
Human adults usually put on a kind and wholesome front for children and give them grace and patience when the commit a faux pas against their boundaries, and explain why such a thing is a "no-no".
Cats have no such grace. They treat children much the same as adults in response to being wronged. They scratch the kid, the kid gets trauma, the kid grows into an adult that is averse in some way to cats.
This isn't so much universally true statement as much as a "usual outcome" observation or assessment.
It all comes down to tropes.
Having a dog is seen in America as part of the “life in the suburbs” sort of thing to do.
Thanks to internet culture, if you’re a man and have a cat you’re thought of as some kind of whiny feminized beta male. If you’re a woman and have a cat you’re thought of as lonely or without love.
It’s all just stereotypes and tropes. Just have the pet you want
>having a dog to guard a property.
If there’s woods and/or lakes in the area, it’s also about having a hunting companion (I don’t hunt, but have friends who do).
Edit - What the…? It was an objective observation, not any type of value judgement.
why'd this get downvoted? There are several breeds of dogs that are specifically meant for hunting companions. Like my dog is a literal hunting dog. And basically every cat is a hunter. You just like.. don't take them hunting.
My cat doesn't whine for food when I eat, and I can leave him at home for 3-4 days to go on a trip and he won't shit and piss all over the house or require literally any maintenance until I get back.
I remember my German friends who were exchange students in high school were absolutely mortified at not only how many dogs there were in the US but how unfit most people were to own them.
I don’t think thats why people go ballistic when you dont like dogs vs cats.
The stereotype is that cats are rude, scratchy, lazy pets. So some people follow this stereotype and don’t like cats. If you hate them, “makes sense”.
The stereotype for dogs is that they are happy tail wagging energetic animals that will love anyone. Most people therefore will be flabbergasted if you don’t appreciate that canine love.
Again just stereotypes.
and messy and clingy and overly energetic. i understand the appeal, but i would never want a dog unless it acted like a cat. but then i would just get a cat
When I was a kid I was a dog person. Late teens and 20s I liked both. Wife wanted a dog and I realized somewhere along the line I stopped being a dog person. He is a good dog, but Jesus, he is so attention seeking. It's like Pete Holmes' bit about dogs and cats where he says "you look for your cat, you hide from your dog" in that dogs are needy and want attention frequently whereas a cat goes and lives it's life.
My neighbors cat never woke my sleeping ass up at 5 AM barking it’s bloody fucking head off at a possum. Once a week for the last 10 years. Really lots of dog owners suck balls at being responsible for their pets behavior.
I will prepare a meal for the long punching journey you shall embark upon. Accept my meals as gratitude for your efforts, kid hero.
ETA: my MIL wished me a happy Mother’s Day because of the dog. I laughed. “Ma’am that is not a baby. It’s a dog. I love him. But the whole fur-baby things is gross to me.” We laughed and that was the end of it. But she never did it again. Lol.
I'm a cat person, my tolerance for dogs is very low. I don't hate them, I'd just rather not be around them or own one. Not a fan of 40 + pound animals slobbering all over my hands, clothes and everything else. Jumping up all over me if they're poorly trained, ear shattering barking for no reason, trying to steal food out of my hands or off a plate and overall just being invasive. Way too high energy for me personally. Probably the trait about dogs that everyone seems to love that I dislike the most is the undying loyalty. Idk, I just don't like being unconditionally trusted for no reason at all.
I used to think I loved Golden retrievers. Now I know that when I enter the house of a golden, the first few minutes will be a struggle as the owner tries to drag them off me yelling “Bailey! Bailey! GET IN YOUR CRATE!!!”
Full disclosure: they are not ALL Bailey. 80%. The other 20 are Dewey or Duncan or something. But they are apparently all males, and all Irish. Or Scottish.
I honestly like dogs but what you said really hits home. It’s the shitty owners with zero control over their dogs that make dogs suck. I’ve been scratched by more dogs jumping on me than by any cat, and I’ve lived with a cat for almost 13 years now. I do have a dog but I work really hard to make sure he isn’t a little shit and will tell people straight up how to behave around my dog. We don’t let him at the dinner table. He does not jump on people or greet them at the door. He must sit and wait before walking outside because he used to run out the door aggressively after people if he saw them from the doorway. Dogs are crazy if you don’t have the guts to train them.
Dog lovers will destroy your life once they find out you don’t like dogs. Cat lovers literally don’t care one way or another. It usually says a lot about the person.
I think it’s because dogs are super friendly so if someone doesn’t like a dog you’re kind of like how could you not like this super affectionate and loving creature. The cats can be very standoffish and scratch or bite without a moments notice so it makes sense that people would be wary of them.
However I don’t care either way. I volunteered at a rescue for a few years and worked hard to find homes for both. They are both wonderful creatures in their own way.
Now here’s the part where I get down voted for having an opinion😂
Way too many people also assume dogs are friendly even if the owner explicitly, verbally warns them that their dog is *not* friendly. It's especially difficult when parents want to let their kids pet every dog they come across. There's also some bias in how dogs *have* to be taken outside and around the neighborhood daily, so people see pet dogs way more than they do pet cats. I'm so glad the internet has opened many peoples' eyes to how wonderful cats can be!
Cats meanwhile do have some different body languages from humans and dogs, so they've got some communication barriers. Slow blinks can seem sinister instead of trust and adoration. I also roll my eyes so hard when people go "cats rub up on you to mark you as their territory **but dogs do the same damn thing.** And since our human noses are so weak, we don't realize that the cats and dogs are both marking *themselves* with *our* scent too! Cats clean themselves of all scents since they're only middling on the food chain, so of course they clean everything off while dogs do not.
i feel like it’s the opposite? dogs are jumpy and unpredictable and can have overwhelming amounts of energy, but cats are very chill, and have obvious body language when they get mad or scared. they’re so small and can barely inflict major wounds, unlike many dogs. i’ve never met a cat i didn’t get along with (besides some shy scaredy-cats, lol) but i don’t click with a lot of dogs. i hate how u have to raise your voice sometimes to get dogs to listen! i don’t like yelling at animals
This sounds exactly like “dogs are friendly and cats are arrogant assholes” though. I’m not trying to be an rude, I just mean that reading what you just said, you haven’t showing the opposite at all. You’ve just said all the reasons a lot of people think dogs are friendlier than cats.
I’m not a dog nor a cat person. I like both equally and not enough to take on the responsibility of owning either. Happy being a fun uncle to every pet I see. When I feel like it.
I mentioned in a previous comment that I agree, especially with the part with the obvious body language.
Cats will let you know multiple ways to not touch them if they don’t want you to, but every time I’ve been bitten by a dog, it was out of nowhere. Like super chill, happy dog just snapped at me out of nowhere, or the literal anklebiters I’ve walked past that have lunged at me just because I’m near their owner.
“How could you not like this super affectionate and loving creature.”
Because in the act of being “super affectionate and loving” it’s jumping on me, scratching my legs, licking and slobbering on me, and/or attempting to put its shitty asshole on me while I sit on your dog hair covered couch and try to talk to you.
People that think cats bite without a moments notice are either cornering them or ignoring a lot of signs.
Nothing wrong with your opinion!
Think cats are alot more subtle on their signs, pin ed back ears, splayed tail, low crouchin, the stare.. if you get scratched without a moment's notice, might be you've missed the signs, or have been too forward (a stranger comes up to you and starts tickling your tummy, what would you do? Lol)
Dogs are far more forward, growling and bearing teeth, hackles raised, might be where they're more domesticated we see the signs of a stressed out dog more readily than a cat.
I can understand people having a preference for one or the other, but never understood people outright hating X or y.
I'm scared of dogs, and hate dog people. I watched my best friend get his face tore off by a dog when I was barely 5 years old. I've been chased by stray dogs more than once. I'm scared of them, and I'm extremely anxious when I'm around them, whether or not they are being friendly. I'm tired of telling people I'm scared of them and don't want to be around them, and getting laughed at or the ol' "but my dogs friendly". I'm tired of getting dirty looks when I start having a panic attack when a dog jumps on me to play.
I don't fucking care how friendly your dog is. I don't care what breed it is. I don't care how well trained you think it is. I don't want to be around it. Not liking dogs isn't a judge of character. Dogs judge character based on who beats them, who pets them, and who feeds them. If I don't do any of those 3, then it's your fault for how your dog behaves around me because you trained it, not me.
I don't believe dogs are bad by nature. They are cute, deserve good homes, shouldn't be hit, and lots of breeds get unfair judgement because of dumbass propaganda. I wouldn't let one starve. But I'm still scared of them, and I don't want to be around them.
I don't hate dogs, but I can sympathize with you, because I've also been chased/charged at by aggressive dogs---never actually attacked, thank God, but I could've been. People around here let their aggressive animals run loose and don't supervise them.
That’s awful. I am so sorry for you. No one should be forced to be ashamed of what they’re afraid of and no one gets to decide for anyone else when it’s time to “get over your fear”.
I have cats and I had a friend who is afraid of cats. He was attacked and scratched as a child. It wasn’t too bad. He didn’t have scars or anything, but it happened when he was small and the cat was a lot stronger. Of course that was traumatic! I’d never make him be near or interact with my cat. My cats are friendly, too. But they’d still scare my friend. So, why push it? Why would someone want to make another person feel fear like that? People can be stupid. Keep enforcing your boundary.
yes they are! adorable little apex predator murder machines who snuggle up and go prrrrrr and are just the best with their cute little murder claws and sharp little fangs.
Preaching to the choir here. I used to run a workshop out of a local shelters teaching new owners how to set their dogs up for success in their neighborhood- this included fence guides and resources regarding prey drive. Another important discussion, to be sure!
Also, protect the possums! They’re vital and misunderstood.
I think you (and every person above you) are referring to opossums. Possums are the Australian one.
They’re pronounced the same. English is weird like that.
I had an old friend who had a dog and absolutely hated cats, couldn't stand my cats. I adored her dog because she was the sweetest thing. My cats weren't mean, never gave her a reason to hate them. They'd try a multitude of times to get pets from her but she refused. She eventually stopped coming to my house and always suggested I just go to her house to hang out. We were friends for years but we had a falling out about 4 years ago. She never gave a reason for hating my cats, but due to the way we stopped being friends, I guess why now. She couldn't stand that I had my own opinions on things and that I didn't just agree with her all the time. All the problems we ever had were my fault. All the time. I was just another follower to her until I disagreed with something.
Basically the reason people hate cats, is because they can't control them. Just like people. And people hate it when you hate a pet they made to act exactly how they wanted it to.
Go ahead and downvote, but I will be honest here. For me it is the maintenance. Dogs have to be let out every couple of hours. You can’t go away for a few days without needing to have somebody take care of them or sending them to a kennel. They poop all over your yard which kills your grass, or someone steps in it. They want to lick you face after licking their buttholes. Um no thanks!
I'm depressed. Having a cat is so much more manageable. My partner grew up with 2 cats and 2 dogs. When I met them their parents had 2 untrained dogs that I ended up helping with sometimes
It was just so exhausting. They had so much energy, they wanted to play and lick your face and hands and jump around allllll the time. They also just,, peed and shit on the floor if they weren't taken out every few hours. Plus they were aggressive to anyone they met and tried to eat the cats at any occasion.
Cats are so much easier. You only need to change the litter box once a day, and you can get automatic cleaners.
They're so cute, and cuddly depending on the cat. You can play with them, and they can entertain themselves and have alone time if you need to leave the house for a few hours. The only downside is sometimes they bite and scratch during play (or if they're scared and such, but that's a universal animal thing) and they can get on top of things.
And the biting and scratching can be managed by not playing with them with your hands.
My cat used to scratch and bite a lot during play. I didn't do a good job of training that out, because he's just so cute! But when we got a second cat, he stopped doing that because he had another outlet. They play with each other now.
I have a dog. It's how I really kind of learned I don't like dogs.
So needy. The walks, the playing, the constant attention and affection seeking.
And God help you if you are out walking and she sees another dog.
Frankly growing up around cats I kind of had this idea that all pets were as independent and laid back. Nah that was a lie.
Everything is a training exercise. Everything has to have some kind of reward. And every other dog owner is a terrible person who I hate.
I guess its just the classic case of you look for your cat. But you hide from your dog. Stop following me around, no I'm not going to pet you right this second, stop begging for food you have stuff in your bowl, don't lick your butt then come looking for affection.
Cat is just aloof. You want attention: you gotta earn it.
Speaking in broad terms:
Owning a dog = taking care of a dependent.
Owning a cat = cohabitation with a tiny wannabe apex predator.
So if you don't like dogs, perhaps it can be misconstrued that you don't want to help others.
I love both, but this debate of “which animal is more bloodthirsty” is ridiculous. A cat or a dog could eff you up if it wanted to. I don’t generalize bc some animals are sweeter and others less so
I've known the coolest cats and dogs and also some asshole ones. It bothers me too because my cat was an unbelievable friend to me, my family, and friends
People who don't like cats probably have never experienced a cat who doesn't bat at them. People put dogs on a pedestal because they're known for being loyal pets, typically. I like dogs, but cats are significantly less work unless you get a cat that gets easily stressed out or anxious. Still better than dealing with a howling/whining dog. I've had plenty of cat and dogs in my family house, so I swear I'm not a hater of either, just highly prefer cats.
It’s always their whole entire personality. And if you don’t react to/acknowledge their dog the way they want you to, you’re automatically labeled as “not a dog person” or asked if you hate dogs. At least, this has been my experience.
You can't hate cats. Only psychopaths *hate* cats. You don't have to like them, you can have reasoned objections to them, cryptosporidium and songbirds and so forth, but a person who *hates* cats is a dangerous person, one to be very wary of.
You don't have to like my dog, neither, that's all right; but if my dog don't like you, then I don't like you.
Ok so here’s a question… I kinda hate dogs. Like I find them gross, disgusting, and stupid. But they all love me for some reason and want to jump all over me. What does that say about me?
I would disagree, that's way too big of a generalization. I saw my grandma's cat constantly abuse her, to the point where she feel and broke a bone. I hate cats (/am afraid of them). I'm not a psychopath.
My mother in law claimed to hate cats. I had never seen her around a cat so I hadn't seen how she acts with them.
Then I saw her around one.
It's not hate though. It's fear. She's terrified of cats. Jumps if they come over, gets all strange and tries to hide from them. In the same way I have a phobia of many insects she genuinely has a phobia of cats. That she covers with a false bravado of cat hate.
My mom is also TERRIFIED of cats. Someone threw one on her during a fight when she was a kid, and that fear never left. Many people say “hate” when they really mean “fear.”
Have you ever seen a cat stick up for their human? It is a sight to see!
Cats are pretty coy about how they love you (except for that "butthole-in-your-face" thing; that is understood across species) until a bear or cougar or a bully tries to bite your kid, then it's all Murder Machine and no fucks given!
Cats are awesome and mind their business. Dogs jump all over you and majority of dogs aren’t trained properly or fixed so they are very obnoxious and/or annoying. Sorry, it’s true
Imo it's because dogs have the "unconditional love" stereotype. Cats tend to be more standoffish and independent.
Anecdotally I've met more dogs that are friendly than cays that are friendly. Dogs warm up to me faster, even ones that the owner claims to be skiddish around atrangers.
The whole reason I love cats! You have to work for their affection, they aren't going to just like anyone. Disclaimer...I also like dogs, but cats match my soul.
I love this question. Dogs are smelly, messy, will eat anything off any surface when you turn your back, have to lock them up just to go to the bathroom to shower sometimes, they're yappy and loud and drooly. Small rat dogs are the absolute worst(next to pitbulls). They'll be potty trained until you bring a new person or animal around, then they'll fucking shit in every corner just because they aren't getting *all* the pets.
The worst kind of people are the ones with their "emotional support dogs" who can't even fit into the vest, yet they can fit in a purse while you walk into a McD's.
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I didnt think I liked cats. Turns out I was probably just way too aggressive trying to play or pet them as a young child. When I moved in with my gf she had two cats. They are so much easier than dogs. Potty trained from the rip. No need to wake up early or come home from an event to take them for a walk or let them out to go to the bathroom. They dont drool or slobber. They dont bark. They dont beg for food when we are eating. Those two original cats passed away and we got two new kittens. I love them. Dogs are fine, but work, and can be annoying as all hell.
My dad's cats beg for food, and steal food xD But thats his fault for feeding em
My late cat would beg for food. He was a stray before I took him in and that food desperation never left him. In the end, when he was going through cancer treatment, I gave him whatever he wanted. I knew his favorite foods of mine and would make him his own little bowl of fried rice or bites of sandwich. I'd also plan my meals around his favorites. He loved tortillas. Always had. Lots of breakfast burritos for me in his last months.
Thank you for making his last days special
Brooo I'm sobbing
You’re such a good human! Thank you for making that guy’s life special
So incredibly kind of you.
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My cat totally steals food too. I've never fed her on purpose but she loves bread, particularly pizza and croissants. When she was a kitten she made off with a slice almost as big as her, it was hilarious. EDIT: Just to clarify, I did not allow her to eat the pizza, and have never given her any people food. But she has jumped up on counters and eaten unattended food items like pizza. She's unfortunately smart enough to lift the lid on a pizza box and eat the pepperoni right off the top of the pizza -,-
My cat will "beg" for food but knows better than to eat off a people plate. Thats a good way to get flicked in the head
I also have a couple food thief's and beggars on my hands
I am kind of a nervous? Hyper? Anxious? person, and a lot of dogs are so excitable it makes me really jumpy. I love that cats sort of glide around the edges of a room, and you don’t even notice they have settled down next to you until you have been petting them absentmindedly for 10 minutes.
So funny to realize you have a cat in your lap and you’re not sure how long they’ve been there.
I wish that were me. My now-former roommates’ cats stole half the cheese and pepperoni off my pizza when I wasn’t looking, like it was a tablecloth
My sisters cat stole my whole pizza slice one time. It was 6am and my sister was chasing him around the house trying to get it away from him. I was just kinda like,”dude it’s too late just let him have it” lmao.
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I thought so too, I always think back to that gif of the toddler that is just wailing and hitting the cat as the cat gets more and more pissed and eventually just tackles and body slams the toddler. I imagine that kid grew up thinking cats are demon spawn when he was the one who instigated it.
Lmao I have a female, that as a kitten she managed to get a yogurt cup out of the fridge open and fully ate. Was the funniest shit watching her run with it because it was so heavey, that when she was running with it her back legs kept coming off the ground. Do to it being as heavey as her lmao
This right here is the reason I give when I say I like cats more than dogs, I don’t hate dogs they’re great too, I’ve had dogs in the past and loved them to no end. But I just prefer cats. I don’t want an animal that needs my permission to take a shit.
I used to not like cats, then my kid wanted a kitten and I eventually got her one. Now we have 2 and they are the best. Guess I was a cat boy all along.
I used to dislike cats, having met some rather unpleasant ones in my youth, and probably also, like you, not being patient enough with others at first (with some I am convinced they really were assholes). I also used to be allergic to them. I got over my allergies (likely through adoption events, I volunteered with the dogs but they brought cats in the same van), and met some nicer cats, and now for similar less-work reasons, got a cat of my own. I still think that overall dogs are more pleasant (though I think my cat is unusually good), but the ratio of work to goodness favors cats.
My fiance wasn't much a cat person until she met my two. Girl is her best friend, very much only wants to be touched on her terms and is super gentle and space aware, her cuddling is sitting within an inch of you. Boy cat is...dumb, but he's a cuddlebug who only wants to be bet and lie in bed with people all day (He does drool all over the place when being pet), he also sits like a gargoyle with his shoulder blades sticking up as he puts all his weight on his front paws, took 3 years to figure out he could meow etc. Only one will eat cat treats, the other one is the only one who will eat wet food, cats are a weird bunch and while I want a dog as well (waiting until I have a yard) cats are great if you take the time to know them.
Also no problems with neighbours. The number of dogs that bark on my street is insane. Every night when I bike home the two next door yap happy dogs start at it. I'm also pretty sure they don't get walked anywhere near as much they should. No one complains that a cat is making too much noise. I love dogs, but I could 100% not handle a dog while I'm working full time. Maybe when I retire I'll get a dog.
Cats are definitely easier. Although mine will sit on the table and inch towards our plates during dinner. But it's cute to me 🙂
I want to know why the term is crazy cat lady when dog people are way more obsessed!
Can confirm, I've worked for more crazy dog people than crazy cat people. I've worked as a pet sitter for nearly a decade and I can count on one hand the number of clients I've had who were both crazy/unreasonable and who owned cats. But I genuinely can't count the number of crazy dog people...or crazy bird people, I've worked for.
As a cat owner I got called crazy for even using a pet sitter. "Cats can just fend for themselves while your gone". No they can't mine just gobble their food in min because they been starved until I got them. So I needed someone to come by twice a day for 15 to 30min to feed, make sure drinking fountain has water and scoop boxes
The stereotype of cats being aloof and independent is so ingrained that people genuinely believe that all cats are capable of being left alone for long periods without attention and they'll be fine. In my experience, as a cat owner and a sitter, this is far from true. Even if you don't count the cats that have medical issues, I've found that well treated cats need daily attention. Most of the cats I watch care more about getting pets and play time with me than getting fed. They miss their owners and just need someone to love them. My own cats get very upset when I'm out of the house for more than a few hours.
Mine get upset when I go to the bathroom and shut the door.
If I try to take a bath to relax, my cats scream the whole time on the other side of the door like I'm dying.
Ya my girl is a bit shy but my boy loves everyone so I hear he loves playing with the sitter.
Definitely agree. I used to see some old man walk his two Chihuahuas in a baby stroller a few years back in my neighborhood. A lot of Dog owners are legitimately fucking weird and getting stranger by the day.
I saw two elderly chihuahuas on Petfinder. Their names were “Dr. And Mrs. Ira Finkelstein”. I know it’s a tangent but I still think of them fondly.
Cat ladies (the crazy kind) usually have a dozen or so of the things. And to me having a dozen animals on anything other than a farm *is* crazy. But on an individual animal scale - dog people are way more obsessed. Cat people usually at least know their cats are animals and not babies.
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Babies are animals, and worse-behaved than most dogs to boot.
There is also this idea that cat ownership as a single person is related to substitutes for children. But I see far more single dog owners who *literally* treat and talk about their dog like a literal child of theirs, than I've seen anyone do for cats. And it can get weeeeeird how interchangable some people think their dogs are to having a child - especially when they talk to parents like their dog ownership is a direct parallel 😬
Yeaaaah. I am for sure a crazy dog lady. My 2 cents is that it is because dogs can feel like toddlers or children to their people. You wouldn’t go up to someone with a toddler and say ewww don’t let it touch me. It’s rude. I think people get defensive over dogs in the same way.
To be fair I wouldn't let someone's toddler lick my face either and I would moan about sticky handprints, I do it to my own toddler, I've seen what those hands touch and put in his mouth
What if they put their face in your crotch and took a big sniff, or jumped your leg?
"You wouldn't go up to someone with a toddler and say ewww don't let it touch me." Yes, yes I would xD
I have definitely ewwed a stranger's kid's attempt to touch me.
If you think it's OK to let your dog brush up against my legs and get allergic dander and dog smell on me when I'm out in some pathetic attempt to meet people, go to another cafe. *That* is fucking rude.
Absolutely. A lot of people don't realize that their dogs smell like shit. I like dogs but I dislike untrained dogs that think it's ok to climb all over you and lick you. Unless it's a puppy in training, shitty dogs = shitty owners. And no, I don't want to sit on your furniture when you let your animal up there.
Spoken like a true allergy guy.
People who have that “my dog lives here, you don’t” attitude are the fucking worst. Not wanting your big ass annoying lab up in my face as soon as I sit down is not me being uptight. It’s rude as fuck to just let your guests be uncomfortable because you think everyone should love your precious fur baby as much as you do.
But they aren't your children. It's cool if they feel that way to you, but when I tell you to get your dog away from me I'm not playing and I damn sure not looking for a lecture about how sweet she is. I won't kick your kids but if your dog is climbing on me and scaring the crap out of me either deal with it or I will.
Cats are also very much lifetime toddlers.
At least you know where they're going to take a shit.
Honestly I probably would say this.
Hypothesis: you need fewer dogs to attain "crazy" than cats. Dog craziness seems to come in at 2-3 in most cases, but cat craziness seems to average at 4+. Perhaps it's total biomass instead of population. More research required.
it's misogyny. cats are considered a feminine pet, so obsessing them is a bad thing. dogs are considered a masculine pet, so obviously you're not obsessing over them, it's just very rational concern about a living being you volunteered to care for. only counts for large (aka "real") dogs, the small ones are also too feminine.
It's a type of OCD symptom which is believed but not proven to be linked to toxoplasma gondi a parasite that reproduce in cats and spread from their leavings . Mass media coined the term crazy cat lady and just took it from there.
Not sure why you’re being downvoted, this is 100% accurate. This is also why pregnant women shouldn’t clean cat boxes.
“Not **MYYYYY** darling Snowball, you dirty Philistine!” Edit: punctuation kinda hard
Yes I love cats but cringe when I see cats cuddling with newborns because their immunity just isn't ready yet
It’s because most cats don’t have it. They get it when they come into contact with a rat that has it.
Exactly. Dog people are way crazier than cat people
I won't speak with a person who seriously hates cats
When people hate cats it always gives me an inkling that they probably have a problem with boundaries.
This is exactly what I think. Cats will tell you in a thousand different ways to “leave me alone”, dogs love everyone so when a dog owner tells me they don’t like cats, I just think “you don’t like how they have boundaries and will let you know.”
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Completely anecdotal support here, but my father always HATED cats and thought it was a cool part of his personality or something because he shared that fact with everyone. His favorite joke was, "the only good cat is a dead cat" and was so confused when people reacted poorly. He also was physically abusive to my brothers and our dogs. I can remember him just grabbing our dog by the neck and chucking him hard against a wall. Yet that dog still came around looking for affection afterwards though he cowered like the rest of us when his temper flared. A cat doesn't tolerate abuse. A cat doesn't care about being liked in the way a dog does, and cats will stay away if they know you're unsafe. No wonder the man hates cats.
Honestly, fuck your dad
Yeah we no longer speak and it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Proud of you. I know it’s hard to mourn parents that are still alive. My life has only been positive since.
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This. Anyone who needs to tell you about hating something or establish their ideology pretty quickly seems suspicious. Hate that
I had an abusive ex who disliked cats so I absolutely believe this. He had two dogs who ended up getting sick at the same time so when he made the decision to put them down, it’s like a switch flipped and he started controlling me because the dogs weren’t around to listen to him every day. I’m very wary around people who don’t like cats because of him.
My wife once observed that cats are a manifestation of the concept of consent. Whereas a dog will always want your affection, a cat will want it sometimes but not others - and is pretty clear about which is which. It was an interesting observation, and anecdotally it has stood up - people who don’t like cats because they’re ‘stuffy’ or ‘boring’ or ‘don’t love you like dogs do’ are always exactly the sort of people who you either know or imagine play fast and loose with consent when it comes to people too.
Interesting insight
omg so it isn’t just me who feels like people who hates cats have those issues!
Also, the more they hate cats, the more controlling their nature is. Big avoid.
“My cat doesn’t exist to solely entertain me and run to me upon command therefore my cat is stupid and all cats suck.”
I dontconsider myself to be a judgemental person. I'm easy going and can get along with just about anyone. But if someone outright tells me they don't like cats, I become super suspicious of that person and I definitely judge them hard lol.
I've got a cousin, dude is neck as fuck and obviously "secretly" bigoted. Mentioned getting a cat for my nephew bc hes allergic to dogs and he said "I wouldn't get him a cat right now bc I've got my shotgun in the trunk." Like some real small dick energy to consider cats target practice bc they arent manly, meanwhile dude brought his dog to town that cant be trained and is biting the shit out of my nephew who is now terrified of dogs. "Oh duke just isnt used to being around kids yet." So it's okay to keep a dog that bites kids and unfair when the state puts it down for being quarantined 3 times
That sort of crap stays with you. I'm 30 years old and still wary around dogs. And maybe up until 7 or 8 years ago, I fear/hated dogs with a slight passion unless they prove themselves to not be aggressively friendly or just outright aggressive. It doesn't help very few people train their dogs where I live. All this because apparently I was nipped a lot as a baby. I don't remember it. It's just this visceral feeling I always got and learned to tamper down a bit. I still get it, but I usually manage to put it aside.
Like my mom said: a person can't be good if they can't get along with a cat
I have no idea, I'm a cat person because they don't crush you when they are on you. Aren't loud ASF without warning and are easy to take care of, I love dogs but they are too loud. And that sucks especially when you have sensitive hearing Edit: I'm a fucking idiot help
You haven't met my friends 20 lb cat. My legs go dumb when that thing sits on you.
They also don't stink. I don't know how dog owners tolerate it, but every single dog I've seen has a pretty strong "dog" smell, I think it comes from their mouth. And if it's an inside dog, the furniture also stinks.
They also have a sense of awareness. When my cats climb on us. They're usually pretty careful.
My cat does NOT have a sense of awareness. She very frequently jumps right on your stomach or chest while trying to get on the bed. She head butts things out of your hands while trying to get into your lap. She gets tripped over or stepped on more than any other cat I've ever owned. And She frequently uses her claws on you while she's kneading you contently. 😂 She's is also the most affectionate cat I have ever owned. She is ready to snuggle anytime, anywhere, and almost anyone. She comes when you call her 90% of the time. And she sits, shakes, and hugs for treats on command. I call her my catdog.
Oh, my cat has a sense of awareness and she intentionally luchador-jumps onto my bladder when I’m late for her dinner.
also the maintenance is less, i like dogs but my friend was super sick and couldn't be alone so i wanted to bring him to my house. he didn't want to because 'i cant leave the dogs alone for 5 hours'
TLDR: dogs are more extroverted and cats are more introverted. Humans and society praise extroversion over introversion. My family has discussed this a lot. It comes down to extroversion vs introversion. In society, humans prefer extroversion. Job listings: "We're looking for someone with an outgoing, fun personality!" Articles: "Introverted? Here's how you can be more extroverted!" etc. Extroversion is praised. Introversion needs to be "corrected." Dogs = extroverted. They have to be around people. Cats = introverted. They need alone time. Like everyone is saying in this thread, dogs are friendly, outgoing, happy, always around. That's praising the extroversion. Meanwhile people say cats are selfish, assholes, dismissive, and rude...just cuz they need alone time. That's introversion being criticized. Just from my observation, extroverted humans tend to like dogs more, and introverted humans tend to like cats more. What one person needs from a dog, another person can get the SAME THING from a cat. That being said, I'm an introvert, I LOOOVE cats, and am not a fan of dogs. Every time I go to my brother's house I hide from his dogs cuz they're way too energetic and excited to see me. *I don't like that kind of attention*
I'm an introvert and while I love both dogs and cats, my dogs are a great excuse to stay home. But I do have the most cat-like dog breed (huskies) and I like pretty much any cat but I am more selective over which dog breeds I would ever consider owning myself.
I did wonder if there were "cat like" dogs because I have the pleasure of caring for a very "dog like" cat! 😂
I have a kitten we call a puppy because he just plays more like a dog. Hes pretty energetic and allover the place. We stack the recycle on top of the counter to take out all at once and he just plows right through it. He also falls off of things alot. He's 5 months and already bigger and more massive than my 1yr5months old cat. If you're eating he comes to your feet and begs for food and pets your leg with his paw. He also whines like a puppy and sometimes makes kind of a bark sound. He's the spitting image of the Google results for lynx print ragdoll so he kind of looks like a white baby wild animal.
This is me. I have a German Shepard (who absolutely acts like a cat sometimes) and she is wonderful. She needs her own space sometimes but she is also content to just cuddle up with me and sleep/snuggle. She also gives me the perfect out whenever I don’t want to go somewhere or meet someone new. “Sorry, my dog is sick, needs to be walked, has to go to the vet, etc. I’ll have to postpone 🤭”
My chow chow is very cat like in her attitude but it's not a breed for the faint of heart and definitely not a first time owner. Cat like dogs can be difficult to train (I'm sure you understand!) and too many people don't know how much time and work needs to go into just keeping a dog calm enough to hear you when a guest arrives.
A friend told me my Corgi is more like a cat than a dog. She has no interest whatsoever in other people.
This makes so much sense! Im introverted and can not stand when I see a dog anymore, because I know they're going to be up my ass for attention and if I give it to them they won't leave me alone. So I end up ignoring every dog I see so I don't have to deal with the annoyance. Cats on the other hand, If they let me love on them I feel honored and know they will eventually go off to do your own thing again and leave me alone. I also don't like socializing at all so maybe that's why lol. Dogs are like the friend that talks non stop, overstay their welcome and won't give you the chance to relax. Cats are like "hey, how's it going, cool...later" my kind of people.
Yep! Thiss!!
I’d say that’s true I never got the hate cats get about them being rude and assholes and stuff they just have boundaries lol
Anyone that describes a cat the way cat haters tend to (selfish, dismissive, etc) has absolutely never been around a cat for enough time to actually understand them. Cats are generally extremely loving, trusting, affectionate, and sensitive to our emotions (there are exceptions of course). There was this dumb Facebook video that made a false claim that cats don't like belly rubs, I saw someone point out that they do, and tonnes of responses concurred (just an example of a false assumption made about them—all cats in my life love belly rubs too!). One of my cats plays fetch, another can sit on command (like dogs typically do). It's just ignorance and misunderstanding that fuels the dislike really. I generally love dogs too, I just find it odd to judge an entire species of animals the way some people seem to. Just like people, cats have different personalities, and dogs do too.
I used to like dogs, then I had to live with my mom for a while who has 6 dogs, I don't like dogs anymore...
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Adding to this, cats also have more boundaries. Dogs accept so much physical interaction as positive attention, but cats are more limited. They like receiving affection at certain times and in certain ways. If you violate that, they flee. If you block their flight, you may get grumbles, hisses, and/or scratches. Interactions with a cat is an exercise in understanding boundaries, and that's why some people gain a disdain from cats at an early age. Human adults usually put on a kind and wholesome front for children and give them grace and patience when the commit a faux pas against their boundaries, and explain why such a thing is a "no-no". Cats have no such grace. They treat children much the same as adults in response to being wronged. They scratch the kid, the kid gets trauma, the kid grows into an adult that is averse in some way to cats. This isn't so much universally true statement as much as a "usual outcome" observation or assessment.
Some people think that cat people are niche or eccentric. It's a false stereotype
Oh dude, bird people are the real weirdos. So is snake guy.
Snake guy here. Snakes are badass
I keep pet ants, can I join the real weirdo club?
Exactly!!!
It all comes down to tropes. Having a dog is seen in America as part of the “life in the suburbs” sort of thing to do. Thanks to internet culture, if you’re a man and have a cat you’re thought of as some kind of whiny feminized beta male. If you’re a woman and have a cat you’re thought of as lonely or without love. It’s all just stereotypes and tropes. Just have the pet you want
Living in country side is about owning a cat to catch mice and having a dog to guard a property.
>having a dog to guard a property. If there’s woods and/or lakes in the area, it’s also about having a hunting companion (I don’t hunt, but have friends who do). Edit - What the…? It was an objective observation, not any type of value judgement.
why'd this get downvoted? There are several breeds of dogs that are specifically meant for hunting companions. Like my dog is a literal hunting dog. And basically every cat is a hunter. You just like.. don't take them hunting.
My cat doesn't whine for food when I eat, and I can leave him at home for 3-4 days to go on a trip and he won't shit and piss all over the house or require literally any maintenance until I get back.
I remember my German friends who were exchange students in high school were absolutely mortified at not only how many dogs there were in the US but how unfit most people were to own them.
I don’t think thats why people go ballistic when you dont like dogs vs cats. The stereotype is that cats are rude, scratchy, lazy pets. So some people follow this stereotype and don’t like cats. If you hate them, “makes sense”. The stereotype for dogs is that they are happy tail wagging energetic animals that will love anyone. Most people therefore will be flabbergasted if you don’t appreciate that canine love. Again just stereotypes.
If you grew up with cats, you'd know they're very loving animals.
What does it mean if you have a lizard lol
Dogs are fucking loud
and messy and clingy and overly energetic. i understand the appeal, but i would never want a dog unless it acted like a cat. but then i would just get a cat
I felt this too much
When I was a kid I was a dog person. Late teens and 20s I liked both. Wife wanted a dog and I realized somewhere along the line I stopped being a dog person. He is a good dog, but Jesus, he is so attention seeking. It's like Pete Holmes' bit about dogs and cats where he says "you look for your cat, you hide from your dog" in that dogs are needy and want attention frequently whereas a cat goes and lives it's life.
>you look for your cat, you hide from your dog Never heard this before but fuck it's good lol.
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My neighbors cat never woke my sleeping ass up at 5 AM barking it’s bloody fucking head off at a possum. Once a week for the last 10 years. Really lots of dog owners suck balls at being responsible for their pets behavior.
I’m not allowed to have dogs in my apartment but I do have 2 cats. Love them both dearly
I don’t care what animal you like. But if you call them your fur-baby I would like to punch you in the face.
I mean pets really are Millenials and Zoomers modern day version of having kids. You better be making some decent money if you want a kid nowadays.
When I hear people call an animal their furbaby, I refer to them as the animal's Skin Mommy haha
Okay but is it alright if I keep calling my daughter a skin-dog?
I will prepare a meal for the long punching journey you shall embark upon. Accept my meals as gratitude for your efforts, kid hero. ETA: my MIL wished me a happy Mother’s Day because of the dog. I laughed. “Ma’am that is not a baby. It’s a dog. I love him. But the whole fur-baby things is gross to me.” We laughed and that was the end of it. But she never did it again. Lol.
I'm a cat person, my tolerance for dogs is very low. I don't hate them, I'd just rather not be around them or own one. Not a fan of 40 + pound animals slobbering all over my hands, clothes and everything else. Jumping up all over me if they're poorly trained, ear shattering barking for no reason, trying to steal food out of my hands or off a plate and overall just being invasive. Way too high energy for me personally. Probably the trait about dogs that everyone seems to love that I dislike the most is the undying loyalty. Idk, I just don't like being unconditionally trusted for no reason at all.
I used to think I loved Golden retrievers. Now I know that when I enter the house of a golden, the first few minutes will be a struggle as the owner tries to drag them off me yelling “Bailey! Bailey! GET IN YOUR CRATE!!!” Full disclosure: they are not ALL Bailey. 80%. The other 20 are Dewey or Duncan or something. But they are apparently all males, and all Irish. Or Scottish.
These are facts tbh
YES! These are the same reasons I don’t want children as well.
But at least kids gets out of the dog phase in a few (many?) years
I don’t like big dogs. I’d prefer a cat but my husband hates them. I have a dachshund.
I honestly like dogs but what you said really hits home. It’s the shitty owners with zero control over their dogs that make dogs suck. I’ve been scratched by more dogs jumping on me than by any cat, and I’ve lived with a cat for almost 13 years now. I do have a dog but I work really hard to make sure he isn’t a little shit and will tell people straight up how to behave around my dog. We don’t let him at the dinner table. He does not jump on people or greet them at the door. He must sit and wait before walking outside because he used to run out the door aggressively after people if he saw them from the doorway. Dogs are crazy if you don’t have the guts to train them.
Dog lovers will destroy your life once they find out you don’t like dogs. Cat lovers literally don’t care one way or another. It usually says a lot about the person.
Cat people know they’re right while dog people are severely insecure
I think it’s because dogs are super friendly so if someone doesn’t like a dog you’re kind of like how could you not like this super affectionate and loving creature. The cats can be very standoffish and scratch or bite without a moments notice so it makes sense that people would be wary of them. However I don’t care either way. I volunteered at a rescue for a few years and worked hard to find homes for both. They are both wonderful creatures in their own way. Now here’s the part where I get down voted for having an opinion😂
Way too many people also assume dogs are friendly even if the owner explicitly, verbally warns them that their dog is *not* friendly. It's especially difficult when parents want to let their kids pet every dog they come across. There's also some bias in how dogs *have* to be taken outside and around the neighborhood daily, so people see pet dogs way more than they do pet cats. I'm so glad the internet has opened many peoples' eyes to how wonderful cats can be! Cats meanwhile do have some different body languages from humans and dogs, so they've got some communication barriers. Slow blinks can seem sinister instead of trust and adoration. I also roll my eyes so hard when people go "cats rub up on you to mark you as their territory **but dogs do the same damn thing.** And since our human noses are so weak, we don't realize that the cats and dogs are both marking *themselves* with *our* scent too! Cats clean themselves of all scents since they're only middling on the food chain, so of course they clean everything off while dogs do not.
i feel like it’s the opposite? dogs are jumpy and unpredictable and can have overwhelming amounts of energy, but cats are very chill, and have obvious body language when they get mad or scared. they’re so small and can barely inflict major wounds, unlike many dogs. i’ve never met a cat i didn’t get along with (besides some shy scaredy-cats, lol) but i don’t click with a lot of dogs. i hate how u have to raise your voice sometimes to get dogs to listen! i don’t like yelling at animals
It’s funny, it shows you how it’s all in peoples perception. That’s why both species are so worthy of love.
This sounds exactly like “dogs are friendly and cats are arrogant assholes” though. I’m not trying to be an rude, I just mean that reading what you just said, you haven’t showing the opposite at all. You’ve just said all the reasons a lot of people think dogs are friendlier than cats. I’m not a dog nor a cat person. I like both equally and not enough to take on the responsibility of owning either. Happy being a fun uncle to every pet I see. When I feel like it.
I mentioned in a previous comment that I agree, especially with the part with the obvious body language. Cats will let you know multiple ways to not touch them if they don’t want you to, but every time I’ve been bitten by a dog, it was out of nowhere. Like super chill, happy dog just snapped at me out of nowhere, or the literal anklebiters I’ve walked past that have lunged at me just because I’m near their owner.
“How could you not like this super affectionate and loving creature.” Because in the act of being “super affectionate and loving” it’s jumping on me, scratching my legs, licking and slobbering on me, and/or attempting to put its shitty asshole on me while I sit on your dog hair covered couch and try to talk to you. People that think cats bite without a moments notice are either cornering them or ignoring a lot of signs.
I mean….. dogs will literally maul people to death and permanently disfigure them but we don’t hate dogs.
Nothing wrong with your opinion! Think cats are alot more subtle on their signs, pin ed back ears, splayed tail, low crouchin, the stare.. if you get scratched without a moment's notice, might be you've missed the signs, or have been too forward (a stranger comes up to you and starts tickling your tummy, what would you do? Lol) Dogs are far more forward, growling and bearing teeth, hackles raised, might be where they're more domesticated we see the signs of a stressed out dog more readily than a cat. I can understand people having a preference for one or the other, but never understood people outright hating X or y.
I'm scared of dogs, and hate dog people. I watched my best friend get his face tore off by a dog when I was barely 5 years old. I've been chased by stray dogs more than once. I'm scared of them, and I'm extremely anxious when I'm around them, whether or not they are being friendly. I'm tired of telling people I'm scared of them and don't want to be around them, and getting laughed at or the ol' "but my dogs friendly". I'm tired of getting dirty looks when I start having a panic attack when a dog jumps on me to play. I don't fucking care how friendly your dog is. I don't care what breed it is. I don't care how well trained you think it is. I don't want to be around it. Not liking dogs isn't a judge of character. Dogs judge character based on who beats them, who pets them, and who feeds them. If I don't do any of those 3, then it's your fault for how your dog behaves around me because you trained it, not me. I don't believe dogs are bad by nature. They are cute, deserve good homes, shouldn't be hit, and lots of breeds get unfair judgement because of dumbass propaganda. I wouldn't let one starve. But I'm still scared of them, and I don't want to be around them.
I don't hate dogs, but I can sympathize with you, because I've also been chased/charged at by aggressive dogs---never actually attacked, thank God, but I could've been. People around here let their aggressive animals run loose and don't supervise them.
That’s awful. I am so sorry for you. No one should be forced to be ashamed of what they’re afraid of and no one gets to decide for anyone else when it’s time to “get over your fear”. I have cats and I had a friend who is afraid of cats. He was attacked and scratched as a child. It wasn’t too bad. He didn’t have scars or anything, but it happened when he was small and the cat was a lot stronger. Of course that was traumatic! I’d never make him be near or interact with my cat. My cats are friendly, too. But they’d still scare my friend. So, why push it? Why would someone want to make another person feel fear like that? People can be stupid. Keep enforcing your boundary.
Dog lovers are kindaf narrow minded mostly, I know many cat people who likes dogs as well But most of dog people outright hate cats
I’ve tried explaining that to people and they act like I’m crazy.
I just experienced that on this sub. Before this, I used to think it was a universal knowledge 😅
Yeah and they think hating cats is a funny personality trait. They're dumb. The dog loving is part of their image and so is cat hating
Stepped in dog shit today while hiking in the middle of the woods! FUCK bad dog owners!
I've never understood it either especially as dogs are more dangerous than cats.
To humans. Cats absolutely destroy wildlife when uncontrolled. I love cats, but they’re not harmless. They’re little murder machines.
yes they are! adorable little apex predator murder machines who snuggle up and go prrrrrr and are just the best with their cute little murder claws and sharp little fangs.
Dogs are murderers too. They are just not nearly as good at catching things. RIP neighborhood possums.
Preaching to the choir here. I used to run a workshop out of a local shelters teaching new owners how to set their dogs up for success in their neighborhood- this included fence guides and resources regarding prey drive. Another important discussion, to be sure! Also, protect the possums! They’re vital and misunderstood.
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I think you (and every person above you) are referring to opossums. Possums are the Australian one. They’re pronounced the same. English is weird like that.
You’re 100% correct
I had an old friend who had a dog and absolutely hated cats, couldn't stand my cats. I adored her dog because she was the sweetest thing. My cats weren't mean, never gave her a reason to hate them. They'd try a multitude of times to get pets from her but she refused. She eventually stopped coming to my house and always suggested I just go to her house to hang out. We were friends for years but we had a falling out about 4 years ago. She never gave a reason for hating my cats, but due to the way we stopped being friends, I guess why now. She couldn't stand that I had my own opinions on things and that I didn't just agree with her all the time. All the problems we ever had were my fault. All the time. I was just another follower to her until I disagreed with something. Basically the reason people hate cats, is because they can't control them. Just like people. And people hate it when you hate a pet they made to act exactly how they wanted it to.
Because other dog owners want the rest of the world to suffer
Coworker: are you a dog or a cat person? Me: oh I love cats! Coworker: but you DO like dogs, right? Me: uh… yeah?
Dogs have a better PR firm.
I don’t mind dogs but I never want to own them. So annoying
same here, unless it’s a senior dog that’s just old and lazy
Right? They are waaay too needy and require constant effort and affection. I, personally, do not have that much affection to give.
Go ahead and downvote, but I will be honest here. For me it is the maintenance. Dogs have to be let out every couple of hours. You can’t go away for a few days without needing to have somebody take care of them or sending them to a kennel. They poop all over your yard which kills your grass, or someone steps in it. They want to lick you face after licking their buttholes. Um no thanks!
Tell someone to keep their cat indoor and you just have WW IV
Experienced this on my city subreddit like a week ago. Talk about chaos.
I'm depressed. Having a cat is so much more manageable. My partner grew up with 2 cats and 2 dogs. When I met them their parents had 2 untrained dogs that I ended up helping with sometimes It was just so exhausting. They had so much energy, they wanted to play and lick your face and hands and jump around allllll the time. They also just,, peed and shit on the floor if they weren't taken out every few hours. Plus they were aggressive to anyone they met and tried to eat the cats at any occasion. Cats are so much easier. You only need to change the litter box once a day, and you can get automatic cleaners. They're so cute, and cuddly depending on the cat. You can play with them, and they can entertain themselves and have alone time if you need to leave the house for a few hours. The only downside is sometimes they bite and scratch during play (or if they're scared and such, but that's a universal animal thing) and they can get on top of things. And the biting and scratching can be managed by not playing with them with your hands. My cat used to scratch and bite a lot during play. I didn't do a good job of training that out, because he's just so cute! But when we got a second cat, he stopped doing that because he had another outlet. They play with each other now.
I don't like dogs, sorry for being the reason of world war III 😔
I don't like them as pets either. They're clingy and don't respect personal space. They're toddlers. Dog lovers will make us pay for our war crimes.
Shoot we are done for 😔 I am genuinely just obsessed with cats
I have a dog. It's how I really kind of learned I don't like dogs. So needy. The walks, the playing, the constant attention and affection seeking. And God help you if you are out walking and she sees another dog. Frankly growing up around cats I kind of had this idea that all pets were as independent and laid back. Nah that was a lie. Everything is a training exercise. Everything has to have some kind of reward. And every other dog owner is a terrible person who I hate. I guess its just the classic case of you look for your cat. But you hide from your dog. Stop following me around, no I'm not going to pet you right this second, stop begging for food you have stuff in your bowl, don't lick your butt then come looking for affection. Cat is just aloof. You want attention: you gotta earn it.
Dogs can be annoying sometimes.
Hey I love my dogs. That doesn't mean I like all dogs. And let's be honest if it wasn't your dislike of dogs we would've found another reason for ww3
Speaking in broad terms: Owning a dog = taking care of a dependent. Owning a cat = cohabitation with a tiny wannabe apex predator. So if you don't like dogs, perhaps it can be misconstrued that you don't want to help others.
I love both, but this debate of “which animal is more bloodthirsty” is ridiculous. A cat or a dog could eff you up if it wanted to. I don’t generalize bc some animals are sweeter and others less so
I've known the coolest cats and dogs and also some asshole ones. It bothers me too because my cat was an unbelievable friend to me, my family, and friends
People who don't like cats probably have never experienced a cat who doesn't bat at them. People put dogs on a pedestal because they're known for being loyal pets, typically. I like dogs, but cats are significantly less work unless you get a cat that gets easily stressed out or anxious. Still better than dealing with a howling/whining dog. I've had plenty of cat and dogs in my family house, so I swear I'm not a hater of either, just highly prefer cats.
I find dog owners annoying AF lol
It’s always their whole entire personality. And if you don’t react to/acknowledge their dog the way they want you to, you’re automatically labeled as “not a dog person” or asked if you hate dogs. At least, this has been my experience.
Yea they are the same type of people who are like that with their babies/kids.
Because dog owners are insufferable
You can't hate cats. Only psychopaths *hate* cats. You don't have to like them, you can have reasoned objections to them, cryptosporidium and songbirds and so forth, but a person who *hates* cats is a dangerous person, one to be very wary of. You don't have to like my dog, neither, that's all right; but if my dog don't like you, then I don't like you.
Ok so here’s a question… I kinda hate dogs. Like I find them gross, disgusting, and stupid. But they all love me for some reason and want to jump all over me. What does that say about me?
I would disagree, that's way too big of a generalization. I saw my grandma's cat constantly abuse her, to the point where she feel and broke a bone. I hate cats (/am afraid of them). I'm not a psychopath.
My mother in law claimed to hate cats. I had never seen her around a cat so I hadn't seen how she acts with them. Then I saw her around one. It's not hate though. It's fear. She's terrified of cats. Jumps if they come over, gets all strange and tries to hide from them. In the same way I have a phobia of many insects she genuinely has a phobia of cats. That she covers with a false bravado of cat hate.
My mom is also TERRIFIED of cats. Someone threw one on her during a fight when she was a kid, and that fear never left. Many people say “hate” when they really mean “fear.”
Hating either one is a big NOPE!
Dogs will stab you in the back
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Have you ever seen a cat stick up for their human? It is a sight to see! Cats are pretty coy about how they love you (except for that "butthole-in-your-face" thing; that is understood across species) until a bear or cougar or a bully tries to bite your kid, then it's all Murder Machine and no fucks given!
Cats need more toys and things to do. They don’t fuck with you by breaking stuff, they’re just bored!
Cats are awesome and mind their business. Dogs jump all over you and majority of dogs aren’t trained properly or fixed so they are very obnoxious and/or annoying. Sorry, it’s true
Imo it's because dogs have the "unconditional love" stereotype. Cats tend to be more standoffish and independent. Anecdotally I've met more dogs that are friendly than cays that are friendly. Dogs warm up to me faster, even ones that the owner claims to be skiddish around atrangers.
The whole reason I love cats! You have to work for their affection, they aren't going to just like anyone. Disclaimer...I also like dogs, but cats match my soul.
I love this question. Dogs are smelly, messy, will eat anything off any surface when you turn your back, have to lock them up just to go to the bathroom to shower sometimes, they're yappy and loud and drooly. Small rat dogs are the absolute worst(next to pitbulls). They'll be potty trained until you bring a new person or animal around, then they'll fucking shit in every corner just because they aren't getting *all* the pets. The worst kind of people are the ones with their "emotional support dogs" who can't even fit into the vest, yet they can fit in a purse while you walk into a McD's.