A new trend

[twistsol]

I've always thought the US should have one cat and we can just keep it in the Smithsonian.

[L. D. Jeffries]

As has been said before: Dogs have masters; cats have servants!
We have always have had cats; they are truly wonderous animals, only a small step away from the tiger in the jungle! As any cat person will tell you; better be prepared to be trained (you not the cat)!

[mpc]

All in fun - I grew up with both dogs and cats and love 'em both. Not long ago my cat died from heart problems... Like Sparkeyjames, I got a cat because they are more independent and don't suffer as much when you're gone all day at work.

Nothing personal Crokett - your post just gave me stuff to reply to. As I said, all in fun - I'm an animal lover through and through. But I gotta defend cats! I've had great luck with cats over the years. Dogs too.

They don't adore you like dogs do.

I don't know about this... my (now departed) cat followed me all over the house, would curl up on my arm on the couch or in bed. If I left both arms under the covers, Tiffany would tug at my shoulder until I flopped an arm next to the pillow so she could curl up on it. She'd scratch at the bathroom door if I closed it before she could follow me in too. The neighbor across the street loved cats; she had several at a time. They adored her, followed her as she walked to talk to other neighbors. They didn't walk right with her - they'd walk behind her a ways, or in front of her a ways. She nicknamed them "her entourage." Her husband and daughter weren't cat fans though. And the cats seemed to know it too.

They don't play fetch, catch frisbees or do anything otherwise goofy.

True... my cat would probably have run and hidden from a frisbee coming anywhere near her. She was the definition of "fraidy cat." Actually she didn't like much of anything larger than a ping-pong ball coming towards her.
But she had enough other antics that easily qualified as "goofy." Ever try playing with a dog using a simple shoelace? For a cat, that's heaven. A dog? Probably sniffs it once or twice and then looks at you with a "you call that a toy?" look on his face. As was already noted, wadded up paper (or just loose newspaper thrown on the floor) provides hours of fun. Watching a cat hunker down, then charge & pounce something... if that doesn't make you laugh...
Tiffany would cuff the living daylights out of things before picking them up or sniffing them. She'd snag wadded paper with a claw and litterally wing it across the room to chase it... or she'd fling it to the linoleum kitchen floor and play hockey around the table & chairs.

They aren't overjoyed to see you when you come home.

I really have to disagree with this one... Tiffany would run to the door when she heard the keys in the lock. She was always ready to greet me when I came home from work. True, cats don't jump around or wag their tails as enthusiastically as dogs... but come on, cats are more sophisticated, right? If I didn't bend down and pet her right away she'd meow at me until I gave her some attention.

They can't/won't go running with you when you exercise.

Can't disagree with you on that one. But it wasn't much of an issue for me since I don't exercise much either.

They can't/won't go on walks in the park or go swimming.

Let a cat loose in the park and see how much fun it has... and try to keep up!
Let a cat loose in the pool - don't be surprised if the cat snubs you for a week!
I remember one of the family dogs when I was growing up didn't like swimming either... but he'd bark at the side of the pool when I swam until I brought over the chlorine floatie-thing in an inner-tube; it made a nice, stable raft for him. He'd float on that for hours while I floated on a soccer ball... as long as I kept one hand on it. He'd get nervous and would shake himself, and the raft, when I'd let go.

They can't won't bark to let you know someone is coming.

Tiffany earned a nickname "lickity split" because she'd become a dark blur running to the bedroom to hide under the bed whenever anybody approached the front door. She hated noises or strangers. As I said, she epitomized "fraidy cat." Halloween was especially fun: she'd make a beeline for under the bed when the kids would come to the door. But as I gave them candy her cat's curiosity would win out and she'd come back into the hallway and peek around the corner and watch. Then as they left she'd slither up to the screen door and stand up enough to watch them walk away... her tail twitching back and forth... until the next batch of kids started walking towards the door and she'd take off again.

Cats are boring.

Cats can be boring or they can be endless entertainment... just depends on their disposition. Same for dogs. Though the odds of a boring dog are probably more remote than a "distant" and thus boring cat...

Cats in general, compared to dogs anyway, tend to bond only with their masters; they don't take to strangers anywhere near as quickly as dogs do. My cat never got used to my parents visiting (of course, parents visiting meant 2 dogs visiting too) while dogs may distrust visitors... until their master tells them "it's okay." My parents dog's have always liked me... but my cat never thought much of mom and dad. Cats seem to be able to tell if you're a "cat person" too; a co-worker who was a big cat fan had a cat that also distrusted strangers just like my Tiffany. The first time I visited their house though it only took a couple minutes for Kendal to trust me and hang around; usually Kendal would hide from strangers.

Cat owners often do feel the "I'm the cat's servant" too... when a cat wants something, it'll often tell you it wants something but you can never tell what it wants... dogs eventually learn to respond to key words like "are you hungry?" "Thirsty?" "wanna go for a walk?" Cats just expect you to read their minds as they stare at your or plaintively meow at the world. My parent's current dog though is that way too - she grouses when she wants something but she's never learned how to respond to the right word, nor to just walk to her food or water dishes if that's what she wants. And if you don't figure it out within a minute or two the dog just stomps off and avoids everybody for the rest of the evening! She's a moody critter! The breed is a Schipperke (pronounced like "Skipper key") but dad calls her a "SkipperCat" because she seems half-cat sometimes.

mpc

[bigstick509]

I've had cats on and off all my life, currently we have this guy that is more aloof then most. LOML #2 never liked cats before we got this one and I haven't had the heart to tell her that most are a lot more loving and fun then Coco.

[gad5264]

I love cats as well. About two months ago I took in a stray and the first week I took her to the vet. Come to find out she was prego, She had 4 kittens on Labor Day, I am keeping two of them for my daughters which will leave me with 4. I found a new home for momma and 2 of her babies.

Here is the two I originally had before the adoption and delivery.

[sscherin]

I have what you might call an Economy size cat..
he's a Main Coon.. 3 years old and 12 pounds..
He can open doors and chases invisible bugs.

[Russianwolf]

Cats in my house are called snacks. A little something to tide the pups over till dinner is served.

I like cats. But unfortunately several of the pups are of the cat eating persuasion, so no cats in out house. Several of them are absolutely fine with cats though.

Lakota, the one that passed away last year, was great with all animals. He even befriended a ferret (much cooler than cats even to me) that his husky prey drive should have finished in seconds. They played everyday for a week. The ferret would eat his food, and when Lakota would eat some with him, the ferret would get mad and curl up covering all the food. They were hilarious.

[Coachman]

Hi, this is really my 1st post here and I just couldn't resist. I never had cats until I got married, been 20 years this month, always had dogs. I use to think cats were not friendly or very interactive. I didn't learn how wrong I was until I actually lived with a cat.

We have 3 cats; a Maine Coon and two mix breeds that were rescued by Kitty Angels. You don't want to be a mouse in my house! They are extremely friendly and meet us both at the door when we individually come home from work. They follow us both around the house, mostly my wife, at least one is in the TV room with us in the evening. I don't have to walk them in the snow, rain, heat, whatever, and they're clean.

Lastly, someone noted that they don't bark when someone approaches. Yes, that's true, however cats can't bark! If you learn how to read your cat you'll know when something is happening. With ours they go on full alert if someone is around the house, if they approach their gone. The cats woke me up one night when they heard someone at my next door neighbor's who was trying to steal a BBQ, what an idiot, but that's another story. We had a good laugh with the cops on that one!

They like to hang out in the shop with me, which is down in my basement, but they prefer handtools and rolling in the shavings. If I run a power tools, its just to insulting and they leave.

Anyway, enough about the cats! Hello to all, see you around!

Regards, Steve

[Pappy]

I am a convert as well. Sis had asthma and couldn't be around cats or most dogs. Ginger rescued an abused kitten shortly after we married and I was hooked. His equilibrium was and he would trip on extension cords and fall off the 8" wide couch back.

Later cats run the gambit from two purebred Persians, a 15 pound bobtail in Japan named Dog, a tuxedo born at my buddie's motorcycle shopshop named Killer (He was recently put down at age 15), to a pair of Turkish Vans we have now. Killer and Dog both ruled their territories and gave no quarter to anything on 4 legs!

Both our current Master and Mistress are technically strays but there is a male/female pair that roams the neighborhood. Our Vet says he would bet on both of them being pure.

Airstream and Athena...

[nothing]

They don't adore you like dogs do.

I haven't noticed a difference. Both of our cats follow me around constantly. Every time I sit down they have to come sit in my lap. One of them loves to perch on my shoulder and give me a bath.

They don't play fetch, catch frisbees or do anything otherwise goofy.

My wife's cat will fetch bottle caps and toy mice. Actually if you throw anything she will take off after it. It just won't come back if she can't fit it in her mouth.

They aren't overjoyed to see you when you come home.

Being in the military I spend a good bit of time away from home. Both cats go crazy as soon as I walk in the door. They get excited and run circles around me until I sit down and pay attention to them.

They can't/won't go running with you when you exercise.

No, but they like to sit on my back when I do pushups.

They can't/won't go on walks in the park or go swimming.

My mother's golden retriever hated water, she wouldn't go near a pool or lake. Go figure.

They can't won't bark to let you know someone is coming.

No, but they take off towards the door and stare.

Cats are boring.

I have to disagree, they love to play, chase each other, eat bugs, do really cute things, get into all kinds of trouble and we have one that can fetch.