What's so great about cats?

[xbuzzerx]

I am more of a bird person

We finally have it-- the way to end every cat vs. dog person debate.

Kill the bird person.

 

[justsimon]

This cat traveled 200 miles to find his home.

Nobody knows how it happened: an indoor housecat who got lost on a family excursion managing, after two months and about 200 miles, to return to her hometown.

Even scientists are baffled by how Holly, a 4-year-old tortoiseshell who in early November became separated from Jacob and Bonnie Richter at an R.V. rally in Daytona Beach, Fla., appeared on New Year’s Eve — staggering, weak and emaciated — in a backyard about a mile from the Richters’ house in West Palm Beach.

“Are you sure it’s the same cat?” wondered John Bradshaw, director of the University of Bristol’s Anthrozoology Institute. In other cases, he has suspected, “the cats are just strays, and the people have got kind of a mental justification for expecting it to be the same cat.”

But Holly not only had distinctive black-and-brown harlequin patterns on her fur, but also an implanted microchip to identify her.

Read the rest here.

 

[BreakTheIce]

Um somewhat true about dogs. Dogs are trained for hunting. But wild dogs are natural born hunters. They are smart animals on their own... especially these clever African wild dogs. Dogs have as much instinct as cats.





Not necessarily true either. But I'll agree to disagree.

Except hunting for dogs and cats is instinct driven so it doesn't have anything to do with intelligence. To say dogs are trained to hunt makes little sense. This implies that dogs didn't know how to hunt before they were domesticated. This is obviously false, because they would not have survived if they didn't know how to hunt.

Dogs are trained to hunt for & with people, which is true. But this again goes back to dogs being better at picking up commands from people, because they were domesticated to perform services they didn't usually perform. This includes herding sheep, helping disabled people, sniffing out drugs, etc.

Try going on a hunt with a feral dog, it wont work. But it will still chase around squirrels. They know how to hunt. They have to. But the feral dog will not understand anything we expect pet dogs to understand, such as commands to sit, stay, etc. It needs to be taught these.

The household cat's ancestor, the african wild cat, also is an accomplished hunter. But this has nothing to do with intelligence. It's instinct driven. If the ancestors of domesticated dogs and cats didn't know how to hunt, the wild population would have died out long ago.

 

[palbert]

Cats and dogs each keep food costs down in Asian restaurants.

 

[BreakTheIce]

^It's bred for the trait, selective breeding with desirable traits. It's the same way you get all the different breeds of dogs, looks & size wise. Genetically they are the same species. The expressions of genes (phenotype) differs.

 

[Rolyo85]

To sum it up:

What's so great about cats?

Absolutely nothing -_-

 

[borg69unimatrix]

My current cat is one of the coolest cats I've ever had, and one of the smartest.

 

[G-Lexington]

Respect, bitches.

Lex

 

[BreakTheIce]

My point still stands, however, about the intelligence aspect.

That's fine. I'll also agree to disagree =)

 

[Taz]

They are evolving...

 

[Beachguyj]

 

[ixthrock]

Because it employs dancers, and dancers are sooooo hot, and when it came to town, I got to have crazy hot sex with one of them. He must have been the most muscular guy I've ever bedded. I've never watched the show, but I'll always be grateful to T.S. Eliot and Andrew Lloyd Weber

 

[zoltanspawn]

I don't know much about cats. I've been allergic to them since childhood, so I won't judge them or the people that like them.

I will say that those who think dog-people are controlling or dominating are incorrect.

Dogs and people have fun together. Sometimes, that involves persuasion. I avoid negative reinforcement myself, but it's a human habit when working with animals.

I think it's far more correct to characterize our relationship with dogs as a partnership. We work together. Dogs are not merely our tools.

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

My ex is terrified of my Mum's cat but doesn't dare admit it. He cringes every time I take it near him.

 

[Benjoe]

 

[MisterMajestic]

The only Cat I will ever Kiss is Pussy but this pic is Awe-worthy..

​

 

[leomendez93]

Nothing! Cats suck.

 

[palbert]

Cats attack also.

Warning to tourists in France after attack by feral cats


About six cats pounced on the unnamed dog owner as she walked her poodle in the city of Belfort, in the popular Franche-Comte region, on the Swiss border, dragging her to the ground and mauling her.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...sts-in-France-after-attack-by-feral-cats.html

The next SyFy movie?

(My cat does a Hannibal Lecter about once a month.)

 

[MoufOfKhaos]

Thanks for the thread revival - it reminds me that a lot of pet owners think their shit doesn't stink.

 

[teadrinker]

Ahhh, some people are cat people, and some are dog people. I used to consider myself neither, expect that I've ended up with both (one dog, two cats), and I like them all, but for different reasons. I quite admire the individuality of cats, just as I like the sheer loving of the dog. If you don't like cats, or dogs, or ferrets, or Republicans, don't own one!

-T.