What's so great about cats?

[loveguys72]

OMG this is hilarious! I can hear my cat saying every word. But mostly he's just happy to sleep in my lap.

But you can go along on one of their hunts.

 

[MisterMajestic]

A Cat is not a Lazy persons pet even though Some Lazy people happen to own them...I dated a Male & Female that had more than one cat. Both were not into being around big groups of people, mainly homebodies. To me a pet Cat was perfect for them because all of them had their own space in the House and only bothered each other when they felt like it...

 

[Tristan Chase]

tell me about it i hate cats i always have dreams they are going to attack me and when i tell everyone they just laugh at me or think i am mad.

 

[Kabluey]

Cats tend to do anything for you if they've bonded with you. Things like food rewards don't make much difference.
Think that can be confusing if you're used to dogs. Likewise cats will just 'happen' to sit in the middle of your driveway 'around about' the time you're due to come home, that sort of thing. It's just different.

 

[ravenstar]

I currently have 3 cats. None of them are a lazy person's pet. They're affectionate, if you're sitting on a chair or lying on the bed they're on your lap or curled up by your side. Felix plays fetch. All freakin' day if you let him. And I mean fetch. Throw a silver ball he races after it, brings it back to you and drops it in your hand, then stands ready to race after it again. When I get home from work of an evening, Loki & Millie are usually sitting on the window sill watching for me to come up the street, and buy the time I walk down the drive way and open the front door all 3 of them are flowing down the stairs. If I don't stop for belly scratches and ear scratches Millie will sit outside my bedroom and meow until I've finished getting changed.

This is Loki, he doesn't particularly understand personal space.

 

[Benjoe]

Some cats are smarter than others!

 

[BreakTheIce]

They don't contribute to society in any way except to kill mouses,

Mice.

And also, this is an understatement and you don't realize the importance of cats by that alone, so I stopped reading there and thought it would be better to explain why it's an understatement.

No animal was ever domesticated by mankind without purpose. Basically meaning, people needed the animal in one way or the other, so they domesticated them. If you look at history, at one point, agriculture was one of the main sources of livelihood for man all over the world. Cats were domesticated because farmers realized that cats could kill two things that could kill crops, rodents & birds. Without cats in the picture, there would be nothing stopping mice, rats, and birds from raping every crop that every farmer planted. So this was basically a win win situation for both cat and man. The cat could stay near the farms where it could be assured that a lot of hunting opportunity would present itself. Man in turn would rely on the cat to kill off the rodents and birds, effectively resulting in a better harvest.

Come 14th century, cats were once against part of a reason mankind didn't entirely wipe out from the Bubonic plague outburst in Europe. The plague had killed off nearly 30 - 60% of Europe's population. It didn't affect the rest of the world as badly because Europeans in the 14th century would consider cats to be bad luck and killed off hundreds, thousands of cats, thinking they were associated with witchcraft. This led to outbreaks of the rat population which therefore hit Europe worse with the plague than any other part of the world. If cats hadn't been domesticated in other regions of the world, the plague would have had more devastating effects.

There are also other parts of history where cats have paid important roles for humans, so to say 'they don't contribute to society in any way except to kill mouses' is very shallow.

Let's not forget that no animal has been domesticated since probably 1500-1600, so the ones that were domesticated were therefore domesticated with reason. The fact that their original purpose of domestication may not be the main reason they are kept as pets these days doesn't mean they should be labeled as not contributing to society. They did play a part, and some of them still do

 

[rareboy]

Cats were worshipped for a reason.

The cat was originally domesticated, as has been pointed out....to kill mice and in particular rats around the granaries.

Egypt's wealth was her wheat.

The cat effectively provided the underpinnings for the Egyptian civilization and therefore...for western civilization as we know it as Egyptian cultural influence (and cats) were exported to Greece, Phoenicia and Rome.

 

[Adrock-JD]

Oh the answer to this question is easy: because they don't bark!

Absofuckinglutely Amen Thank you

 

[RonR18]

Absofuckinglutely Amen Thank you

I have no idea where the strange notion cums from that cats don't bark! The below video is proof they bark...

Not true! They just want you to think they don't bark, so dogs will get the blame for all that racket...

 

[RonR18]

That is one cat. The fact that the "bark" sound slowly transformed into a meow says to me that maybe the cat was just having trouble with its "voice."

Haha...FAIL. The cat didn't start meowing until it saw it's owner. And the only reason it started meowing "slowly" was to try to fool him/her into thinking it "was just having trouble with its voice." As that was the only option it had after being caught red-pawed.

 

[Ryuukie]

To the OP, what a mean spirited thread. What compelled you to try and 'rouse up bad feelings about cats. Bet you've kicked a few in your day, haven't you?

 

[RonR18]

Yes, I am sure the cat felt guilty because its owner caught him/her barking so he/she decided to start meowing at that point. Got it.

Butt it has nothing to do with guilt. As I said, they want dogs to get the blame for the racket, and this cat was caught in the act trying to frame a dog.

 

[RonR18]

Yep. Did the Cops come and arrest the Cat for fraud and defamation of character?

Dunno...you'll have to ask the cat.

 

[Scealle]

I am more of a bird person (penguins especially). But I like cats as much as I love dogs. Dogs are a bit more expensive to take care of in my own personal experience. My parents spent quite a lot to maintain/take care of my 2 German Shepherds. (So sad them one of them passed last year due to sickness On the other hand my cat friends hardly spent much on their pets. Especially the toilet trained cats.

 

[CowboyBob]

I love my cat. He adopted me 16 years ago and has been a loyal companion ever since. He sleeps with me, sits next to my keyboard when I'm at my desk (he's here right now), follows me around like a puppy and keeps a close watch on me. Whenever I come home he runs to greet me. He gets along well with my dog... they're buddies. They'll eat and play together.

Cats are wonderful companion animals. I couldn't imagine my life without one around.

 

[vettehottie]

I love my 2 kitties, brothers from the same litter. One is a pussy and the other is an 18lb alpha beast. The pussy prefers me and the alpha beast is actually somewhat protective of my partner. He follows him to bed at night, sleeps at the foot of his bed when he is not prowling around the house, watches him go to sleep and then once thats accomplished he will roam.

Each cat has their own personality. Both are very pretty, intelligent, and communicative. I think the deal is you have to learn to communicate with them, speak "cat". They let you know when something is wrong, and they let you know when they need something. Also they are both pretty independent, you can leave for a weekend and go out of town, as long as they have plenty of food, water, and fresh litter, they should be fine. They might be a little pissed when you return, but they get over it.

Ive noticed both cats seem to sleep a good portion of the time. Ill admit it seems they are lazy and sleeping their life away, but who couldnt use more sleep? I do try to keep them active by playing with them (laser pointers make good fun, so do toys which stimulate their natural reflexes) and occasionally give them catnip.

I love dogs but there really is no way i could leave a dog inside the house while im away at work. Also i would never want to leave a dog outside when its freezing out or if its 110 degrees, we have ridiculous weather swings here where we live.

 

[RonR18]

What's not great about a cat that enjoys a bath...

 

[BreakTheIce]

It's still good to give a balanced picture regardless. Both animals had their purpose for early civilizations and both were vital. And this thread isn't designated on topic... hah!

True.

This also explains why dogs train faster than cats under human command. Dogs were domesticated to perform a multitude of tasks of people, so they have evolved to learn fast. But on their own, they don't learn as much.

Cats are the opposite. They were domesticated for something they already knew how to do. So they don't really care to learn from people, though cats can be trained with extensive training.

Left to their own devices cats often learn much faster than dogs do. This is why you can find cats perform odd tasks without ever being taught to do them. This includes opening doors, using the toilet like a person, flushing the toilet, opening/closing a faucet, etc.

 

[JayHawk]

Dog um betta.... ugg!