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There has always been a dog in our house. Near the end of my dog's life (I didn't know it yet, that it would turn out he had cancer) I ran into my sister-in-law out shopping with my cousin in a mall. She told me that she had seen the most amazing cat in the pet store, and took me to see her.

Well I don't believe in buying pets at pet stores, but she had just fallen in love with this grey haired beast, and I told her I would buy the cat for her. My SiL suffers from nasty spells of depression, and I thought if she had a cat it would help her. (Maybe it has, maybe it hasn't, but when she is in a vicious mood at least she has the cats to love, because she sure hates people at those points in time).

They went off to various pet shops to look for another cat to keep Luna company, and I told them not to be stupid, the humane society was begging for homes for an over supply of cats. So they found Nicky, a long-haired grey domestic kitten, quite different from the flat-faced Scottish Fold Luna is.

After my Martin died, I didn't feel like getting another dog, and besides, it would allow the cats to use the backyard freely. (We live next door to each other).

However, it sure is weird how owning the cats has totally changed my SiL's view of the world. She used to lecture me about my cairn chasing the squirrels and the raccoons out of the backyard. She almost freaked out when he caught a bird once (he had a very soft mouth on it, and we rescued it and let it go, but I suspect it died of shock or got caught by a cat). Now she finds it amusing to watch the cats stalking the birds in the backyard, and her attitude is, oh they'll never catch one, and even if they do, it's just nature. I just read a story today, in fact, about a recent research report out of the UK about how much in denial cat owners are about their kitties killing things, and how they insist they either kill nothing or very few creatures. Monitoring the cats with cameras showed that they are pretty prolific killers and if they bring dead things home, they only bring back about half the things they kill, leaving the rest in the field.

I also used to pick up after the dogs we had. Dog poo does upset people, after all. But my SiL never bothers looking for cat shit, and the stuff is all over the garden. They especially like to shit in the vegetable patch. Last year in the spring I was doing garden clean up and preparation work, and sometimes I didn't use gloves, and I ended up with ringworm. Not a worm, but a fungal infection, athletes foot is a member of the family. The doctor said with all the cat stuff around it likely came from the cats. F****** cat shit.

And my SiL has decided she had to be the lady of the cats to all the strays in the street. She puts out food for them at night, and in this weather there are hundreds of flies buzzing around the damn stuff, and more cats pooping in the flower beds.

I don't mind cats at all, but I don't really want to own one. I'll look after cats for friends while they are away, especially if they are friendly. But I really am a dog person, and that's a simple statement of fact, not meant to insult anyone.
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 in fact, about a recent research report out of the UK about how much in denial cat owners are about their kitties killing things, and how they insist they either kill nothing or very few creatures. Monitoring the cats with cameras showed that they are pretty prolific killers and if they bring dead things home, they only bring back about half the things they kill, leaving the rest in the field.
 

 

I'm not really in denial about this. Pooka used to be indoor/outdoor when I first got her, since she had previously been feral and I lived in a house where doors were always open and a million people were coming and going. She has killed, among other things, a baby squirrel and a hummingbird. She hasn't gone outside in about 5 years and won't be going out any time soon since my neighborhood literally has radioactive stuff in the ground and I live pretty near a fenced-off area that is being cleaned up. My roommate got one of these bird feeders that has suction cups and he stuck it to the patio door. Now the cats watch "bird TV" all day. They are just entranced by the little flying fuckers. I don't like birds, but now that they come around all the time it would definitely be cruel to release the cats on them.

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I grew up with siamese cats and they are awesome. When I was like 14 we got a blue point siamese called Loki(I finally got to name one) and he was the cutest cat. He was white with a gray flat face, furry as all hell(clothing would be covered in white fur) and so cuddly, my favorite cat ever. He would purr so loud and drool a little when you pet him. But I don't have any cats now though because I'm very allergic to them, whenever I go to my parents house I have to bring nose spray and visene...stupid allergies.
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Kitty flips as soon as anyone even turns on the shower. Bathroom with no shower on=all good. Bathroom with shower on=apocalypse.
If either my husband or I are in the shower, she will sit in the hall and cry because she thinks her hoomans are drowning. Once we emerge from the water death trap, she must ceremoniously rub against a leg, to show her happiness that we have returned unharmed, once again.

Ours are not afraid of water at all, but Summer just loves it. He will literally get in the shower with me and play with the water. He'll also spill water whenever possible. We had to get those really really heavy water bowls because of that.

<snip>
F****** cat shit.And my SiL has decided she had to be the lady of the cats to all the strays in the street. She puts out food for them at night, and in this weather there are hundreds of flies buzzing around the damn stuff, and more cats pooping in the flower beds.I don't mind cats at all, but I don't really want to own one. I'll look after cats for friends while they are away, especially if they are friendly. But I really am a dog person, and that's a simple statement of fact, not meant to insult anyone.

I won't get into the ringworm stuff, but this ^^ here... seems to me the problem is much more your SiL than the cats. :)
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My cats do kill other creatures. Whenever I'm ill, I will wake up at least once to a dead mouse on the floor. I guess they think I can't hunt while I'm ill :dunno: Other than that, my cats do eat what they catch. It is nature, and you can't stop them if they go outside, but I don't like seeing it.

Kiara is the softer cat with humans - she loves everyone, and would never hurt you. But she's vicious when it comes to killing other animals. I had to rescue a mouse from her because she put it in the bath and was toying with it. I thought, huh, clever, but really fucking mean, so I caught it and let it go outside.

Though they are good when we've had infestations. One year over Christmas we had mice in our living room, and the cats just waited patiently by and got rid of all of them. I'm not saying it's nice, but it's certainly effective.

To combat that with a nice story, Nala used to visit an old man who lived across the road (who my mum cared for), and sit in his garden. A butterfly once landed on Nala's nose, and he tried to lick it. He looked genuinely sad when it flew away.
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Mine are asleep in my lap. Because what I need in the summer time are two fur-encased furnaces keeping me warm

 

Yeah they seem to have an inactive thermostat when it comes to that. ;)

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Thor has been terrorizing the household on my vacation.  My quiet gentleman has turned into a terrorizing dictator.  Housemate says he is bothering everyone all the time now that I'm not there.

 

I warned them to change his water glass twice a day or else none of their beverages would be safe.  They are obviously not listening.  My house won't need to be mopped ever again.

 

I love my tiny tyrant.  He weighs 8 lbs and takes down pigeons and rats.

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My cats are both indoor only. My big cat Sam is lazy and wouldn't kill a bird if you threw it at his face. His whole demeanor screams "the human feeds me, I need not sully myself or disrupt my rolling in the sun time with this hunting nonsense". Sam's greatest joy is to be in the bathroom with me. I really do not understand the appeal but I haven't been alone in the bathroom in 12 years. Eowyn is 7 lbs of furry terror, launching herself at windows to try to catch birds, swat and yowl at other cats, and stalk her squirrel nemesis that lives in the tree in my patio. Every night she pulls socks out of my sock drawer or finds stuffed animals in my daughters room, and either drags them into the living room to sing the song of her people over until I come downstairs and praise her for her "kill", or she lines them up outside my bedroom door as offerings. She is mental and I adore her.
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Once, Guinness brought in this tiny little apologetic excuse for a mouse, dropped into his food bowl, started eating his biscuits, and watched as the mouse ran off and hid behind the laundry cupboard.  Then he went back to eating his biscuits.

 

He was a bit of a failcat.

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I really dislike the whole notion of "cat people" vs. "dog people." 1) reductive 2) encourages offensive commentary about fellow human beings 3) frequently invites people to post their fantasies about what violence they'd visit upon animals they don't like.

Oh, my goodness, I'm sorry if my post came across like I hate cats.  I love all animals, and cats are my second favorite domestic animal.  But I'm definitely a dog person rather than a cat person, and my cousin is the exact opposite.  

 

On the other hand, I'm definitely my dog's staff.  He bosses me around constantly and is never sorry about it.

 

I had a giant Persian cat named Willie for 13 years and he was the best cat that ever lived. 

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Mine are asleep in my lap. Because what I need in the summer time are two fur-encased furnaces keeping me warm


You haven't lived until you've slept with two full-grown Huskies in a double bed. Not only are they VERY WARM, but they're bed hogs. They would stretch out to their full length so as to expose every bit of fur to the air (and to me.)
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Dracarya,

 

it's in a cats nature to hunt when they go outdoors, that's true. But let's not pretend that it's "nature" when the predator get regular food, shelter, visits at the vet etc. while endangered bird species see their own habitats shrinking and the number of predators artificially high, both due to human intervention.

The best solution would be to keep them indoors (and maybe walk them as you would with a dog), but the problem is that many outdoors cats develop behavioural issues when they are suddenly kept indoors all the time. Which is why we didn't do that.

But to reduce the damage that outdoor cats do to local bird populations, you can put a flexible collar on your cat with a little bell. In my experience (which is admittedly anecdotal) most cats don't mind it  and it reduces their hunting success a lot (at least with my parents cats it did, after we introduced it).

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On the subject of hunting:

 

We lived in a new development, and while they were doing construction next to us, all the field mice were being driven out of their homes. They decided that the insulation in our basement was an acceptable alternative. The basement happens to be where the cat sleeps at night, and it didn't take long before the mouse problem was gone. The funny thing is, she would never bring them upstairs. We'd go downstairs in the morning to fill her food and water, and there would very often find a dead mouse in her water bowl. Whether she drowned them mercilessly or drug them there after the fact is unknown, but she was very proud of herself. Even with a bell collar, those mice didn't stand a chance.

 

On the subject of kneading:

 

Kitty cannot pass up the opportunity to knead an especially soft blanket... or an arm... or a leg... Really anything she deems should be keeping her warm or loving her that isn't. Those little claws hurt when she's not getting her way.

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Turtle will only knead in a soft, fuzzy kind of thing, like a light fleece blanket... But just gets all freaky with it. She'll hold the blanket in her mouth, slowly pull back while working her paws like mad. Sometimes it goes on so long I think she's stuck in some feedback loop and needs someone to break the cycle for her
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