Dog people

Cats are indeed loyal. When my son left home, his cat went into mourning. I am not exaggerating. He sat and mewed at my boy's bedroom door. If I let him in he prowled round looking for my son, crying.He didn't eat for several days - he sat on the wall staring down the road waiting for my son to appear. Every now and then he would give a long low cry of misery. It was heartbreaking. He would not be comforted.
My son came home for a visit and made straight for his cat who promptly stalked off and sat facing the corner. My son was devastated and tried hard to get the cat to respond but he is a magnificent sulked. Eventually he came away from the wall and curled up on my lap - for the first time in six years of knowing him. I felt so honoured
.They do play with your emotions.

I am a dog person, but small yappy dogs make my teeth itch. Just because I like dogs, does not mean I like their owners allowing them to act like twats either.
I have had cats before (including a ginger female who was very loving, and not aloof like most cats), but dogs give you that awesome greeting and hero's welcome when you come home. Everything is a party with dogs.

I agree with this except I am not a dog person. I’ve had a random dog jump up me and bite me on the top of my arm, no apology by the owner, I was standing up wearing heels. I’ve also had a different dog kill one of my cats, again no apology by the owner and I knew them quite well. I’m fed up of dogs jumping up me covered in mud and being told he is friendly. I don’t care how friendly he is, keep him to yourself. One walked up to my 3 year old yesterday and I got told he’s fine around kids, that’s nice, my kid may not be ok with your dog, he could be allergic, the owner has no idea. I’ve also had the phrase I hate cats more than once. Well I hate dogs, however this is considered unacceptable and I get argued with. I don’t expect people to like my cats, don’t expect me to like your dog.

Completely agree with you OP.

Cats are domesticated but have always roamed outside apart from house cats. They are different to dogs and wild animals. I haven't got a cat but understand this.

Cats are allowed to shit in other people’s gardens for exactly the same reason that foxes and badgers are

🙄 a cat is an domesticcated animal. Foxes & Badgers are wild animals.

And cat shit is toxic- any pregnant cat owners are able to tell you....

Cats are less obtrusive than foxes and badgers (she says exhaustedly) -have you ever seen what a fox can do to a flock of hens? Or a dog off the leash to a flock of sheep? Or in fact what a badger sett can do to a field? My grandparents had to fence off an entire field because their digging made the ground too unstable for even a small tractor, so that was it for harvesting there. I don’t see any posters here clamouring for their extinction.

I’ve never understood why there has to be a choice. I have both. Although, I must admit that the characteristics that I like in a cat, would drive me mad from a dog. I mean I certainly wouldn’t accept indifference from a dog, but wholly expect it from a cat! When people say they’re a cat/dog person, I just reply I’m an animal person.

It's a piece out outside land...outside animals are going to go on it...would I personally prefer cats were indoor animals? Yes, but they aren't so you'll have to get over it. Loads of wildlife and animals use outside land, that's just how it is. Cats can't be trained so there is literally nothing any owner can do about it except for keep their cats inside and sadly many won't.

What about digging your garden up? Are we allowed to be annoyed about that? You know, when the things in it cost us money?

This is basically just bollocks, though. Loads of cat lovers do despise dogs and loads of dog lovers also like cats. Loads of people have dogs AND cats. Loads of people hate both.

If you’re that precious about animals shitting in your garden maybe you’re too delicate to own a garden 😂 ridiculous

Agreed. Our little lady is a Bengal and requires several hours of quite vigorous play and exploration every day. She is never in a million years going to catch anything (she’s extraordinarily stupid and was separated from her mother way too early). But she has the instincts there even though she can’t possibly have learned them. Dogs have the instincts to perform a lot of their behaviours too, and they can’t help it - jumping all over people is one of them and then there are all the various hunting behaviours. If you’ve never seen a greyhound catch a rat, a terrier with a rabbit or a pack of foxhounds with… well a fox, or almost anything actually, I’ve seen them demolish a goat carcass in minutes, you’ll understand that they’re scarier and more dangerous than a cat.

I'm more of this

But Cats don’t shit in peoples gardens and kill birds etc.. “ for fun” do they? It’s a primal instinct going back hundreds of years.

They hunt and kill because it’s their nature, the same as big cats do.

They aren’t going to all of a sudden think “ oh I don’t need to stalk and hunt prey because I get plenty of food “ are they?

“Cats do not caress us, they caress themselves upon us”

-Anna Sewell, Black Beauty

Similarly dogs are basically overgrown wolf puppies who are bred to show enthusiasm, please us and be happy when their caregiver is around.

The question to ask is do we love them? And do those who coexist with them but don’t love them have the ability to tolerate them?

I’m extremely allergic to cats which doesn’t help but I’m not keen on them anyway because I couldn’t cope with dead or dying animals being bought in. I do love dogs.

This.

That being said, I don't dislike cats. I generally dislike their owners 'but it has a right to roam and shit in your garden and to kill birds and leave the carcass scattered across your lawn.'

But you have good cat owners and bad cat owners. Like you have good dog owners and bad dog owners.

Do cats and dogs like humans?

Cats are allowed to shit in other people’s gardens for exactly the same reason that foxes and badgers are - it’s not noxious enough to make a fuss about and they are roaming free.

Why are you picking up autumn leaves with your bare hands by the way?

My DH didn't like cats at all till we got together. He then came to live me and my little cat and he ended up thinking she was nice.

Even the few who make a token attempt to "bury" it often it's just a few leaves. So when you go to pick up the leaves, there's a lovely pile of shit in your hands! Very few make a real effort to properly "bury" it. It's just another excuse that cat owners like to make to justify why their cat is allowed to randomly shit in other peoples' gardens leaving the householder to pick it up and dispose of it.

I’m an unapologetic cat person. If they bury their poo in your garden, the key word is “bury”.
I don’t understand this.
FWIW I have watched cats take a shit and just walk off so they don’t all/always bury it.
I wasn’t best pleased when they used to bury it under the coal in our coal bunker for me to find.

All my dog owners friends love all animals I've never heard cat haring

I’m an unapologetic cat person. If they bury their poo in your garden, the key word is “bury”. I don’t hate dogs and in a safe environment will happily give them a fuss or play, but I find they’re generally much bigger and more intimidating than cats. I’ve put this on a different thread but my ex had a friendly but boisterous dog who outweighed me and could have taken my face off with a shake of his head if he wanted to. My little cat regularly worries my blanket but she poses no threat to me whatsoever (and I’m trying to train her to be an absolutely useless hunter, she’d be little threat to anything above the size of a mouse or robin anyway). She’s also much more respecting of personal space than a dog would be, and while dogs are wonderful beings and given the opportunity and permission I’m at least as affectionate and enthusiastic as a puppy, unfortunately dogs don’t have the opportunity to seek consent.