Dog people

[OneHornedFlyingPurplePeopleEater]

Well prepared for some abuse here, as I know people can feel strongly on the subject.

I'll start this by saying I love dogs AND cats, my family has both and I've grown up with both.

But why do so many people hate cats, specifically those that call themselves dog people?

Why is it necessary to hate cats just because you like dogs? It's not like you have to choose. No one is forcing you to own one.

And why when you say you've got a cat do so many people feel it necessary to tell you they hate them. I've not really come across the same hatred towards dogs from 'cat people'.

I’m a dog person but like cats too.

Guinea Pigs? Don’t get me started on those viscous bastards.

I love dogs, allergic to cats so have never been able to be around them although thought they looked cute. My friend has 2 new cats, they're siblings and unlike her previous cats are ferocious night hunters, bringing in mice and dead birds. I could not cope with that. My dog eats and rolls in poop which is highly undesirable but preferable to the cat bringing in rodents and dead birds.

Cats shit in my garden and I’m expected to tolerate it. If my children or dogs shat in anybody else’s property it would be unacceptable. Nobody needs a cat, they just like/love/want them. And the people who say they have to have a cat as a companion/support should keep them confined to the house. Get a guinea pig instead. They don’t kill birds either.

I am infamously not a dog person (I was the one annoyed at how dog people keep using the b word unnecessarily) but cats don’t do themselves any favours with free roaming and how antisocial they are. The only reason cats are good are because if you see a black one it’s good luck

I would be a cat person, and would own cats, if I wasn't allergic. Became a dog person by default and genuinely love them but I'm not suited to owning one. Cat appreciation only through the medium of photos sadly.

Cat shit in my garden is horrible but cats themselves are okay. I do much prefer dogs.

I’m a dog person but I don’t hate cats… I don’t know where you’ve got this view from that dog lovers must hate cats???

@NaughtyBoyGeorgeMichaelJacksonBrown
What's wrong with the pedigree cat industry? They almost never end up in shelters because people will buy even adult pedigrees who need to be rehomed because they're so nice to own. I don't see why I should get a less affectionate, less docile cat that is less domesticated genetically than a companion breed like a ragdoll just because there are swathes of people too irresponsible to neuter their wildlife killing moggies. I'd rather not own a cat than buy a none pedigree companion breed.

I love dogs and cats.

I'm a dog person, i don't like cats but don't hate them

House cats i love, i just dislike outdoor cats

I only dislike cats because of all the shit they leave in my garden and on my lawn. Other than that, I'd barely notice them, let alone dislike or hate them.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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?

Do cats and dogs like humans?

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.

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.

“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?

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?

I'm more of this

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.