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I have always had cats as pets but at times in my life I have also had dogs. Finally I have come to the conclusion that I am not a dog person. While I had a couple dogs that were great companions, for the most part, I find dogs annoying. I prefer the demeanor of cats.
All the things you find in dogs, I find annoying. I hate the barking, I can't stand the noise. I can't stand the drowling some of them do and nothing will send me over the edge quicker then a dog licking me. I hate that. Don't get me started about DOG SMELL. My friend told me she thinks her house doesn't smell like dogs...when you open the door to walk in, it hits you in the face like a slap...
I have a friend who is a foster parent and takes in dogs that are waiting to be adopted. I have had occasion recently to be around her dogs and it seems for the most part I find them annoying.
The dogs I used to have (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) were not what I would call your typical dogs. They thought they were cats because they grew up around my cats, they even bathed themselves like cats do. While they barked from time to time they were not dogs who thought satan was at the door and it was their sole purpose in life to warn everyone of this horrible reality.
I admit it !! I like the independent nature of cats, I love how the keep themselves clean and don't smell. They meow NOT overwhelm with noise. They aren't needy and demanding.
Anybody else feel like I do??
Disclaimer: I would never mis-treat any animal however I am over ever having another dog as a pet.
There is one other benefit to cats that you left out (or may not be aware of). If you feed them a balanced raw food diet their poop and urine don't even smell.
On the other hand neither would dogs smell if people fed them really healthful food.
I like dogs. But their e constant neediness gets annoying to me. Cat, he checks me out, goes for a nap. Dog, won't let me out of his sight. Really, I don't have a steak in my pocket. Chill.
Cats can get needy in their old age. They can be under your feet and want to be around you all the time just like dogs as another thread talks about. Or they can have health issues. They can have bad reactions to vaccines which can cause seizures like what my poor kitty went through. But his diet and natural medicine kept him disease free and seizure free for the most part. Or at least as far as any of his vets could figure out (and even the pathologist after his death).
After I bonded with my cats they at least wanted to be nearby if not in the same room with me or sleeping with me or lying on my desk while I was working . I wouldn't like a relationship where a cat was stand-offish.
I've had cats for the last few years and just recently adopted a dog. The dog's "neediness" really irritated me for the first few month, but I hung with it, tried to open up and see it as affection and relax about it. Now I don't usually even notice when she follows me around the house and puts her head in my lap every time I sit down - I figure if that's what makes her happy she can go for it. If I'm not in the mood, she can go outside for a while or be told no and go lay down and she does. I also never ever give her food while I'm eating because I hate begging dogs.
I'm surprised to admit this too, because I always thought I would be a dog person before I had any pets, that I think I really do prefer cats when it comes down to it. I think before I had pets I didn't know how affectionate, loving, silly, idiosyncratic cats were because I think only owners really get to see the full nature of an individual cat. Now I have three and they're all amazing. I could have a hundred and they'll all be fascinating in their own ways.
I enjoy cats and dogs differently - I've enjoyed training my dog and building the bond with her and I don't think the maintenance is any more or less - but if I could only have one pet for the rest of my life, I do think it would be a cat.
I always thought I was a dog person and all while growing up we always had both but it wasn't until I was an adult and was living alone and a friend had a cat with kittens who insisted I take one, which I did with great trepidation, that I quickly became a cat person. He was the cutest little apparent Main Coon kitten that even my land lady at the time thought was so cute, she decided to incorporate him into a mural of a forest she had an artist paint in the main entryway of the old apartment building I lived in.
Not knowing anything about cats or kittens, I let him have the whole run of the apartment (which was only 4 rooms plus one bathroom) when I brought him home and he was just 8 weeks old and he proceeded to go and hide for several hours.I couldn't find him anywhere. I called a friend who had cats and she told me not to worry, that he would come out when he was hungry...which of course he did. I'm sure he missed his litter mates and his Mom.
My mother gave me a book called How to be your cat's best friend which I devoured and used to teach him the first of many "tricks" he would later learn--- which was to stop scratching or "soft paw". (I only wish I'd been given Anitra Frazier's book, The New Natural Cat also at that time as he certainly would have lived a lot longer if I had some knowledge of natural medicine back then.
I think what accelerated our bonding was the first time he climbed up on my bed days later and, walked up on my body and sat on my chest and ever so lightly, took his paw and lightly tapped my eyelid. I opened my eyes and I was so touched to see this adorable kitten being so patient and gentle with me, coaxing me to wake up and feed him. From then on I was a convert to cats and the conversion was cemented more and more the more time I spent with him and discovered not only how smart but how complex cats' personalities are. As they say, all it takes is the right cat to convert any dog person to a cat person.
To each his own. I've always had both and can't say that I would prefer one to another. Except for this 7 month old Yorkiepoo nightmare I rescued. No not the dog. My friend from the dog. He was someone's expensive throw away toy that was given to my friend and re-gifted to me. Hurricane Joey has totally taken over our lives and breaking him from raining on the floor has been a challenge, so OK I like the cat better for using the litter box. Our other dog Howie could be the poster boy for rescue over buying. He's perfect
Cats can get needy in their old age. They can be under your feet and want to be around you all the time just like dogs as another thread talks about. Or they can have health issues. They can have bad reactions to vaccines which can cause seizures like what my poor kitty went through. But his diet and natural medicine kept him disease free and seizure free for the most part. Or at least as far as any of his vets could figure out (and even the pathologist after his death).
After I bonded with my cats they at least wanted to be nearby if not in the same room with me or sleeping with me or lying on my desk while I was working . I wouldn't like a relationship where a cat was stand-offish.
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