Cats as Pets and Predators (declawed, dogs, domestic, litter)

[STLCardsBlues1989]

I really like this article.

Cats as Pets and Predators | Science & Nature | Smithsonian Magazine

It sometimes amazes me how independent cats are. I love my dogs. They are my babies. Cats are too, but they could probably survive whether I existed or not. It is true what they say, you never really own a cat.

Here's one of my babies, in bed, with her winning smile (this is actually a yawn).

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/183012_1861890589123_1296690016_2260158_4742767_n. jpg (broken link)

Yikes. It's a good thing she's tame. I'd hate to contend with that.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/182229_1861890989133_1296690016_2260159_7363889_n. jpg (broken link)

Uh-oh. Something I said must have ticked her off. I love her facial expressions.

[catman]

She doesn't look ticked off to me in the second photo, just lazy and mostly disinterested.

[gallowsCalibrator]

It's interesting how my baby can go from expressing how much he needs me to being a big-bad predator. Everyday when I come home, I get the "MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY YOU'RE HOME OMIGOD I MISSED YOU" spiel. Yet, in just the past two weeks, he's "saved" me from a spider while I was in the bathroom and a giant beetle just last night. He also managed to trap a Five-Lined Skink in his litter box (I tried to keep it, but he was too young and too beat up to survive.).

[J-CityRelo]

My cats would beg to differ with this "cats are loners" mentality. They are as social and needy of attention as any dog. While some feral cats survive in the wild, most domesticated house cats would not, especially those who are declawed.

IMO feral cats are smart not to trust people or be "loners" if they've had bad experiences with people in the past. That's called good instincts. While a dog may trust everyone and get abused along the way; a cat may not subject himself to that. And who would blame him?