Why aren't cats more popular

Let'sgoflying! said:
Cats are a sort of a secret joy that not everyone gets to discover.
Til my 20's, when I finally got one; I had no idea how much fun and entertainment they can be....what great companions.
I love dogs too - they are just very different.
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Huh, a lot like flying, not everyone gets it. When we married, my wife had a Samoyed and I had a cocker spaniel and a cat who were fine companions. That was her introduction to felines. For some reason cats suite her personality well. They travel well too, just bag them up and out the door you go. :no:
 

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iflyvfr said:
Huh, a lot like flying, not everyone gets it. When we married, my wife had a Samoyed and I had a cocker spaniel and a cat who were fine companions. That was her introduction to felines. For some reason cats suite her personality well. They travel well too, just bag them up and out the door you go. :no:
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Traveling internationally is easy with a cat as well, all you need is a current health certificate. Ever since the Black Plague days, there has been very little to hinder the free travel of cats.
 
I was never a cat fan... Own a Polaris and also like Ski Doo.
 
Cats are very amusing. Ever watched a cat playing in a paper bag? I've had more cars than dogs. Most of my cats have lived long lives (16-18 years).

Now I also have two dogs to go with the five cats. I am happy to say I have never had a house guest come in the house and immediately wrinkle their nose and ask how many cats we have. We take MUCH care to minimize the smell.

I would be hard pressed to pick one over the other, but at this point it would probably be dogs
 
Dogs are just retarded children with fur that are constantly seeking your love and approval no matter how much you yell at them and beat them. Nothing wrong with that if you are into that sort of thing.
 
JCranford said:
Cats are very amusing. Ever watched a cat playing in a paper bag? I've had more cars than dogs. Most of my cats have lived long lives (16-18 years).

Now I also have two dogs to go with the five cats. I am happy to say I have never had a house guest come in the house and immediately wrinkle their nose and ask how many cats we have. We take MUCH care to minimize the smell.

I would be hard pressed to pick one over the other, but at this point it would probably be dogs
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For our one cat all it takes is just cleaning the cat box a few times a week and no smell. Because we are working on the house, the kitty litter is in the foyer. It is one of those covered ones so kitty has some privacy. Funny part is no one notices it or any smell when walking in.

And my wife, being Asian, will not tolerate any unauthorized smells in the house. She even makes me wash my hands before eating....:lol:
 
They're all good, actually there are a lot of good pets out there. If you want the best of both a cat and a dog, get a rabbit. They require very little maintenance, they'll follow you around the house like a dog and give you the affection of a cat without the attitude and without the neediness of a dog. Personally my favorite pets have been a skunk (she had all her glands) and a ferret. The ferret basically lived in my sleeve for nearly 2 years and went everywhere with me.
 
Dav8or said:
Dogs are just retarded children with fur that are constantly seeking your love and approval no matter how much you yell at them and beat them.
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Love that definition !!!
 
Henning said:
They're all good, actually there are a lot of good pets out there. If you want the best of both a cat and a dog, get a rabbit. They require very little maintenance, they'll follow you around the house like a dog and give you the affection of a cat without the attitude and without the neediness of a dog. Personally my favorite pets have been a skunk (she had all her glands) and a ferret. The ferret basically lived in my sleeve for nearly 2 years and went everywhere with me.
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The ferrets I've seen are so hyper they could drive a Jack Russell Terrier up a wall. :D
 
Norman said:
The ferrets I've seen are so hyper they could drive a Jack Russell Terrier up a wall. :D
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For 2 hours a day, most of the time between 2:30&4AM.:lol: The rest of the time they sleep.:yes: one time I was going through some images with a customer to see which ones to print and he stuck out his head. That was funny for a moment until I explained it wasn't a rat.:lol:
 
The reason you don't do it to males is it's a waste of money, (except for getting rid of the Tomcat attitude and marking). Males don't reproduce, and as long as there is one intact male in the neighborhood, that's all it takes.
 
How true....
 

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I owned a veterinary hospital for years. Here are a few observations:

Cat owners are more eccentric than dog owners. (some are just weird)

Dog owners are generally nicer people, but cat owners are generally more intelligent and successful. (This is a weak generalization that is not always true, but is true more often than not.

Cats do have individual personalities. Some of them are descendants of Satan, but others are the most gentle, docile, loving creatures imaginable. Some cats, like the Maine Coon really do have personalities similar to dogs, except that they are smarter.

Cats are an invasive species and if you are going to own them, they should be kept indoors even though we made a ton of money from owners of cats that refused to keep their cat indoors.

I was always amazed that so many people have no idea that the horrible smelling pee from an intact male cat is almost completely eliminated with castration. The result of this ignorance was hating cats because they thing all cats stink, or putting the cat outdoors where the cat invariably gets into fights with other animals (or cars) and leads to very large vet bills. Or the early death of the cat. I tell people that owners of out door cats paid for my Bonanza.

The leading cause of early death among house cats is leather furniture even though cats can easily be trained not to scratch furniture. Scratching posts or pads need to be chosen based on the preference of the cat. Some like to scratch at the floor (so you get a scratch pad), and some like to stand on their hind paws and stretch up high to scratch, so you get a tall scratching post. And they need to be placed near the areas that any destructive scratching would take place.

When a cat pees outside of their litter box, there is a reason. It might be medical or environmental. If a cat has urinary stones or infection, peeing hurts and they associate that pain with the litter box, so they avoid it. But they have to go somewhere, so your shoe or laundry basket looks good to them. Some people put the litter box in the laundry room, which works fine except when the washer changes cycles and scares the pee out of them. Also, cats do like privacy when they poop or pee so the box shouldn't be in a high traffic area.

Some people think declawing a cat is inhumane. And the way some vets do it, it really is. But done correctly, a declaw is not a bad procedure to put them through. But it is almost always entirely unnecessary (see above about training a cat not to scratch furniture), but we still made a fortune declawing cats for people that wouldn't put out the effort to train their cat. We also made a lot of money fixing the botched declaw jobs done at other hospitals that did the cheap variety of surgery.

The only time a declaw procedure is necessary is when the owner has a medical condition where cat scratches can be debilitating to them.

I used to think I was a dog person, until I married a cat person. Now we can go on short flying vacations without bothering our neighbors or paying a dog sitter. Try leaving your dog in the house for two or three days.
 
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What make you say they aren't? Humane Society say 86 million cats vs 78 million dogs.
 
flhrci said:
I like dogs, I like cats. I have a cat now because I can't baby a dog right now. Also, my cat does not eat her poo.
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They don't. But dogs think cat poo is a delicacy. My wife was horrified when she found that out with our first dog.

Cats' lack of popularity? It's a myth. There are only slightly more dog households than cat household. OTOH, there are more multi-cat households than multi-dog households (Stats from American Veterinary Medical Association), giving the numbers edge to cats.

Cats would be even more popular but some people can't stand the idea of pets that are smarter than they are.

OTOH, there's a lot to be said about dog popularity. Our cat, Amelia, hates cats. But she loves dogs. Go figure.
 
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Now I'm reminded... We had an older beagle/basset mix we named Sully. A real sweetheart but lazy as the day is long (actually, the vet told us he was much older than his papers said when we rescued him). Amelia would look at him in disbelief at how many hours he slept.

So one day, the two of them are in the back yard when Amelia charges across and catches a small rabbit, which she proceeds to feed to Sully. You know that dog would do anything for her after that!
 
Which are high-wing and which are low-wing among dogs and cats?
 
"The reason you don't do it to males is it's a waste of money, (except for getting rid of the Tomcat attitude and marking)."

I think Henning is referring to neutering Toms but didn't see what the reference was to. I work with feral colonies and I've come across many really beat up toms over the years. After getting them fixed they often turn out to be grateful and loving creatures. Many have been socialized earlier in their lives and got dumped for whatever reason. The recession caused many people to have to move and the bastards just left their pets behind to fend for themselves, both cats and dogs. Some of the toms have missing eyes from fighting. All have torn ears. Most have open wounds that are infected. Their immune systems can carry huge toxic loads, at least for awhile. Getting them fixed relieves them of their hormonally-driven behaviors and gives them a chance at some pleasure in life.

Females can become pregnant as early as four months. They're still kittens yet have to take on the physical stress of birthing and nursing before they even know who and where they are. While nursing they can (and do) become pregnant again, over and over. What happens to their kittens? The same thing that happened to the moms. Nature doesn't care about individuals, only the survival of the species - hence the insane breeding cycle cats are victims of.

I take pleasure in life helping to allieviate this cycle. I trap these cats, get them fixed and then maintain the colonies they came from. I've found homes for many of them and given a home to others for many years, almost always kittens. The ones I've given a home to are fortunate in that my property is large enough and safe enough from predators that they live indoor/outdoor lives. No litter boxes. No smells. They are very lucky cats and so am I.

Cats are really clean, interesting intelligent creatures. Dogs are the same but I couldn't live the life I live were I to try and help dogs as I help cats. They're too dependent. Cats can be left for days at a time and will greet me with enthusiasm when I get home, but they were fine without me. Not so with dogs.

Just wanted to say it's important to neuter the toms along with spaying the females. It's certainly not "a waste of money." Regarding cost, with a little looking one can find vets who will do low cost spay/neuter. The ones who charge $100 and more, sometimes much more, should be boycotted . . . along with those willing to mutilate their paws by pulling out their claws.
 
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MikeS said:
"The reason you don't do it to males is it's a waste of money, (except for getting rid of the Tomcat attitude and marking)."

I think Henning is referring to neutering Toms but didn't see what the reference was to. I work with feral colonies and I've come across many really beat up toms over the years. After getting them fixed they often turn out to be grateful and loving creatures. Many have been socialized earlier in their lives and got dumped for whatever reason. The recession caused many people to have to move and the bastards just left their pets behind to fend for themselves, both cats and dogs. Some of the toms have missing eyes from fighting. All have torn ears. Most have open wounds that are infected. Their immune systems can carry huge toxic loads, at least for awhile. Getting them fixed relieves them of their hormonally-driven behaviors and gives them a chance at some pleasure in life.

Females can become pregnant as early as four months. They're still kittens yet have to take on the physical stress of birthing and nursing before they even know who and where they are. While nursing they can (and do) become pregnant again, over and over. What happens to their kittens? The same thing that happened to the moms. Nature doesn't care about individuals, only the survival of the species - hence the insane breeding cycle cats are victims of.

I take pleasure in life helping to allieviate this cycle. I trap these cats, get them fixed and then maintain the colonies they came from. I've found homes for many of them and given a home to others for many years, almost always kittens. The ones I've given a home to are fortunate in that my property is large enough and safe enough from predators that they live indoor/outdoor lives. No litter boxes. No smells. They are very lucky cats and so am I.

Cats are really clean, interesting intelligent creatures. Dogs are the same but I couldn't live the life I live were I to try and help dogs as I help cats. They're too dependent. Cats can be left for days at a time and will greet me with enthusiasm when I get home, but they were fine without me. Not so with dogs.

Just wanted to say it's important to neuter the toms along with spaying the females. It's certainly not "a waste of money." Regarding cost, with a little looking one can find vets who will do low cost spay/neuter. The ones who charge $100 and more, sometimes much more, should be boycotted.
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I work with a TNR group and a spay/neuter clinic too. Thanks for posting the real story on these issues. We've done so well on the S/N that we import kittens for adoption. Not enough locals more.
https://www.fccrsnc.org/
 
SkyDog58 said:
I bet more high wing pilots have dogs and more low wing pilots have cats. It would be interesting to know.
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Seems about right, aside from the glasair/lancair guys who I could see owning dogs, and the C162 and CTLS folks who I bet own cats.
 
Someone needs to start a poll :lol:
 
Cats are tiny women in cheap fur coats.
 
MikeS said:
"The reason you don't do it to males is it's a waste of money, (except for getting rid of the Tomcat attitude and marking)."

I think Henning is referring to neutering Toms but didn't see what the reference was to. I work with feral colonies and I've come across many really beat up toms over the years. After getting them fixed they often turn out to be grateful and loving creatures. Many have been socialized earlier in their lives and got dumped for whatever reason. The recession caused many people to have to move and the bastards just left their pets behind to fend for themselves, both cats and dogs. Some of the toms have missing eyes from fighting. All have torn ears. Most have open wounds that are infected. Their immune systems can carry huge toxic loads, at least for awhile. Getting them fixed relieves them of their hormonally-driven behaviors and gives them a chance at some pleasure in life.

Females can become pregnant as early as four months. They're still kittens yet have to take on the physical stress of birthing and nursing before they even know who and where they are. While nursing they can (and do) become pregnant again, over and over. What happens to their kittens? The same thing that happened to the moms. Nature doesn't care about individuals, only the survival of the species - hence the insane breeding cycle cats are victims of.

I take pleasure in life helping to allieviate this cycle. I trap these cats, get them fixed and then maintain the colonies they came from. I've found homes for many of them and given a home to others for many years, almost always kittens. The ones I've given a home to are fortunate in that my property is large enough and safe enough from predators that they live indoor/outdoor lives. No litter boxes. No smells. They are very lucky cats and so am I.

Cats are really clean, interesting intelligent creatures. Dogs are the same but I couldn't live the life I live were I to try and help dogs as I help cats. They're too dependent. Cats can be left for days at a time and will greet me with enthusiasm when I get home, but they were fine without me. Not so with dogs.

Just wanted to say it's important to neuter the toms along with spaying the females. It's certainly not "a waste of money."
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All good points, and I want to thank you for what you do.

But as to the following:
MikeS said:
Regarding cost, with a little looking one can find vets who will do low cost spay/neuter. The ones who charge $100 and more, sometimes much more, should be boycotted . . . along with those willing to mutilate their paws by pulling out their claws.
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Vets lose money when they do low cost spays. Our hard cost to do a proper spay (which is major surgery) was over $250. If you cut a lot of corners and if you get public and charitable donations, you can do it for less, but most places that do the cheap surgeries have a fatality rate much higher than we had. Much higher. Many of us did pro bono work because we believed in it. But it costs a lot of money to run a high quality hospital with modern equipment and trained staff. We couldn't stay in business if we gave too many of our services away (even if many people mistakenly think all doctors, including vets are rich).

And as far as boycotting all vets that "mutilate their paws" by pulling out their claws; for years we refused to do declaws. But when we told people that we wouldn't do it, they just called around and found the cheapest place. There are many places that really do mutilate the cat, but that is not an inescapable outcome if the procedure is done right. Usually, those people came back to us to have the surgery repaired. So we invested in a laser ($40,000) and training and required additional hospitalization and pain medication. When we finished a declaw, cats would be able to walk around that afternoon rather than lying on their sides howling for days.

As I said before: declaws are almost always unnecessary. But if people are going to have it done anyway, they should have it done correctly, and there is a need for hospitals that do the job correctly. Would you boycott those places? If so, then where would you take your pet when they really need a skilled doctor with proper equipment?
 
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"But if people are going to have it done anyway, they should have it done correctly, and there is a need for hospitals that do the job correctly. Would you boycott those places?"

No. It would be much better to euthanize the people seeking such services.

Thanks for the vets eye view and your pro bono work.
 
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