I would have definitely said I was a cat person a year ago, but today's entry should make it clear that I was just kidding myself.

I hate cats. I really do.

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

Answers

A dog person. Absolutely, definitely, no doubt about it.

The dog very politely looks at me with her head cocked to one side, sighing lightly and occasionally touching the chair with her paw. "Hello? Hi? Come play with me?"

The cat jumps on my head, tries to scale my neck, insists on poking me in sensitive places and will. not. shut. up. "HEY! HERE I am!! Pay attention to me NOW! What? Oh, nothing's wrong, you were just doing something ELSE!"

No wonder the dog's scared of

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

i'm a cat person, and i don't think i could have helped being a cat person, since my parents had four cats when i was born. i was partially raised by cats. it's arguable that i even act like a cat (or at least more like a cat than a dog - i generally self-identify as human), although i guarantee that i have never awakened anyone by jumping on his face for any reason.

i don't hate dogs in general, but i don't like large hyper dogs. i prefer medium-sized dogs because they aren't big enough to knock me over.

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

I don't hate cats, but I'm a dog person. You can't beat unconditional love and adoration. A dog comes when you call him, but a cat takes a message and gets back to you.

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

I like both. Cats are good because they're self-sufficient, (at least more so than dogs). Dogs are friendlier (usually.) I'd very much like to have one of each, but we are only allowed one cat.

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

I'm a cat person.

I love cats. Nearly everything they do is adorable. They're clean. I like the way they look and the way they aren't obsequious. All the ones I've had have been affectionate and devoted. They can be demanding, but if I toss them off me or ignore them, they get over it. I love the psychotic things they do like staring at walls or suddenly rushing around the house.

I don't hate dogs but I don't like them. Many of them are stinky. They do gross things like eat dead stuff and hump peoples' legs. They get all sad eyed if you scold them. They always want to come along which can be fun but can also be a drag.

The one thing I like about dogs that makes me want one, occasionally, is the way they are so glad to see their human after they've been waiting outside a store.

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

I always thought I was both. Lately though, I am not sure if that is true anymore.

I think it's because our puppy is still in the "I will bite everything that moves" stage of developement. He chases the cats, he bites your ankles when you go down the stairs. He goes into fits of craziness and then sits quietly and chews his bone. He steals my panties and my bras. He sits on the arm of the couch like the cats do, and then looks at me quizzically when he falls off the back or the side of the couch because his balance sucks.

My cats on the other hand, come around for attention very rarely now. I am so happy to see them when I come home, waiting for me to pet them. They hide a lot now because Ra thinks they are his personal play toys. They only annoy me in the mornings when they are waiting to be fed. Meowing loudly at me when I walk by them and don't immediately run down to feed them. That makes me crazy. Otherwise, they are the sweetest pets.

I think once Ra is neutered and has more training, he will be wonderful pet. Right now though I am dreading going home.

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

I'm an allergic person. I like looking at dogs, and I like holding/playing with cats. I was bitten on the face by a dog when I was a toddler, which I didn't know until I began shaving and noticed this scar on my face. Guess it explains why I've always been deathly afraid of barking dogs, even scruffy little yapdogs, even though no dog has ever really done anything to me since then. Cats have put holes and scratches into me, so all things considered, it's probably for the best that I'm allergic to both.

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

I like both. I love big wet sloppy oggie kisses. I used to beg my ex-BF to let me take his German Shepherd-Husky mix out for walks. Had to use a choke collar on Star, but she was so affectionate once she got to know you.

I also love my crazy brood of kittyfurs. They wake me up too early in the morning, but often they behave like puppies. Mephisto comes to greet me at the door. They all curl up at my feet or snuggle with us on the couch. They groom our hair. They chase any bugs that get into the apartment and eat them.

And who says cats don't get all sad eyes when you scold them? Mine certainly do. Sasha even ducks her head in repentant guilt ... only to jump back up on whatever it is she's supposed to be on two seconds later.

In fact, now that I have several furry companions, I am struck by the similarity between dogs and cats. Yes, there are lots of differences, but there are a lot of dog and cat behaviors that seem similar to me now.

At any rate -- I can't wait until we have a house so that we can get a nice oggie -- maybe a border collie or retriever of some kind. The cats will no doubt be horrified -- but they can deal. They're all indoor babies anyway.

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

Both. All? I love animals.

I grew up with dogs. Teeny tiny ones- Yorkies and Chihuahuas 'cause Mom doesn't like big dogs. Dad hated cats, so I never had one until Dale and Spritel moved in with me.

Cats are definately more of a challenge. I have three currently, but I can't wait for our first house to be ready so I can get a dog. (Or two, but don't tell Dale that!) Dale's not a dog person. He once said that me wanting to have a dog must mean that I don't love our cats enough.

I pointed out that was about as logical as having a baby meaning I didn't love him enough.

Lately, I've been wanting to get a ferret or even a rat. Or a giant lizard. But I really really want a dog. I want an animal we can take to the park.

*sigh* How long 'til August?

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

I don't know. I have always had a magical hold on cats...even the timid ones think my laps is the best place on earth. Last weekend, when I discovered the cats were waking up the 6 year old each and every morning, that they'd ripped the screen off the baby's room and had been letting themselves in an out, and then both of them thought that it was good to sit beneath my window an meow while I slept, I seriously considered euthanizing them, though sticking them outside with their food bowls in the pouring rain, did seem to get the point across.

They've been amazingly quiet ever since.

*muhahaha*

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

i've always been a cat person. i dislike dogs intensely, and i've been afraid of them since i was about 6.

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

Cat person, totally. I thought I had become a dog person while we had only dogs, but I was wrong. I love dogs, they're great (well, some of them are), I just hatehatehatehate living with them. I hate their clinginess, I hate their habit of growling randomly at the front door when I'm home alone at night, I hate the way they smell, I hate the fact that they always have to sit in laps, and lick, and whimper, and whine. The cats get on my nerves sometimes, but not as constantly as the dogs.

Of course, now I'm not sure what to do, since I have a cat who is convinced he is a dog.

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

I love my cats - I have five of them - and I usually even like them, but sometimes I wish they'd die. For instance, two minutes ago my 5- month old kitten jumped from the floor to my back, and sunk her claws in so that she could climb the rest of Mount Bitchypoo and perch on my shoulder. It HURTS SO F*CKING MUCH WHEN SHE DOES THAT. My only consolation is that she'll be going to the vet's in March to be fixed and declawed.

Don't look at me like that. It's declawing or death.

http://www.bitchypoo.com/bitchypoo.html

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

Because random dogs often greet me in the street and play with me, and only one random cat has ever approached me, I must vote for dogs.

Also, I am clumsy. I have learned that if you accidentally push one with your foot (i.e., kick it), a cat will remember that forever and cower and hiss and do funny things with its back whenever you come into the room (okay, maybe there should be quotation marks around the word "accidentally"), while a dog will forgive you if you apologize and feed it meat. Since I have a short temper, but lots of access to food, I have done better with dogs overall.

I have, you know, never owned a dog. My wife owned two cats before we were married. But I had a 12x24 ft. studio back then, so the cats went to her parents when she moved in. I did not like those cats, who sat on my face in the middle of the night and otherwise behaved uncivilly, which led to the "accidental" pushing with foot and also to the cowering, hissing and funny-thing-with-back. So I guess my vote is more anti-cat than pro-dog. But I do think I could like a dog.

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

Dog person, totally. Nothing against cats, some of which I quite like, but I couldn't possibly keep as a pet any animal which is even more arrogant than me.

Tonight We Sleep In Separate Ditchesand cough up separate hairballs

-- Anonymous, February 19, 2000

I have a dog and two adolescent kittens, so there's no end of the fun at our house. I love them all, but I'm really a cat person. Of course, I don't have the flu so I can put up with their behavior.

Abercrombie and Fitch (II) are great fun. Usually after midnight.

-- Anonymous, February 19, 2000

I thought I was a cat person when I was younger. I had cats; I liked cats. Then, we got a dog. Dogs are so much friendlier. They stop when you tell them to, and feel bad when you reprimand them. They are much more patient with you. They won't hate you forever because you came home late and didn't feed them exactly at dinner time. They can go places with you(no cats at a beach.) They can be protective.. of things other than a tattered catnip mouse.
I have a Labrador-Chihuahua mix. (Please, please, no speculation on his birth...) He looks like Doc, but minus about fifty pounds. He laughs at me, he laughs at himself, he gets embarrassed when he falls of the couch, and he gets theatrically upset when his feet are wet.
More personality than any cat I've ever met. Count me pro-dog.

-- Anonymous, February 19, 2000

Let me just say that as the current foster parent for two seven-week-old unsocialized Chow Chow puppies, I find myself totally entertained by Beth's contention that she likes Doc more dogs are quieter and less demanding. It's as if I'm reading a journal entry written on the Bizarro Superman planet where everything is backwards (Bizarros set their alarm clocks to tell them when to go to sleep and go to nightclubs to balance their checkbooks, etc.)

I adore my cat Tova but she does not fit the archetypical cat mold at all. She fetches superballs, comes when called, does tricks, and sticks by me as if attached by a bungie cord. All this and yet I never find myself whined out of bed at 5 a.m. to let her outside, I can wear the same jeans more than once because they don't end up covered in muddy pawprints, and (best of all) endless purring. Oh, and forehead bonks and rubbing her little jaw against me and not having coarse fur.

Don't get me wrong, the pups (Val Killya and O. Mia Maya) have their own set of charms. They give me a reason to get up every morning, even if left to my own devices I would sleep until noon and miss half the sunshine. They wag. They lick. They look like little bear cubs and their back legs have the cutest rolling gait [an indication of future hip dysplasia, but let's enjoy the cuteness while we can.] They seduce people in parks constantly and therefore are an excellent source of new acquaintences, such as the gorgeous Russian man I met yesterday who was staring out at the lake and brooding, perhaps over his homeland, in a most Dr.-Luka-on-ER sense. But I don't like not being able to wear nylons, or always having my hair tied back because they apparently mistake it for cappelini and chew it. I don't like feeling grubby and having to wash my hands all the time. I hate having to sleep in a t-shirt and sweats so that I am immediately decent enough to herd the dogs into the backyard in the morning, instead of listening to the horrific squealing while I struggle into my clothes.

I also don't think that the unconditional love of dogs really appeals to me. Yes, they worship me, hiding in the shadow of my trechcoat for protection from oncoming and apparently vicious bicycles; they cry when I leave them in their gated-off bathroom, and their favorite thing to do is pile in my lap in a furry heap while I hold a rawhide chewy in each hand, Shiva-like. They gaze fondly up at me as they teethe. But if I neglected them, yelled at them, they'd still feel the same. It's hard-wired. Tova's love and trust had to be earned, and therefore are far more valuable to me. I know that if I stopped deserving her faith, she would withdraw it.

And I could never give up that moment every night when I shut off my reading lamp and she walks onto my pillow, I lift my comforter and she crawls underneath, then kneads my belly and purrs until she falls asleep. I still love dogs. I borrow my friends' dogs like library books as often as they let me monopolize them. When arriving at a party I tend to greet the resident dogs with the same earnest affection as I do their owners. But if forced to choose, I would call myself a cat person.

(Off-topic: before you declaw, try routinely trimming your cat's nails with a toenail clipper to blunt them. It's more humane and leaves your cat with enough claw to climb trees or defend herself should she ever get out. Declawing is the equivalent of cutting off human fingers at the first knuckle. Also, cats that claw due to emotional problems will find other outlets for aggression, such as biting or spraying, so you might just be trading one problem for another. I don't disapprove of declawing in all circumstances, but I do think of it as a last resort to be employed with animals that are otherwise unlivable.)

Oh, hey, because I said something in the other thread that made it seem as if I despise oversensitivity, here's a confession of irrationality of my own: when I read Dana's [bobofett.com] entry about how much she hates cats, and she specified, "Yes, YOUR CAT TOO," I got ridiculously upset. No one hates Tova. When the landlord at my old building came in to regrout my kitchen tile, he left me a note that read "Don't set anything on the counter for the next 24 hours. -David. PS: I LOVE your CAT." It has always been a point of pride with me that people who know her are continually vying for ownership her, hinting, "You know, if you ever move into a place that doesn't allow pets..." (My former best friend wanted my ex-lover to sue me for custody of her.) And she smells GREAT. And she has never had, nor in any way deserved, a nickname such as "The Evil Floorshitter." It has actually been hard for me to like Dana since she declared her unrepentant loathin

-- Anonymous, February 19, 2000

Definitely a cat person. I love my cats, although they do drive me crazy occasionally. I think I could be a dog person too, but I've never lived with one.

Beth, I know you have an obvious answer to this, but why do you let your cats sleep in your bedroom? I think I would kill mine the first night they were in there if I did that! And if one of them launched itself from a high place on to my face, embedding a claw in my lip in the middle of the night....

-- Anonymous, February 19, 2000

Oh, man, you should hear them if you lock them out. Benny can open doors, but it takes hours of scratching for him to get there. Meanwhile, Sally keeps up the scratchy Bette Midler meowing at regular intervals, Benny makes terrifying shrieky howls, and Rudy stands as close to the door as possible and says, "Yowr. Yowr. Yowr." until you just want to kill yourself.

If you manage to make it through all of that, they knock something over. Benny has cleaned out an entire cupboard full of glassware in the past.

I have the worst cats in the world, I think. At least they poop and pee where they're supposed to.

-- Anonymous, February 19, 2000

I love both, but prefer cats for my house. Its strictly a selfish thing. Cats can be left all day or even days at a time as long as they have food, water, and fresh litter. Dogs are a committment. Hmmm, sounds like one of the same reasons we don't have kids. Dogs are great and i love to play and sit them from time to time, but cats are self-suficent for the most part. I like that.

-- Anonymous, February 19, 2000

The last couple lines of my last post should read:

It has actually been hard for me to like Dana since she declared her unrepentant loathing for cats. (Yes, MINE TOO.)

---

Just to complete the image of myself as a cat loon, a couple more embarrassing items that I just today became aware enough of to be ashamed over, thanks to the heightened pet awareness triggered by thinking about this question earlier.

a) I have a certain pair of waffle-weave thermal pants that Tova really likes the texture of. Sometimes while I'm online and she shifts and sighs on my lap and can't seem to settle in, I will actually get up and change into the thermal pants so that she'll be more comfortable. The she flops across me and I scratch the back of her skull until she passes out.

b) I love the Body Shop's hemp oil [esp. the crunka crunka noise that the tin can makes when you squeeze it] but Tove hates the smell, so before I apply it I wait until she leaves the room on some litterbox or investigatory mission. If she's unavoidably present when I have some kind of moisturizing emergency, I use Mountain Ocean's Skin Trip lotion, which she is partial to. I smooth it on, then let her lick my hand raw while I read.

Most of the time, I can convince myself that as long as I have only one cat and no more, I am neither pathetic nor batty. Most of the time.

...................................................

-- Anonymous, February 20, 2000

DOG PERSON!!!!

I'm so much of a dog person that whenever I was upset my ex girlfriend used to just say "puppies" to me and no matter how angry or depressed I was I would get this big goofy smile for a second.

I have a cat, and I don't like him very much. He doesn't like me much either, so it works out fine. He doesn't meow or jump on me because he hates people, he does, however, push his ceramic bowl across the uneven wooden floor at three a.m. to wake me up.

I want to get a dog but I have a tiny apartment and work too much.

-- Anonymous, February 21, 2000

Dog person.

And yet somehow I ended up with a cat and I love her to death.

Of course, she's not your average cat... (Yeah yeah, all pet owners say that about their pets...) She comes when she's called, when I say "Get out!" she'll leave the room, and comes running to the door all bouncy and stuff when I come home. I have a cat who thinks she's a dog... I can deal with that. =)

she's actual size

-- Anonymous, February 21, 2000

Yes!

I have a 6 year old cat and two seven month old black labs. I'm moving to a much smaller place, so I had to find a home for one of the pups. Glub. Anyway, I just love them all, but I've met plenty of cats AND dogs that I wouldn't want around. Animals behave in certain ways for a reason, whateverit may be. For dogs, it's usually all in the training or lack thereof. For cats, well, cats are diferent. Sometimes they're okay, sometimes not. I have noticed that cats raised with dogs seem to be better socialized.

My (10 lb. declawed) cat chases the two (50 lb.) dogs through the house if they dare to approach her. :-) Oh, for a video camera...

-- Anonymous, February 22, 2000

Cat person. Completely. I'm kind of scared of dogs, except for the tiny ratty ones, which have other drawbacks. Dogs are so big and enthusiastic. They breathe hard and they drip and they're out of control. Of course it doesn't help that when I was a kid a big doberman that we were all scared of bit one of my friends and took a substantial chunk of flesh out of her butt.

I'd be scared of cats if they weighed 80 pounds, though. Especially my cat Gremmy, also known as the "flesh torpedo" in recognition of her fierce defence behavior.

I've got 3 cats. Although they do horf on the floor + furniture occasionally, I love them. They do OK by themselves when I'm at work, they're happy to see me when I come back, they only meow to get me out of bed after my alarm has already gone off and if I'm sick or really tired they even lay off that, and they sleep next to my head, but not directly on it. They're not aloof. When I call a cat, a cat usually comes, even if it's not the particular cat I specified.

They're very loyal; they love me way more than they love other people and if I've been away they're very appreciative when I get back. They pick good friends and boyfriends for me--if the cats don't trust someone, chances are that I ultimately won't like them that much either. I think it's cute that they like to watch TV when there's animal shows on, and that when I sit in my reading chair in the evening they all get in it with me and snuggle up. Good kitties.

-- Anonymous, February 22, 2000

I'm a cat person. Perhaps it's nature, perhaps it's nurture (my mother always had a cat or two around). As much as I love other people's dogs, I prefer cats. They prefer me too; I can't walk someplace or visit a friend's house without any and all felines within a twelve-yard radius coming by to hunker down on my lap.

The boyfriend and I have a running debate about dogs v. cats; he loves the lovable, somewhat predictable nature of dogs and frankly, that just tires me out. Give me a cat that respects my space, and I'll respec

-- Anonymous, February 22, 2000