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Cats can drink salt water (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world
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[–] 7 points 1 year ago* (4 children)

People I know who don't like Cats don't like them because they expect them to allow them to cross all their boundaries like dogs do. You can't expect a basically wild predator to respect your boundaries, you can however respect its boundaries and that is where the folks I've met who dislike Cats fail. They try to hold it and get scratched because it didn't like it. They overstimulate it and get scratched because the cat didn't like it. I've seen SO many people who dislike Cats because they don't understand how to approach an animal with caution and respect, and think that because the wild predator responded to discomfort the way a wild predator would do, that Cats are bad or evil.

Edit, to clarify, my comment was about people who say Cats are evil, not about people who simply don't like them.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Yes, you can't expect an animal that basically tamed itself to respect your boundaries, and that's why dog people don't like them. They jump on the counter or try to break your coffee cup if it's too close to the edge of the table.

    But overwhelmingly, in my experience as a cat shelter volunteer, people who have owned catsand do not like them feel that way, not because Mittens got overstimulated and scratched them once, but because they cannot cope with their boundaries being disrespected all the time. It isn't the cats fault, true. It's just an animal acting the way it evolved to act--but let's try to be understanding about why many people struggle with them as pets.

    It really does take a certain personality to be okay with living with a cat.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    Wow, you're completely right and I never recognized this before. I'm your quintessential cat person. I've lived with cats since the day I was born. They cuddled with me in my crib. My first word was cat. We joked that I was raised by cats. I'm just used to cats and don't often think about their behavior.

    My partner is a dog person, so now we have a mixed family. When the dogs cross a boundary, we do something to correct their behavior and there is the expectation their behavior will change. If it doesn't, we adjust our response until it does. When cats cross a boundary, we still do something to correct the behavior, but entirely expect the cat will continue doing it and respond no differently when they continue with the original behavior.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago

    I grew up in a mixed pet family. My dad loves cats; my mom dogs. It was exactly the way you describe it, too. I get why people adore cats and dogs both, but they do draw different personalities.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    I feel the same about dogs honestly. I prefer older small dogs because I find that when they do cross my boundaries I'm less likely to be injured in anyway. I honestly dont know how I would be able to live with large dog. Its funny that you say that cats cross boundaries a lot, because my experience has definitely been the opposite 😅 a dog is the size of a person too. When those cross my boundaries I usually get physically hurt. I suppose the experience of other people must be different lol

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