f13.net

And the taking pictures of them?

Cats are fucking terrible pets IMO but I am not being snarky when I ask; what the fuck is it with nerds and cats?

My only idea is that it's because after they're trained to use a litter box they have a really low minimum threshold in terms of upkeep labor and that fits with the sperglord lifestyle of living like a human/slug hybrid.

Yea what's with the love of bacon? It's like it's a delicious crispy meat.

The bacon thing where people think jokes about how great bacon is are really funny is another ridiculous nerd/sperg thing that you should be deeply ashamed of if you unironically think it's good/funny.

I'm not kidding. Ditto with XKCD. I get douchechills at work seeing people post XKCD comics on their doors.

Have you finally cracked?

No, it's just that nerd culture is terrible.

So who's hacked Fab's acct is the question.

Don't even get me started on this dubstep junk I've been hearing about recently, or how the trendy nerds feel the need to attach a quarter pound of metal to their faces.

Though, I don't even get worked up about the darn anime weeaboos anymore, whose lives seem to revolve around the new hotness crappy shonen is...and WoW.

 :geezer:

(http://i.imgur.com/GskQI.png)

Urgh, an example. Also note the classic webcomic artist trope of rendering your 3/10 SO in as flattering a way as possible. And this is about the most honest portrayal I've seen of one too.

I also hate cats. 

And what's up with all these goddamn video games people keep playing? You just sit at a glowy skinner box and press buttons like a chimpanzee to satisfy your aaaaaugh I can't even do this.

So you don't like cats. Get over yourself?

We have three cats and a dog.  If we do a long weekend vacation, it goes like this:

Cats:  Throw down extra food and a couple bowls of water.  Scoop litter right before we go.  Get home in three days, they're mildly interested that we're home.  

Dog:  Call kennel.  Kennel 1 full.  Kennel 2 full.  Kennel 3 has opening for Friday only.  Call vet, has opening for whole time but dog needs bordatella vaccine.  Get home in three days, pickup dog.  Dog is freaked because dogs are retarded and shits, vomits and sheds everywhere for a week.  Also, costs $250 at vet.  

I didn't want this dog, it was my wife's decision.  I have told her that I will never live with a dog again.  Period.  

My cats on the other hand are more friendly than the dog and have a whole array of different moods.  

Cats, man.  Cats.  

Actually I'm seriously asking what the nerd attraction to cats is and the taking pictures of them. The only people who take more photos of their pets are geriatrics.

They have a whole website dedicated to cats where people put captions on the pictures.  You should Google it sometime. 

That was kinda the crux of me asking what the deal is with nerds and cats.

I'm not sure of a more succinct way of asking, "Why does a seemingly very large proportion of nerds own cats and dote on them like children and think that people care about the dozens of 'funny photos' they take of them?"

Again, I'm not joking. I just don't get it and wish to understand. The "minimum required care" thing explains why one would choose a cat over a dog, but at the least there is a portrayed obsession with cats in the 'nerd community' so to speak that I don't get.

I think you are reading more into it than is actually there.

Some of that, but also: cats are the pet of choice for shut ins or generally introverted people.  They are not demanding in terms of needing to be outside, active, to have a lot of space or attention, but they do show significant affection and have more personality than rodents or lizards.  Dogs are more common pets among active people (no offense to the healthy-lifestyle internet denizen cat owners).  Beyond that, it's a meme at this point and self perpetuating.

Dogs are also popular among needy extroverts who have to have everyone's attention.. while we're painting with barn brushes.

Anyone who doesn't think "ceiling cat is watching me masturbate" is funny has no sense of humor.

;-)

Is not liking your wife's dog a sign of relationship doom or is that just me?

Nah, we're fine.  Dog needs to go, though.

Part of the problem is that my daughter and I really aren't attached to the dog, but my wife is.  Unfortunately, my wife works a crap-ton of hours and is a pretty social person on top of it.  So inevitably, I'm the one who takes the dog to the vet, bathes it, feeds it, clips the nails...etc.  When my wife is home, it's not like she wants to first thing take the dog for a walk... she wants to sit down for a bit. 

It's fucking retarded.  She wants to have a dog without all the dumbshit upkeep of one.  We've done the whole "Get rid of the dog."  "Fine, but you find a home for her."  So that it's always going to be ME that got rid of her dog; I'll always be the asshole responsible. 

And... the dog is stuck in the middle.  It's shitty.  It's a perfect example of dumbfuck Americans not doing what is the right thing for them to do. 

Just you. You can love your wife and disagree strongly with her taste in pets. I've been fighting off a dog in our house for 9 years now. Sadly my boys are getting old enough that soon they'll pile on and I will lose. I already made a bargain that I get a pot belly pig if they get a dog, so it's not all bad.

Cats are low maintenance. Especially in the country-side where they can basically come and go as they please. To me, cats are... well... people who happen to live with you and tolerate your presence and for convenience's sake will let you feed them and pet them until they get bored, while dogs are high-maintenance pets; slaves to man, brainwashed to Always Do As Master Bids.

(http://www.gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs2/2077743_o.gif)

Cats are convenient pets that work on their own schedule. Dogs on the other hand need both time and emotional investment. Plus, they are pack animals while Nerds tend toward the loner side of the social spectrum. In my case, while there are dogs I really love and adore (luckily, my GFs dog is among them), personalitywise I am disgusted by their unquestioning obedience to a pack leader. Thats the antiauthoritarioan streak in me. Obedient people disgust me the same way.

IME the cat picture/video meme stuff is more popular in the People Like My Mom demographic than the Nerds I Know demographic.

I like cats and dogs both, is that allowed?  :-P

I like cats and dogs both, but got a cat in college because I was living in an apartment and a cat was the cheaper/low maintenance option. 

In theory at least. 

I have to laugh whenever I hear or read someone talk about an asshole cat that they barely have to look at.  My cat I've had for about 11 years now might as well be attached to me.  He's almost always either clamoring for attention in my lap or curled up on my feet.  In fact, he's snoring on my foot as I type this.  The few times he's not, he still stays in the same room as me.  If I leave a room while he's asleep, or leave the house, he'll start crying.  And he'll get loud, too, I've been able to hear him outside from 10-15 feet from the house.  The additional cats I've ended up with thanks to my girlfriend are almost just as bad.  If I want to not be around them for whatever reason, my only choice is to leave the house. 

While I still love dogs and would like to have one around again, I'd never get rid of the cats.  Mine at least are pretty awesome to be around. 

Judging by the people who post on /r/aww, a large number of pet owners are demented.

That said, I did notice that a much higher proportion of people I played MMOs with would talk about their cats than any other pet, only a few seemed to own dogs. I'd say the convenience hypothesis is plausible.

1. The people who post pictures of cats on the internets aren't predominantly belonging to the nerd demographic. I think that this is a misconception of you. It's more the mom-and-dad or typical bored thirtysomething office dweller that frequents those sites.

2. Why is it always black and white with you people? Cats or Dogs. With us or without us. I've owned cats, dogs, horses, cattle and several other kinds of pets and animals over the years. Everyone of them I've liked or loved in some way. Mindboggling I know but you can actually love more kinds of animal than just one. You should try it some time.

3. The cat hate right now is just typical hipster "I despise something that the majority likes, just because the majority likes it", anyway. Your "please try and make me care about something that I despise for no particular good reason" is just patronizing.

2. Why do you care. anyway? It's not like nerds on the internets are forcing you to go out and buy a cat.

You don't actually need to understand why people like the shit they do, just as they don't need to understand why you like the shit you do.

You could actually accept that there are people out there who do and like things you dislike, hate or even despise without being patronizing and demeaning to them, though.

If you actually want a real answer instead of just reinforcing your superiority over the cat-owning fraction of humanity then it has a lot to do with the general "personality" of different animals.

People like pets because they form an emotional connection to them and vice versa. Animals like dogs or horses for example are pack animals though, they need people that can assert dominance and signal that they are leader of the pack. Dogs are also a lot more in need of attention and care than cats. So if you are more of a loner and are already having difficulty with handling too much social interaction you probably lean more towards animals like cats who are generally more independent and need less attention or to put it better attention in smaller and shorter chunks.

Dogs are gerenerally more hyper, need more attention and are more submissive if you have asserted your dominace. They are similar to toddlers in that they are more emotionally and physically draining but when they like you they like you hard.

Horses are generally stubborn and can sense if you are confident or not and cows are - well cows.

There were times when dogs would have been to emotionally and physically draining for me and cats were easier to handle or live with because of their general independence. My cat would come to me for chunks of maybe ten to twenty minutes at a time but generally leave me alone. There ere times when a pet that 16 hours of the day doesn't really care if you are around or not seemd to be boring and dogs were more up my alley.

For me though it has never been about this or that. Even turtles can be great pets (if you can accept a commitment for 30 to 40 years that is).

TL;DR what you probably don't like about cats is exactly what is appealing to other personality types or to people that don't have enough time to care for a dog. Posting pictures of cats on the net however isn't nerd culture by a long shot.

What you have to take into consideration is that we as a society are getting more and more isolated from each other. There have been a number of interesting studies lately that came to the conclusion that social circles (real ones not friends lists on facebook) are shrinking, that modern life tends to isolate people from others and that you probably have fewer social interactions with people face to face than you would have had thirty years ago.

For many people pets have become some sort of surrogates to fill the void left open by a dwindling number of friends and acquaintances. So they place more importance on their pets which can get a bit unhealthy. Also people seem to crave that short burst of joy that comes from looking at a really cute picture. This might seem a tad mad when watched frm the outside.

Dogs are less suited for the modern lifestyle that makes you and your SO work 60 hour weeks with long commutes. I would own a dog if I could take him to work. I won't however if I have to lock him into my small appartment for 16 hours a day, that would be cruel. If you'd own two cats however then this would be possible.

I can get that too. Outside of again, geriatrics the people I know who're obsessed with their cats refer to them like people instead of children. Whereas I've met people who treat their dogs like surrogate children; especially in childless marriages/relationships. I don't see that with cats a lot.

You mad, bro?

But seriously it's not a "hating the trendy" thing, I don't mind being around cats but I hate them as pets stemming from when I was about 8 and our cat pissed in my fishtank and killed all of my fish. Also destroying a lot of furniture despite owning scratching posts.

I considered the "Cat owning nerd" thing kind of a stereotype until I got a job in IT and literally every single person in that extended circle of people I met minus maybe 2-3 people were "that guy". I just seriously didn't get it.

Mainly because cats aren't like children. They're independent, they mostly take care of themselves, they're highly affectionate some of the time (unless you're an asshole and mistreat them, in which case, kindly sail down the river twice, tia), they're not judgemental and they're cute and fluffy.

Compare them to dogs, where dogs aren't, they don't, they're overly affectionate (to the point of being fucking needy), they aren't, and this varies.

Rich, coming from someone starting this thread with that first post. :oh_i_see:

I don't see the problem.

Personally I like cats because they're needy when it comes to affection/cuddling, but they're not dog-needy, nor do they need so much care, and going away on a photography weekend doesn't need any special planning, I just leave them with extra water and food and a clean litterbox, and we're all happy. Companionship without all the hassle.

Just like I don't really get the reason for this thread even existing. Is this a troll thread?

Had the same fight for just as long.  Still no dog.  It's not that I hate dogs, they're generally pretty fun.. when they're other peoples.   I hate the maintenance and property damage that goes hand-in-hand with owning them.  (The number of dog owners with chewed/ destroyed/ pissed-on things & massive rug stains > cat owners in my experience.)

I told the wife & children they could have one if they were the ones picking up the crap, playing with it and feeding it.  It helps that we watch my brother & mother's dogs from time to time, which reinforces just how much work it is to them.  I don't hear a peep about getting a dog for a month or so after we've had one of them for a week.



Well, yes, by definition it's going to be if you enjoy popular things.  Nerds are on the outer fringes of society so their tastes & culture aren't going to be inline with the mainstream.  You're going to find it odd, quirky or just plain terrible if you're happy with more mainstream stuff.

Nah, its just gotten very popular to hate cats nowadays and to be fair your FP kind of set the mood. And it's not just dislike it's serious disdain just like people were somehow forced too keep cats or look at cat pictures on the net.

I don't get that. Maybe because I'm a country guy and I've always been exposed to a lot of different kinds of animals and I like most of them. I'm not terribly fond of horses because they have character traits that are similar to those of cats, are too smart for their own good but weigh a couple of hundred pounds and are big. If you aren't a seriously in charge guy/gal they can be rather stubborn and try to dominate you. Which is not terribly good when you are sitting on top of them.


I'm terribly sorry about your fish.

Cats do that when they are seriously pissed off (sorry pun is not intended) about something. Maybe they were ignored or mistreated or left alone for too long. A dog pisses and craps if he's overexcited or nervous, a cat does it to spite you and it does it so that you notice it.

It's most of the time a very big "Fuck you". The scratching of furniture stops as soon as you get the right scratching post. I usually have more problems with property damage from dogs not cats but YMMV.


A cat has an aura of independence. You cannot bribe cats, they either like you or they don't. Dogs are more like toddlers they need a lot of attention which for people that are not used to them might come across as needy. Loner types are attracted to loner types of animal. A cat also has a lot more personality than a turtle or a hamster.

At the time when I was feeling rather disconnected from society and had kind of a loner streak I felt more "connected" to cats than dogs. Dogs were too much stress and required too much attention that I simply wasn't psychologically capable of at the time while cats feel like you are living with them while not having to take care of them the whole time. I mean you don't even have to walk them. They even require affection in chunks that you can handle when just dealing with society is stressful. They are around you for maybe 30 minutes and then they leave you alone and want to be left alone.

Right now I'd rather own a dog if I had the time to care for one.

Also a choice of "what kind of pet can I actually keep when I'm single and work for 70 hours a week"

Mmmmm..... bacon flavoured cats.  :awesome_for_real:

I once found my cat eating bacon in the kitchen which surprised me because I hadn't cooked any. Then I overheard my neighbour screaming at her kid about a) eating the bacon before it was ready b) taking it off the hot grill pan and c) lying about not doing it.

Really wish I'd got a picture of my cat looking smug. With its bacon.

I once chased my cat through our whole house after she had stolen a rather large steak from the kitchen counter, so large in fact that she had to run in a funny way with the paws wide and the head held high to not trip on the piece of meat she had in her mouth. The steak was nearly larger then the whole (rather tiny) cat.

The look of accomplishment she shot me because she had caught that was very very funny.

Both dogs and cats have that fake look of innocence down pat though, that "I didn't do nothing" look that always cracks me up.

Seriously though, what is it with nerds and spergy self-centered arguments?

It's pretty much the worst part of internet culture.

e: Wait, let me answer my own question: "Asperger syndrome or Asperger's syndrome or Asperger disorder ( /ˈɑspərɡərz/[1] or /ˈæspərɡərz/[2]) is an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction."

There figured it out.

I had an indoor/outdoor (spayed thank god) cat growing up...  didnt even need a litter box.  He'd let us know when he had to go and hold it if we werent there, or he'd just dip out the door whenever he could and come back when he pleased, yet he'd still come when called either by gesture or voice (even if you didnt see him).  Sleep on the doorstep or in the garage, under the car whatever.  When inside he'd cuddle and hang-out as usual, grab a bite to eat (he'd let us know when he was hungry), or a nap.  When outside he'd play with whatever local fauna, sometimes kill a few mice (which he'd proudly show off to us), chase off the possums or stray dog, etc.  Overall just an awesome animal.  Eventually he got assraped by a raccoon I think and a while after died from the injury, even after surgery.

Up in TN we've got a barn and horsestall.  Frankly w/o the barncats it's likely the place would be overrun with rodents and snakes.  The horses also love them around, as opposed to dogs (which they naturally loathe).

Many in the nerd culture are single, highly educated, or both.  These factors predispose many to a life without children.  Pets act as surrogate children for many that lack the option or desire to have them.  

Just my take on the whole thing.

FIFY.

Because they are cute little animals that do funny things.  Is this really complicated?

So this is what happens when Fab quits playing WoW...

He starts surfing icanhazcheezeburger?  :grin:

"What is it with nerds and WoW? I just don't get it!!!"

The cat killed your fish? That's part of why they're awesome pets. They're still not evolved from predators, it's like a tiny alien living in your house willing to destroy anything moving and smaller than itself. Who wouldn't love that?

But fish? There's a shitty pet. Oh, look, it's swimming around.

Fish fall in my "prisoner" definition of pets. It's not there willingly, it's been captured or grown in captivity and kept against its will. If you set it in a suitable body of water, it's not coming back. Anything kept in a cage (or tank) is not a pet. Amnesty for imprisoned pets!

I think birds are a bigger pet fail.  What kind of person takes a creature with the ability to fly and traps it in a confined environment for life?  Makes zero sense to me.

You can determine how crazy someone is by how many cats they have.  Once you get over two you are certifiable.  It's been proven.  Of course I think you're crazy if you have over zero, but that's just me.    :grin:

They aren't quite as shitty of a pet as birds or snakes.  I knew a girl once that would actually sleep in bed with her bird.  That was freaky.

I also have a thing for caring for strays.  Taking in a cat or two is better than picking up additional people.  They appreciate me more and aren't as big a drain on the resources.  (Though I can't make the cat open a stuck lid, so it's not perfect.)

My back yard seems to be a haven for cats.  I've seen about ten different ones passing through.  Probably because it's fenced without dogs and has a fish pond where they can grab a drink, but it amuses me.

So who already knew Lanty was the crazy cat lady of F13, raise your hand?

I understand this completely.  I have two cats myself.  Both are rescues from the animal shelter and make wonderful companions in the 2000 sq ft house that I live alone in.  I've always been a fan of cats for their personality, independence, and low maintenence.   

It's a fair cop.
My current cat lived here for 12 years with the previous owners.  Next door adopted her when they moved to California, but she really wants to be an indoor cat most of the time, and I think some dogs nearly caught her as she was terrified of going outside for a few months.  Her sister is happy staying outside over there though she comes to visit about once a week.  It works out well for all involved.

Cats are nature's trash. They are born in garbage. In fact, when you throw Timmy away, just reach into the dumpster and pull out a new cat. (http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/blamimations/108/) (55 secs in)

Nerds crave love, but in a dysfunctional "it's unobtainable so I have to have it" sort of way.  Cats fit the bill perfectly because they could give a shit whether you live or die. 

Because it's the closest to pussy some nerds will ever get?

Thank ya! Thank ya!  :rimshot:

I was really considering a large bird at some point, like a hawk.  Training it to retrieve and hoping it never gouges my eyes out, that sort of thing.  Ultimately, that was what got me.  I understand societies that keep them as tools, but I don't need to have one to sustain my life so the animal is better off being free.  

Small fish, on the other hand, have such a short lifespan in the wild that as long as you're buying captive bred fish, I'm okay with.  We've got a goldfish that my kid won at a fair... thought those damn things live like two weeks then die, but not this one.  It will turn a year old soon and has doubled in size since we got it.  I actually have no idea what we're going to do with it when we make the move to Seattle in the next 9 months.  Moving a goldfish four days in the car seems nearly impossible.  Especially considering I'll have a German Shepard and three cats with me.   :oh_i_see:

FTFY

It's actually really easy. Fill one of those gallon sandwich bags with water, put the fish in it, stick it in a (opaque) bowl with a lid, put lid on, keep bowl out of direct sunlight.

Moving fish is way easier than you might think. My X moved 40 fish and several coral over a 3 day trip to a new place and only lost 2. Empty home depot or lowes painter buckets with rubber sealed lids.

As for cats... I swear they were the only thing that got me through my master's degree at LSU. Having them was instant break times and provided a ton of stress relief. Having them put down due to me being too poor to afford the thousand's of dollars to get surgery for various things killed any future chances of getting a cat. I only have one picture of one of my cats though...

Thank you for exemplifying exactly what I meant. The only absolutely well adjusted people according the internet seem to be people that don't own any pets. Anyone who does is a loon and all pets are horrible abominations unto god.

It's a city dweller thing I suppose, the only animals you see are either cockroaches or as minced meat on your burger :grin:

...I could have written these words myself.

I was working up to those squawking devil creatures. I knew a guy who's wife had a couple prisoners. She let them fly around the house, they shit everywhere and the racket was unbearable.

I with Lantyssa on strays, all my pets have been. At one point growing up we had six cats (two from a litter one of the older had that we couldn't find a good home for), two dogs and a bunch of prisoners (a budgie, guinea pig and four rabbits; they formed my animal gulag philosophy). My backyard is also a haven for all kinds of wildlife. If I could afford the expense, I'd adopt a skinny little black dude that's been hanging out behind my woodpile eating small rodents (a cat, not a homeless guy).

Cats are the perfect pet. Part comedian, part assassin.

In keeping with the nerd culture thing, shouldn't that be "Part pirate, part ninja"?

As long as we're talking about things that get us all assed up, what the fuck is with this fascination with putting supernatural elements in classic literature like Pride and Prejudice with Zombies or fucking Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter? It's not fucking clever. It's shit. Surely you can think of something interesting to do with zombies. Shit, you don't even have to think too hard - it's not like zombie "literature" is full of examples of great art. At least come up with your own fucking setting and characters instead of cribbing Jane Fucking Austen.

I came to cats because my wife's family are cat people.  I owned dogs all growing up, but my first pet after moving out for college was a cat that adopted my roommate and I at our first apartment.  That cat was awesome.  It was a huge, friendly cat that was was malnourished and pretty mangy at the time.  Nursed it back to health and it was a great pet for apartment living.

I eventually lost that cat in a coin toss.  :heartbreak:  Later, I moved in with my wife and she already had 2 cats.  Now I'm locked into cats until they all die.  I'm fine with that, cats are easy.

As for my current situation, I can't see owning a dog in Tucson.  Too much poisonous stuff and too many predators.  Dogs are complete retards about that shit.   Show a dog something poisonous and its first instinct is to shove it in its mouth.   When I lived here as a kid, none of our dogs or our friends dogs died of old age.  They all died of doing stupid dog stuff in an environment that wasn't forgiving to that.

Cats are also great for when you have infants/toddlers.  They seem to understand they're no longer the center of attention and just go about doing their cat stuff.  When they're brave they'll also seek attention from the kid.  My big black cat lets my son snuggle with him.

As for internet nerds with cats?  Aren't they mostly young and in housing, job, relationship situations where owning a dog probably isn't the best idea? Dogs are a lot of work for the most part, and you shouldn't own one if you can't take care of it.  Plus, nerds/internet culture obsesses about EVERYTHING.  It's no shock that they'd obsess about their pets.

 :angryfist:

While that sucks that your cat did that, hating all cats because of it is kind of like reading a DLRiley post and deciding that all humans are morons who can't construct a complete sentence.

Sometimes it seems easier to operate under that assumption, though.

Say what? I'd be interested to hear that story.

I would wager that Rasix's roommate at the time liked the cat as much as he did, and the only fair way to decide who got to keep the cat when they split up was coin toss? Am I close?

Bingo.  We were both moving into places with our respective girlfriends (now both married).  We decided a coin toss was the only way since we couldn't agree on a video game where we were on neutral ground.  This cat had been with us for 3 years.  Just an outstanding, awesome cat.  Friendly as a dog and huge (19 lbs on diet food), fluffy and orange. 

I lost. 

I found out later that my wife offered him $500 to change his mind.  Then $750.  He declined obviously. 

You could have chipped in and made that cat your own  :why_so_serious:

The simple solution is that OP is simply defective and missing the mental apparatus with which one appreciates cats. This whole thread is people trying to explain what's appealing about the color red to a blind man.

Where do rabbits fall on this scale? We kept ours in a cage most of the time, but that wasn't where she spent her entire life, we'd let her run around like a crackrabbit whenever we were playing on the console and/or watching a movie (she would've torn apart every cable in the computer room, so she was Not Allowed in there). My sister's rabbit basically has the run of the house, only going into his cage when no one is home (much like how some people crate their dogs). If they had gotten out, they probably weren't coming back, but I sometimes suspect the same would be true for our cat Lizzie.

Rabbits are good pets, dammit.


As for cats, they are a billion times easier to take care of than a dog. And they're cute! Why wouldn't you take pictures of them? If I wasn't so fucking lazy, I'd have a lot more pictures of ours.  :oh_i_see:

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Anyway, I asked the question without snark and said everything else with snark. Figured that'd go over a bit better but I guess cats are literally serious business!!

The consistent answer about the job thing really makes sense though. More technical jobs tend to be more urban than rural, cats tend to make better pets in urban environments.

Also rabbits make great pets when litter trained and actually won't run off. They have a natural compulsion to chew on stuff though.

It's the current trend in nerd/college age humor where you take mundane things and apply whatever nerds are obsessing over currently to it in an "ironic" fashion. Like say, the zombie apocalypse.

That sounds like a perfectly rational reason to hate all cats. :why_so_serious:

  My big thing with cats is really just that I'm highly, highly allergic to them.  They're just like dogs in that some of them are pretty cool and some of them suck. 

How much you handle them as kittens and at what age they're fixed (if at all) have huge impacts on their adult behavior, but even with that yeah, some cats are just assholes. Gender matters to an extent too.

So are you supposed to handle them less?

I've had male cats in our family and they seem to have more personality than the females.

On the contrary handle them as much as possible when they're kittens and they'll be more friendly as adults. You don't want to wait until they're too old to get them fixed, either, especially with males - there's a window just before they hit cat puberty that is ideal, if you do it too early it messes with their growth, but if you do it too late they will develop undesirable behaviors, especially males.

And yeah male cats tend to be less standoffish than females.

The last cat I got was 1 year old, and I had to actually trap her when fetching her at the relocation center, and she hid under my bed for 2 straight days after I got her home. It's taken 5+ years, but she's changed quite dramatically since then. I actually think I've managed to mostly reverse the negative traits she got from her childhood (which I can only presume hasn't been one of the better starts to life, ever).

Main problem I have with them now, though, is that they only ever really see me, so whenever I have them stay at my parents', it takes them up to a week to stop being sulky.

Our boy cat is a gigantic wussypants. He loves me and Ingmar to pieces (he is borderline dog-like in his devotion), but anyone else, if they are lucky, will get hissed at before he runs like the devil himself was coming for him. Most of the time he doesn't even bother with the hiss, as that takes up precious "running the fuck away" time. The lady cat is braver, but bitchier. She has a note on her vet's file: short fuse. She's my personal therapy cat, though.  :heart:

By the same token, raise one around a 2 year old and they'll be so used to getting picked up and flopped around like a sack of flour that they'll be utterly unflappable as an adult. Well, at least in this one case in particular. To this day you can pick her up and flip her upside down and she'll just look bored. Still has her claws, too.

Yep, my niece has developmental disabilites and when she was a child they got her a cat.  She could flop that thing around like a ragdoll, cradle it like a baby... just about anything she wanted.  That cat would just lay there all bored-like.

A cat without claws is not much of a cat.

Some neighbours had a fatass cat, a child with Downes syndrome and a Rotweiler.  The dog would carry the cat around by the scruff of the neck, and the cat more or less didn't give a fuck.  I'm pretty sure it preferred the dog to the kid.

My sister's (then) kitten used to nap with his head laying on the chest of our Newfoundlander.  The Newfoundlander used to wake up, realize the kitten was there, and continue to lie there so as to avoid disturbing him.  Then the kitten grew up a little and would try to spar with the dog as if it were a litter mate.  I'm not sure whether the dog or the cat was more confused.

Our dogs and cats got along just fine since the cats trained them as puppies.  The stray we took in years later took a lot of adjustment, but she was around a year old at that point.  The dogs still remembered the cats though, so they didn't have a problem with her.

Question answered?

My sister's 8 pound shorthair tabby likes to get on the back of the 50 pound lab and dry hump her. It's quite hilarous looking because the lab has no idea what's going on and just lays there bored. So you have this tiny little cat humping the dog while the rest of us ROFL.

Did they all claim to have Asperger Syndrome as well? Cause that would be  :awesome_for_real:

 :heart: Newfies  :heart:

I just wish they didn't drool so dang much.

My mom's cat spars with her Newfie all the time; he'll go into Psycho Kitty Mode and just jump on the dog's head for no reason, start batting his tail around, meowing at him obnoxiously, anything to provoke a response.  It's pretty awesome.  I managed to get one of their interactions on camera just the other night. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4XGmhMICIw)

I think that is the most aggressive thing I have ever seen a Newf do!

Jesus Christ that is not a newfie, that is a god damn black bear...that barks.  :why_so_serious:

And what the hell game is that on the screen?

He's a very nice dog, but the cat has had years of practice at pushing his buttons.  Before I started recording, the cat had initiated hostilities by pouncing on the dog's head and then getting chased around the room, so the dog was already expecting a follow-up attack.

The game on the screen is Prototype.

Xerxes is a good name.

Pretty much!

One guy I am actually really wondering if he has Aspergers.

Don't be so defensive.  I'm too lazy even to own a turtle. 

_{Wheeeee two and a half pages too late.}

might come to you as a shocker but the love of cats extends a bit beyond nerd culture.

There was a time and a place call ancient egypt, and I think that slightly predates the term *nerd*.

ptolomey, total nerd.

Library of Alexandria - nerd paradise.

Guess that makes the Romans the Jocks.

 :thumbs_up:

I cant own pets as I'd be terrified in case I'd let them starve to death if i went into one of my black phases. Seriously.

I feel I'm not capable of the emotional commitmenta Dog needs. They love me to bits though as I understand them a great deal and can read their body language.

Cats love me too, as it happens. I remember staying at a house with a big mean cat and within 2 days it was curled up at my chest purring like it was the first purr it had done in its life. I remember one time I was visiting and internet friend for the first time, I flopped on the bed after the long journey and the housecat walked in, hopped on the bed, climbed over me, literally curled up in my armpit and fell asleep just like that.

I recently got 2 plants and they they are flourishing, despite every other plant I've ever had turning black and dying. I think I'm improving in terms of care...

Not recommending it to you outright, but a cat won't let you neglect it once you have a bond with it.  Dogs are stupid about routine, so I would never recommend it for someone who varies their personality around.  But cats handle that a lot better.  Your daily time commitment is very small with a cat - water, food, litter box.  Maybe five minutes maximum. 

Just like Farmville. :awesome_for_real:

Yeah, cats will let you know EXCUSE ME SIR IT IS TIME TO EAT. You really don't want the HEY ASSHOLE YOU DIDN'T CHANGE MY LITTER YET reminder though.

What's a little protest poop between friends?

Poop's fine, pee's a bitch.

Yeah, that's what I was going to say.   At least you can pick crap up and it doesn't stain or soak in so you have to buy special cleaner.

  Well.. if they're not sick.