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Descartes
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28 Jan 2022, 4:41 am

I feel, as a cat person, that cats aren't nearly as appreciated in Western society as much as dogs are (I don't mean for this to be a cats vs. dogs debate, btw). Sure, cat memes and videos are popular on the Internet; and there have been famous celebrity cats such as Grumpy Cat and Li'l Bub, but in general there is not much love for cats. It's more socially acceptable to hate cats than it is to hate dogs. For example, on Reddit, the subreddit "Dogfree" generates lots of hate and controversy, yet another subreddit called "I f*****g Hate Cats" flies under people's radar.

Is it because, in Western culture, cats are associated with witches, black magic, and spinsters? There's also the stereotype that cats aren't loving, affectionate animals. I've noticed that there are a lot of cat lovers on this website and in general among the non-NT population, but of course we do not represent the general population.

It's strange because cats are widely loved in countries like Japan, which has whole islands that are home to feral cats; and cats are considered sacred in Islamic culture. So why is Western culture so different?


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cyberdad
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28 Jan 2022, 4:47 am

Cats are often the muse of many western artists and musicians, After dogs they are the number of one household pet.
They are also a nuisance killing native animals and birds in Australia,



Fnord
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28 Jan 2022, 9:35 am

Cats are some of the nicest people I know.



Fireblossom
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28 Jan 2022, 10:10 am

I've never thought of this... maybe it's because there are lots of ways dogs can be useful, like guide dogs, police dogs etc. yet all I've heard cats to be good for are as companions for lonely people... not that that's bad, but dogs can do that too and so many other things that cats can't, so maybe that's why they're sometimes valued more?

Or maybe dog lovers are more vocal about their love for dogs than cat lovers of their love for cats?



Fnord
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28 Jan 2022, 10:20 am

Fireblossom wrote:
. . . maybe dog lovers are more vocal about their love for dogs than cat lovers of their love for cats?
Maybe dog lovers are more vocal because they have to be.  The worst I have ever known a housecat to do is scratch someone for pulling its tail.  Dogs, however . . .

 Dog Sitter ‘Permanently, Catastrophically Disfigured' After Attack 



Descartes
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28 Jan 2022, 5:21 pm

Fnord wrote:
Fireblossom wrote:
. . . maybe dog lovers are more vocal about their love for dogs than cat lovers of their love for cats?
Maybe dog lovers are more vocal because they have to be.  The worst I have ever known a housecat to do is scratch someone for pulling its tail.  Dogs, however . . .

 Dog Sitter ‘Permanently, Catastrophically Disfigured' After Attack 


Exactly. Cats may sometimes be aloof, but at least a cat scratch or bite won't cause any serious harm. :roll:


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naturalplastic
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29 Jan 2022, 10:46 am

Descartes wrote:
Fnord wrote:
Fireblossom wrote:
. . . maybe dog lovers are more vocal about their love for dogs than cat lovers of their love for cats?
Maybe dog lovers are more vocal because they have to be.  The worst I have ever known a housecat to do is scratch someone for pulling its tail.  Dogs, however . . .

 Dog Sitter ‘Permanently, Catastrophically Disfigured' After Attack 


Exactly. Cats may sometimes be aloof, but at least a cat scratch or bite won't cause any serious harm. :roll:


Tell THAT to Ted Nugent!



naturalplastic
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29 Jan 2022, 1:40 pm

Here is a mystery of history.

Fact One:

Cats were first domesticated by the ancient Egyptians in 3000 BC.
And for the next 3000 years cats were worshipped in Egypt as gods.


Fact Two:

The cat is the only domestic animal NEVER mentioned in the Bible.



Fact Three:

The Bible was written by the ancient Hebrews who lived in Judea which was located in the modern state of Israel right next door to Egypt.



The question:

How is possible that kitty cats could be sacred animals and be worshipped in Egypt for three thousand years while at the same time folks in the country next door (ancient Israel) never even heard of kitty cats?

Riddle me that! :D



theprisoner
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29 Jan 2022, 1:45 pm

Mike Tyson was a cat person. I gotta side with Mike on this. I like cats.
Image


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Misslizard
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29 Jan 2022, 1:46 pm

Cats can be nasty, a friend was attacked by a feral one she had been feeding.It jumped on her back and bit her on the neck.I kid you not.

https://abcbirds.org/article/reports-of ... -colonies/

Cats wipe out ground nesting birds and other small animals.
I still like them and would love to have another Siamese but my dog hates cats.
Dogs also do damage to wildlife but they aren’t as efficient hunters as cats.


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xxZeromancerlovexx
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29 Jan 2022, 3:03 pm

I wanted to adopt a Beagle when I get my apartment but it's not worth it. Dogs don't seem to like me very much. I knew someone with a dog and there were several times she would start freaking out.

Cats are awesome and I'm honestly better with cats than any other animal (even though petting zoo goats love me) so I think the year after I get my apartment, I want to get a brother and sister cat and raise them together. I have names picked out, Nea and Nergal. I also plan on running errands and doing things during the day. Also, when cats get to be adults, they can be alone sometimes. Our family cat, Tucker doesn't like being alone and ever since my other cat, Jude passed away Tucker has developed a lot of separation anxiety in my opinion.

The article about the woman being disfigured by dogs is scary. Those dogs in the picture don't even look like dogs typically associated with aggression either.


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Raleigh
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29 Jan 2022, 3:17 pm

Further on the bible,
Dogs are mentioned in 27 verses
And all of those are negative.
E.g. “For without [are] dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”
So it's surprising to me that dogs are not hated in predominately Christian societies.


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HighLlama
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29 Jan 2022, 3:30 pm

Raleigh wrote:
Further on the bible,
Dogs are mentioned in 27 verses
And all of those are negative.
E.g. “For without [are] dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”
So it's surprising to me that dogs are not hated in predominately Christian societies.


Well, if they lie with men...



naturalplastic
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29 Jan 2022, 3:42 pm

Raleigh wrote:
Further on the bible,
Dogs are mentioned in 27 verses
And all of those are negative.
E.g. “For without [are] dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”
So it's surprising to me that dogs are not hated in predominately Christian societies.



Not an expert in that aspect of the Bible, but you're probably right that the Bible probably doesnt actually glorify dogs either. Uses "dog" as an epithet, and speaks of them as little better than vermin. There are no "Old Yeller" type tales in the Bible that I am aware of.

To my answer my own question posted above...I suspect that cats were deliberately edited out of the Bible precisely because the Hebrews lived next door to a larger pagan culture, Egypt, that they needed to resist being assimilated into . The Bible talks about characters worshipping idols of Baal (part of the Phonecian pantheon). Cats were probably considered "living idols" to the Egyptian goddess Bastet so it was probably taboo for the ancient Hebrews to even speak of the animals back when the Bible was being compiled.



Raleigh
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29 Jan 2022, 3:50 pm

Imo dogs cater more for the ego.
As they display sycophant-like behaviour.

No one is going to have their ego stoked by a cat.


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29 Jan 2022, 3:51 pm

Translated from French


The Cat by Emily J. Brontë
May 15th 1842

I can say with sincerity that I like cats; also I can give very good reasons why those who despise them are wrong.

A cat is an animal who has more human feelings than almost any other being. We cannot sustain a comparison with the dog, it is infinitely too good; but the cat, although it differs in some physical points, is extremely like us in disposition.

There may be people, in truth, who would say that this resemblance extends only to the most wicked men; that it is limited to their excessive hypocrisy, cruelty, and ingratitude; detestable vices in our race and equally odious in that of cats.

Without disputing the limits that those individuals set on our affinity, I answer that if hypocrisy, cruelty, and ingratitude are exclusively the domain of the wicked, that class comprises everyone. Our education develops one of those qualities in great perfection; the others flourish without nurture, and far from condemning them, we regard all three with great complacency. A cat, in its own interest, sometimes hides its misanthropy under the guise of amiable gentleness; instead of tearing what it desires from its master’s hand, it approaches with a caressing air, rubs its pretty little head against him, and advances a paw whose touch is soft as down. When it has gained its end, it resumes its character of Timon; and that artfulness in it is called hypocrisy. In ourselves, we give it another name, politeness, and he who did not use it to hide his real feelings would soon be driven from society.

"But," says some delicate lady, who has murdered a half-dozen lapdogs through pure affection, "the cat is such a cruel beast, he is not content to kill his prey, he torments it before its death; you cannot make that accusation against us." More or less, Madame. Your husband, for example, likes hunting very much, but foxes being rare on his land, he would not have the means to pursue this amusement often, if he did not manage his supplies thus: once he has run an animal to its last breath, he snatches it from the jaws of the hounds and saves it to suffer the same infliction two or three more times, ending finally in death. You yourself avoid a bloody spectacle because it wounds your weak nerves. But I have seen you embrace your child in transports, when he came to show you a beautiful butterfly crushed between his cruel little fingers; and at that moment, I really wanted to have a cat, with the tail of a half devoured rat hanging from its mouth, to present as the image, the true copy, of your angel. You -could not refuse to kiss him, and if he scratched us both in revenge, so much the better. Little boys are rather liable to acknowledge their friends’ caresses in that way, and the resemblance would be more perfect. The ingratitude of cats is another name for penetration. They know how to value our favors at their true price, because they guess the motives that prompt us to grant them, and if those motives might sometimes be good, undoubtedly they remember always that they owe all their misery and all their evil qualities to the great ancestor of humankind. For assuredly, the cat was not wicked in Paradise.