No one understands. . .

Sorry, this may end up being a bit of a rant. I have been getting a lot of crap lately from the people I work with and from my family about my animals. My mom gets aggrivated at me because she doesn't understand why I would want to spend as much time at home with them as I do. Maybe I am wierd, but after a day of work, the only thing I really want to do is get home and see my babies! My mom is constantly saying "but they are cats, they can get along fine without you" which may be true, me coming home an hour later then normal would not hurt them. Even so, they know my routine, they know when I am supposed to be home and I want to see them! My parents have always had dogs so I think part of it is purely that she doesn't understand why I have cats. She tells me that dogs are more affectionate and cats are just aloof and they don't care if I am around or not. Obviously, she has never had a cat. Do any of you have problems with your family or friends not understanding? How can I make my mom understand that even though she might not be big on cats, I love them and she just needs to accept that.

I know how you feel. None of my family seems to understand why I care about my animals as much as I do. Most of those people wouldn't think twice about dumping a pet at the shelter or even on the side of a country road. That's one of the reasons why I don't talk to my family much at all. There really is no reasoning with them.

But I have John, who obviously shares my love of cats, LOL. And the few friends I do have care a lot about animals.

She doesn't need to understand.

All that matters is how you feel about it. Learn to tune her out when she rags on you about it. Then just keep on doing what you want to do

I love being home with my kitties too! Just yesterday I had to go out and Abby was letting me hold her and give her a good cuddle and brushing. I so wished I could take her with me. But she would have totally freaked right out So I had to be away from her for a few hours and when I came home I was happily greeted by 2 small kitty faces that were happy to see me

My cat, they understand, or I just don't hear about it when they don't.

My ratties... well...

I get heck from all sides for them. But they're CUTE!

Okay, you've been at work all day and you're stressed out... and she wants you to go out and party or something? Hmph! Extroverts might enjoy that, maybe; but I'm of the same opinion as you: After a day at work, I want to be at home with my cats. Cats are way less stressful than people; and, anyway, they like me and I like them.

my cats are better company than most people I know, plus they love me, purely and unconditionally. Who wouldn't want to be surrounded by that?

Originally Posted by katiemae1277

my cats are better company than most people I know, plus they love me, purely and unconditionally. Who wouldn't want to be surrounded by that?

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See, that's how I feel. Don't get me wrong, I love my family. But after a long day at work. I don't want to be around people that also have their own problems and are going to complain about their day. I like to go home, tell my cats all about my day, and then cuddle up on the couch. . . I don't know, maybe it is something about the fact that cats of course don't talk back, and they don't try to one up you. They just love me for being me!

I UNDERSTAND!!!!! Like other here, I would much rather spend my quality time with my furbaby rather than with people I simply don't want to be around. Sadie doesn't talk back, Sadie doesn't judge, Sadie just gives hugs, cuddles and love. If someone doesn't understand this, they simply aren't cat lovers.

I totally understand! It's especially frustrating for me when my family thinks I'm being paranoid/overprotective of the cat...over Thanksgiving we took her down to their place to see how she'd to (in case we wanted to leave her there when we're gone for Christmas). Well, when we got down there we realized right away that they hadn't made even the slightest attempt to kitty-proof the place! I tell them all the time how Kaylee is different from the cats they had in that she gets into EVERYTHING and is incredibly rambunctious, and that they need to put away all food items, readjust low-hanging plants, and be careful about leaving things around that she could break - but they just keep telling me, "She's just a cat, she's not going to do anything." They also think it's ridiculous that I feed specific kinds of food on a specific schedule instead of just leaving a huge bowl of Meow Mix out all day.

My family is the same way-my husband and I currently have 9 kitties, growing up I never had a pet-mainly due to allergies with my sister and dad. So as soon as I moved out I got Melody-they never understood why I would rather spend a nice relaxing day on the couch with her than out shopping all day. I would also run home after work to make sure she was ok-they would rather have me stay all night and hang out with them and would get mad if I left too soon. Then when I met my husband I realized he loved kitties almost more than I do. Since then we have acquired more kitties-and they are our love and passion!! When we found out we were pregnant my mom about died-what are we going to do with the kitties? She was soo afraid that they would smother the baby to death-it was a family dispute for a while. My daughter is now 6 mos. old and the kitties LOVE her, as well as she is fascinated by them. We just added the 9th kitty on Monday and she has adapted quite well. We have yet to tell the family about the newest addition, mainly to avoid the conflicts. We are so proud of all of our kitties and if the family doesn't understand then too bad. It has gone so far, that my family does not come up to our house at all unless we lock up the cats and that is not an option-it is our house and our cats-they will not be locked up for ANYBODY, so if you don't like it, don't come! is our philosophy. So they don't come. I say tell your famiily where to put it and have a blast with your kitties. My husband and I agree that the more we get to know people the more we love our cats!!!! People suck sometimes!

I know exactlly how you feel...I made a post in the "The Cat Lounge". About that. My whole faimily thinks I am nuts for having 3 cats. My poor step-mother (aka) my fathers wife wasn't allergic to my one cat, but when i got the other 2, OMG...."we can't come over to your house anymore because of all of your cats"...........ya know what???? Good!! I was so upset and cried, now I am just P***ED OFF
She is always making wise cracks about them, like....I am talking to her on the phone and Baloo meows...she says...OMG is that your cat?
Had to drop some stuff off at thier house the other day and she says....haha, you didn't bring your cats? I thought you might have them on a little cat leash or something.
I am just about to the point to where I am going to take my Ferminator, comb the cats for an hour, save up the hair and secretly hide cat hair around their house!!!

I honestly can't think of anyone I'd rather spend time with than my cats. There's just something about their unconditional love that makes them perfect to me. Don't get me wrong, I love my family....but at the end of the day, I want to be with my kitties!

After I have a bad day I love it when I walk in and Popsie is right there to greet me. I pick him up and put my face in his fur and it calms me down instantly. He's a good little destresser.