Cat Haters

[nebula]

I know this topic has come up before... but I am frustrated with the issue.

Lately it seems (at least in my "circle") people are so hateful to cats. Phrases like "The only good cat is a dead cat", etc. Its just awful Does anyone else deal with this?

I had somebody tonight tell me that "cats are too dumb to feel pain".... really?? 

Another friend of mine brags continually about how many feral cat kills he has made.

Really-- what is with people and the hatred toward cats Why do they get called "evil" and such. It just makes no sense.

 

[miagi's_mommy]

Cat haters are to keep it clean... awful people! I can't stand them and I don't understand, either their hatred of cats. They definitely do feel pain & love... and that is disgusting the guy who kills feral cats. Their lives matter, too. I love my cats and anyone who hates them or doesn't like cats don't belong in my life. It's really sad how many cat haters there are. To not know the love and joy that our cats bring to our lives they are definitely missing out.

 

[Miriette]

I grew up with a cat hater who on a few occasions set up traps in his yard and took any trapped cats to the pound or out into the desert. He'd joke about wanting to run them over too. It was sickening but I couldn't do anything about it, and eventually we just didn't see many cats around anymore so the trapping stopped. 

I just don't understand people who hate cats. I suppose most of them probably haven't spent much time with cats and they just buy into the popular stereotypes of cats being manipulative and aloof and only using people for food. But mine have given me so much happiness and they clearly love me very much, so it's difficult to see why anyone could think of them as less loving and wonderful than dogs. Anyone who wants to be hateful toward them just isn't welcome anywhere near me.

 

[larussa]

 
I had somebody tonight tell me that "cats are too dumb to feel pain".... really?? .

 
I had somebody tonight tell me that "cats are too dumb to feel pain".... really?? 

Another friend of mine brags continually about how many feral cat kills he has made.

Tell me, why are these people still your friends.  They wouldn't be mine very long after saying things like this.

 

[sivyaleah]

 
Tell me, why are these people still your friends.  They wouldn't be mine very long after saying things like this.

 

[swampwitch]

 Time for a new circle of friends.

 

[nebula]

Yes it is

=......

 

[Winchester]

 
Tell me, why are these people still your friends.  They wouldn't be mine very long after saying things like this.

My thoughts exactly! Why do you even deal with them? I've never understood that either. Why don't you just tell your "friends" that they're idiots and let them go? Life is too short to deal with people like that. I don't get it.

 

[stewball]

My Dil's mother hates cats and stopped coming into my home once I hado my first cat. My DiL suffers them. Her daughter is a bit wary of them and once when whisky jumped onto her lap she froze. Now the baby is a different thing altogether. She strokes
whisky and kisses him but as she's only 16 months the strokes aren't that gentle but if it disturbs him he goes. We just have to watch that she doesn't smack him. She hasn't but babies can be strange unless watched.
The only cat hater in my family was me! I was terrified of cats and dogs as a child. My parents brought animals into the house and I can not live without a cat now. Whisky has just forced me to cover myself with my sheet,it's hot, so that he can climb under it. And he's climbed between mu legs. Lovely boy.
Thank you mum and dad.

 

[jtbo]

When we look trough history what cats have done and what humans have done, it seems much easier to hate humans than cats.

Maybe cat haters just haven't learned about history?

 

[larussa]

, it seems much easier to hate humans than cats.

 

I so agree with you and love cats and other animals much more than quite a lot of humans.

 

[Kat0121]

I've noticed over the years that people that say things like that are doing it for one reason. They want attention. They want to get a reaction out of you. A reaction of annoyance, shock, disbelief, etc. They enjoy this. 

When asked for a valid reason why they "hate cats", they can never come up with one. Just a stereotype they heard from someone else who heard it from someone else and so on. When asked for a reason for their "feelings", some of them will just stammer and say "well, you know" or something like that. No, I don't know. That's why I asked you, dumb@ss.

It's juvenile, grade school behavior. Pure and simple. 

Could you imagine how that same person would react if you said the same thing to them about their child? Or their dog? I doubt they'd appreciate it. I'm sure they would be very vocal about it too. 

They don't stop to think about how their ignorant, thoughtless, baseless words affect the person they are saying them to because they DON'T CARE. 

When someone like this says things like that to you, laugh at them and then simply walk away. THIS is what they don't know how to deal with. They will short circuit. They were expecting an argument. Don't give it to them. Don't give them any power over your emotions. When you give them what they want, they win. YOU know what your cat means to you and what you mean to her. Does it really matter if they do? 

I have to agree with everyone else. These people are not your friends. They fact that they would disrespect someone who is such a big part of your life like that directly to your face is all the proof you need. Can you imagine what they are saying about you behind your back? Cut them loose. If they ask you why, tell them and then wait for the "shocked" look on their faces. Then walk away. You'll feel much better afterwards. You don't need toxic people like that in your life. The world is filled with ugliness. That doesn't mean we need to invite it in for drinks.

You'll find new friends who share your love of cats. There are plenty of them out there. In the meantime, you still have us. 

 

[natalie_ca]

Ignore them. They're only saying things like that because they know they can get a rise out of you. They know what buttons to press and they press them to get a reaction from you. And because you react, they continue to do it.

You can't change what a person says or does, but you can change how you react to it.

One of my friends that I've known for 20 years has only been in my apartment one time.  She saw my cat literally across the room from her and she was jumping around like she was walking on hot coals, and screaming! Yes, screaming! My cat was so afraid that it cowered in the corner afraid to move, and she was still jumping around yelling. She's a very large girl, so to see her reacting that way was rather funny in hindsight.

She doesn't like animals of any kind, she's terrified of every single one.  She's ok looking at them if they are behind bars like in a zoo, but if they are loose and "can get to" her, she freaks out.

I have been talking about wanting to go on an African Safari in 2016, and she suggested coming with me.  I found out a while later that she was under the assumption that we would be in a van type vehicle with windows closed, complete encased in the vehicle.  I showed her the type of open vehicle that you are taken around in and she freaked out.  I told her that there are both driving and walking safaris and that she can't be freaking out and leaping around because she would get herself and everyone else around her either mauled or killed!

Needless to say she won't be my traveling companion to Africa.

Anyway, when she says something hateful or hurtful about my cats or animals in general, I just pretend like I haven't heard her and just go on talking about whatever.

 

[jtbo]

My bosses reply when I told her that I rescued few cats was "you must kill them" with completely serious face and shock that I had no intention to do so.

She is typical person, lives in suburb and complained at work how her neighbor was smoking and smoke came to her house because of ventilation, I told her active charcoal that might eliminate the smell and she was shock that I suggest her to do something when her neighbor is making the smoke.

Completely emotional without hint of logic and reasonable thinking.

Good thing she is no longer my boss, but there is lot of such people and at quite high positions too, so one would think they can't be quite stupid, however it seems they don't always use their thinking capabilities at all.

Oh yes, she is a dog person, once she was telling how study has found dogs being able to make conclusions and also putting down cats as not being affected to their owners.

I then had to ask why I would work for such person, well I don't anymore.

 

[freyaandzelda]

I was talking to some work friends at work, when the conversation worked around to our low finances (we are all college students). I mentioned that I was lower on funds than usual because Freya's spay coincided with a school payment, and we then had to pay for the treatment for her infection. One guy rolled his eyes and asked how much it cost to get her put down, insinuating that I should do that to save money. I knew he was joking, but it still made me mad. He also frequently makes jabs about cats, saying that they're the worst and they don't feel any affection. He also thinks the only guys who have cats are gay, insisting one of my male friends who lives by himself with a cat is just in the closet.

 

[jtbo]

I was talking to some work friends at work, when the conversation worked around to our low finances (we are all college students). I mentioned that I was lower on funds than usual because Freya's spay coincided with a school payment, and we then had to pay for the treatment for her infection. One guy rolled his eyes and asked how much it cost to get her put down, insinuating that I should do that to save money. I knew he was joking, but it still made me mad. He also frequently makes jabs about cats, saying that they're the worst and they don't feel any affection. He also thinks the only guys who have cats are gay, insisting one of my male friends who lives by himself with a cat is just in the closet.

I have got that one too when I was really low on funds, "you should kill cats", aspie me took over and my reply to that was "I rather start killing humans", which was not too well received of course.

For some guy who would claim that any guy living with cats is a gay, I might say that "borrow your wife for a moment and she can tell how gay I am", but I guess they would not take that too well either.

Problem is I really might say something like that, with straight face, I don't always really get things before after I have said them, sometimes hours after.

 

[stewball]

When we look trough history what cats have done and what humans have done, it seems much easier to hate humans than cats.

Maybe cat haters just haven't learned about history?

I hate it when somebody behaves in a disgusting manner and people compare him to an animal. It's so wrong as animals don't behave like depraved humans.

 

[stewball]

I have got that one too when I was really low on funds, "you should kill cats", aspie me took over and my reply to that was "I rather start killing humans", which was not too well received of course.

For some guy who would claim that any guy living with cats is a gay, I might say that "borrow your wife for a moment and she can tell how gay I am", but I guess they would not take that too well either.

Problem is I really might say something like that, with straight face, I don't always really get things before after I have said them, sometimes hours after.

You should have just said ask your wife if she agrees with you!

 

[happybird]

I think many cat haters haven't had the opportunity to really know any cats. My husband's best friend is a perfect example. His family had dogs when he was growing up, never cats, so he's never gotten to know one well. He claims to hate cats, but he was over last night and I saw him petting and making friends with Leo and Annabelle. They are both very social and love meeting new people. And that is part of the problem, too- many cats hide when a stranger enters their home. Pooper is still all freaked out today because of the company last night. She won't even let my husband pet her, lol! I heard Brett say 'Awww' when Wheezie finally came out of her hiding spot last night, so we are making progress with him. That makes me very happy, because his 7 year-old daughter loves animals and a cat would be a perfect pet for her.

I had a landlord who shot at cats with a BB gun. What an a-hole. We called the police and Animal Control on him. He was just an all around, nasty, grumpy, hateful sub-human. Those types will never be happy about anything. I'm glad to never have to see that man ever again. And I certainly would not remains friends with any person who spoke of committing or has committed acts of cruelty or violence against any animal. That is evil. If they hurt animals, what's to say they won't hurt children, or women, or anyone they don't like or disagree with? Animal cruelty is a sign of an unstable personality, possibly sociopathy, and that is very scary stuff.

 

[plan]

He also thinks the only guys who have cats are gay, insisting one of my male friends who lives by himself with a cat is just in the closet.

What an enlightened attitude. Has he seen James Bowen at book signings with his cat Bob, and the lines of hundreds of women who show up to those events? Likewise, when I take my cat for a walk on his harness, it ain't dudes coming up and talking to me. 

I also see this attitude when it comes to protecting endangered and vulnerable big cats, as if it's somehow "gay" to protect magnificent creatures, or "manly" to kill them. Sorry, there's nothing manly about employing a team of guides and spotters, a truck full of high tech gadgetry, and a high powered rifle, just to senselessly kill an endangered animal so you can mount its head on your wall and spend the next 30 years recounting tales of your hunting heroics to people who don't want to hear those stories.