In praise of cats

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/fashion/05cats.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

I have never understood the stereotype that "real men" only have dogs as pets. It simply isn't true as I have known many men who had cats and my current husband and one other ex husband were big cat lovers with cat friends living under their roofs LONG before I showed up on the scene with litter box(s) in tow. I don't really care what kind of a pet a man has, but I am leary of men (OR women) who don't seem to like animals in general. I think that pet compatability is important in a relationship too, especially with blended famblees, meaning man has dog-woman has cat, or vice versa. Some people can be dog/cat lovers but most people seem to lean predominantly toward one or the other. Then there are others who are strictly cat OR dog and I have seen it cause problems. The main problem it caused for me was this co-sleeping I have always done with my cats because some men absolutely do NOT want cats in their beds.

It's so refreshing to be in a cat-cat marriage and get blocked in bed at night by little purr factories and no human gets mad about it. I have been in a cat-dog marriage and ***I***** had no problem with things that doggies do that might be construed as annoying by some, but the dog half didn't give the felines the same courtesy so it was ALWAYS a problem. If you are a "cat" and your new boy/girl friend is a "dog", the issues surrounding that need to be addressed and agreed upon as much or more than being CF or childed. SOME people claim to be cat-dog, even though they might admit it's 60% cat and 40% dog, when they are really JUST cat or just dog (100%) and that needs to be addressed as well, much like a 100% CF or 100% childed with a fencesitter, I suppose.

Im a guy and I have 2 cats (my cat that i had for 15 yrs just died a few months ago)

my current cats

Mcrib-estimated I have had her around 14 years

Timmy- feed as a stray for a while and now he is a full time inside cat

Lots of guys I know have cats.

I have always loved the little creatures. Every cat I've ever had has been a stray. Some adopted themselves, some I 'caught' and brought in, one deliberately changed his place of residence.
The one I miss the most, my little Trinket, I had for 18 years. I had a mild disagreement with my ex over retrieving her from Ohio, and I ended up driving to Harrisburg, PA to pick her up. (Long story).
I would recommend 'petwarmers' as a good site for pet stories.

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My husband loves cats--in fact, we've never had a dog in all our years together. Out by us (we live in a rural area,) people are more likely to drop off kittens than puppies, though, so we've gotten a few strays in addition to our rescue kitties.

I'm one of those cat and dog people. Actually...I'm an EVERYTHING person. I love critters of all kinds and don't discriminate. I'm hoping to complete my current menagerie with a dog some day. Right now I've got two of the kitty persuasion and I love them dearly. One of my favorite cat features are those little jelly bean paw pads. I just wanna eat 'em up! Well...after they've been cleaned of litter funk, that is.

I like that little place on their nose where the fur just suddenly changes direction....

I'm good with most animals (still need some hands-on training with tarantulas), but I prefer cats and most little furry things (and snakes). I always want to have a cat in my home, and while I'd love to have a corn snake too, I can't have one so long as I am in the dorm and visiting my mother. My dorm doesn't allow snakes and my mother is terrified of them...they aren't cuddly or furry, but I got to hold a ball python once and I fell right in love with it.

But I need something to cuddle, hence the cats. My cats...they all have preferences for cuddling. My boy Kip will jump into any vacant human lap he can find, Rolly will only cuddle when I'm doing something like reading or sketching, and Caspurr will only cuddle when I'm on my laptop, and she must be on her back or else she will not be comfortable. I somehow got her trained to lay in my arms like an infant and now she will not be held any other way.

The ways in which personalities can differ between cats amazes me.

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I like that little place on their nose where the fur just suddenly changes direction....

Haha! Me, too! I love little fuzzy kitty noses. And those triangular areas coming down the head from the ears... YOu know, where the fur gets really thin. Haha!

My current cat sleeps with me, usually stretched out along my leg. He sleeps so deep, if I happend to move and his support goes away, I can feel him flop. I try to avoid that now.
Thru the years I've had cats that insisted on going undercover and snuggling up against me... cat that insisted on sitting on my 'platform' (boobs), mufflers draped around neck. Not had any real lap cats yet in all this time (55 years).
Cats. gotta luv em

My boy Echo has been tossed out of the bedroom of late because he sleeps around my knees and I've pulled muscles trying to turn over without disturbing him.

I'm a huge animal lover. We've got 5 cats and 2 dogs. Hubby adores them as much as I do or we wouldn't be together! That was one of the stipulations when we met. LOL