On Saturday, December 22, 2007 6:05:34 PM UTC-7, cindys wrote:
To me, one of the most touching sights in the world is being in the
supermarket and seeing a man buying cat food.
Best regards,
---Cindy S.


"Paul M. Cook" wrote in message
news:28Uaj.158$1q4.97@trnddc06...

I'm wondering first if this is just my imagination...if other cat owners
out
there have felt the sting of this stigma. Perhaps people just have a
hard
time linking a 6 foot, 2-inch, 235-pound male to two little kitties
instead
of, say, a Doberman.

Would appreciate any thoughts or experiences.

You aren't imagining it. It's a social stereotype.

I'm a 6 foot 1 inch 280 pound man with a Grizzly Adams beard and size 13EE
shoes who some say would look more at home on a Harley than in my poofy
little Jag. I'm a big, hulking SOB as some have called me and damn it I
am
supposed to have a big hulking dog as a pet. Men "like us" have Bull
Mastiffs or German Shepherds or huge Labrador retrievers. Cats are -
well -
sissy.

And I have lost 2 cats in 2 months and I will be damned if I am telling
anybody but a couple of friends and my immediate family.

That is because I went though what you are going through when I had a sick
cat back in 2000. He was dying of cancer and before that we had a crisis
with a huge tumor near his heart. All I am going to say is that I am glad
I
am a man of peace or some very obnoxious *******s would not be around now.
The comments I got ranged from rude, to cruel to knowingly abusive and
antagonizing. My ordeal brought out a side of people that we all know is
there but are nonetheless shocked to see first hand.

To all of them I say screw 'em, They aren't worth the dynamite it would
take to blow them to hell.

Sorry for the coarse talk, but your post hit home. And yes, us big guys
have hearts too and just because we are not some cute little kid or a
woman
or a "non threatening male" doesn't mean we don't have love and compassion
for animals and feel a huge sense of loss when they die. I like dogs but
I
love cats. Simple as that.

The prejudices people harbor are a product of permanent adolescence. Our
society does not require anyone to grow up anymore, preferring a state of
permanent childhood to over being an adult and along with that comes the
same crap you'd expect from an adolescent.. People react they do not
think.
And they will judge you and they will ostracize you for putting your cats
needs first. I lost a job over a sick cat once because my boss and fellow
employees were aghast that I took time off to care for my cat. They
needed
a "team player" as they said. But I would do it again and to hell with
what
people think.

Paul



Here Here!!!