On Thursday, December 20, 2007 11:46:56 AM UTC-5, David McCracken wrote:
Hi everyone:

I haven't posted in this forum in a long while, but have always found it
full of great people with much knowledge and love for cats. So I
immediately thought of this newsgroup when I wanted to share this
perspective about cat ownership.

One of my two 10-year-old cats suddenly became ill over the last weekend and
she's been in the hospital for the last few days. The vet says her immune
system is attacking her red blood cells and platelets, so they've put her on
steroids and IV fluids. They've stabilized her enough that I'm about to
pick her up in about a half hour. She stopped eating once she got to the
vet, so their hope is that she'll start back up once she returns home and
gets back to her routine. Otherwise, she may be returning to the vet and
spending the holidays there.

What I really want to discuss is what I've had to endure over the past few
days with friends and co-workers as I deal with my pet's health crisis. I
suppose I could be imagining much of this, so bear with me. My general
impression is that most dog people or non-pet owners don't seem to
understand the need to, for example, stay home from work babysitting a sick
cat. I get the feeling as though cat ownership is less valid of an excuse
to be at home vs. a sick child or even a sick dog.

Jokes typically come up when I discuss how much I've already spent on my cat
(about $700 this week). Someone had commented that they're not even sure
they'd spend that much on their own child, let alone a cat. I realize they
were just ribbing me about it, but you know what they say about there always
being a shred of truth behind every joke. On some base level, I think they
were actually being sincere. I should point out that these are otherwise
good co-workers with whom I get along fine.

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.

Thanks again and happy holidays.


I see what you are saying, and I have noticed similar things. What I have found is that the responses you are referring to are based upon people's more common interactions with cats - - with owners that do not attend to their needs with as much care as many of the people in this forum.

That is, many people see a cat as an "almost-dog." People on this forum tend to see cats as an "almost-person," or more.

When dogs run loose and do property damage or injury, the owner is assailed.. This is proper because the dog is behaving according to what is in its DNA.

When cats run loose and do property damage or injury, people seem more permissive of it - - they are also hardwired for this type behavior. But the bar of expectations is not set as high for cat owners.

In my county, cats are bound by the same domestic pet ordinances as dogs. Still, people are more inclined to report a loose dog than a loose cat.

So, in that sense, it isn't all bad. Socially, your neighbors will expect you to be much more attentive to a dog than a cat.

I always thought that this translated into people believing that cat owners were less committed to the relationship with the animal: your schedule isn't necessarily as restricted by the needs of your pet.

However, this should not be taken as callous indifference towards your pet (cat), just someone's misinterpretation of the outwardly observable dynamics and how they differ.