View Single Post
  #17  
Old December 24th 07, 12:56 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Phil P.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,027
Default The stigma of owning a cat.


"David McCracken" wrote in message
...

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 think this will make you feel better:


"Confessions of a Cat Guy.

Authors: Kollus, Brad

Source: Cats Magazine; Dec99, Vol. 55 Issue 12, p66, 1p, 1c

CONFESSIONS OF A CAT GUY Am I crazy?

I'm a very eligible, professional, straight male in his early 30s who loves
cats. What's wrong

with that? You'd think my caring, sensitive and nurturing nature would be an
instant chick

magnet. But no, it's not considered "manly," I'm told.

Just because I love my two kids (er, kitties), Scotty and Spanky, buy Cats
magazine and wear

a silver cat ring, I get tagged as "weird." So what if I'm constantly
tripping over catnip mice or

that I've taught my cats how to play tetherball? Who cares if my cats have
health insurance or

that I have a cat shrine (complete with cat candies) or that I carry
miniature portraits of my

kitties in my wallet? After all, the guy next to me is showing
off--woo-hoo!--yet another

drooling baby picture. I think it's a testament to my sympathetic side that
I have a cat license

plate, own the Franklin Mint's Egyptian Cat Goddess Bast Statute, brush my
cats' teeth and

have an extensive library of cat books. Does this all make me odd?

Don't answer.

If I went to golf shows, bought Golf Digest, spent every weekend golfing,
had hundreds of

dollars in golf accessories, a golf book library and a membership to a
country club, would I be

weird? I think so. But it would be socially acceptable and that's just not
right.

I've tried to meet the right woman. I placed a personal ad in the paper and
included that I like

cats. I made a date with a veterinarian who owned two cats. C'mon, this had
to work. But she'd

had four years of vet school and I had to correct her all the time. She
didn't even brush her

cats' teeth. I had no choice but to stop seeing her.

Then there was Shelter Girl. She worked at the local animal shelter, owned
nine cats, had her

own pet-sitting business and worked part-time at a pet store. Paradise, I
thought. We'd grow

old together, she and me and our cats. We'd volunteer at the shelter and
hold hands while

scooping cat litter--two cat-lovers in love. But alas, she broke it off. "I
don't have time for a

man," she said. Her cats took it all up.

On another date, I tried to impress a woman by telling her how I had taught
my cats to play

tetherball and that we were invited to appear on the Late Show with David
Letterman.

(Unfortunately, I had to turn that offer down since my cats were too
neurotic to perform in

public.) "It's so cute that you taught your cats to play baseball," she said
politely

EBSCOhost
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/deliv...15&sid=820cd52...

"Baseball!" I bellowed. "Cats playing baseball? That's absurd. Ever seen a
cat hold a bat? No

honey, my cats play tetherball." She never returned my calls.

Then, I met Kate. rd finally met the right woman. I spent our time together
feeling as though I

was floating on the ceiling. I perused jewelry shop windows. Then one night
after watching

Shakespeare in Love, she ripped out my still-beating heart. She just (ouch!)
wanted to be

friends.

After months of agonizing, I bumped into her. I swore nothing she could say
would shake me.

"By the way, Brad," she said, "I'm allergic to cats." I felt salt pouring
afresh into my wounds.

Sometimes I think I should give up my loves to be "normal." Then Scotty
crawls on my chest

and Spanky on my lap and I realize it's not an option. There's nothing wrong
with a guy who

loves cats. Maybe there's something wrong with a world that devalues such a
relationship. I'm

not crazy I'm not.

OK, maybe t am. But just a little.

There's nothing wrong with a guy who loves his cats.

~~~~~~~~

By Brad Kollus

Brad Kollus lives in Columbus, Ohio. Matchmakers may send letters to Brad
care of Cats magazine."



Happy Holidays,

Phil

"I have found my love of cats most helpful

in understanding women'

--John Simon