Why do cat lovers insist there is something wrong with you if you don't like cats?

I don’t think this applies to all cat lovers.

@mrentropy Just the cat lovers of Fluther, I guess. That’s why I’m asking the question here. :)

Pffft, because obviously there is something wrong with you, dear lady! Everyone knows that to dislike cats is completely abnormal. They’ve even does studies on it. 67.5% of the world’s population are cat lovers, and the other 67.5% are just miserable weirdos! :D

@WillWorkForChocolate I actually do like cats (better than dogs), believe it or not. but don’t tell my husband :D

Oh, okay. Well then you’re normal.

I don’t think normal is the right word to describe me. ;)

Don’t worry, me either. I’ve been nicknamed Abbynormal all my life, haha. We’ll be not normal together and still like cats.

It does seem to be a common thread or idea yes. I mean a thread of thought, it also carries forth into real life. Especially with cats, no doubt dogs, but particularly cats. I have no idea why. Perhaps because some people really do dislike them. I like cats, but within reason. I am not an animal lover gone nuts. I have a friend that is just that. She’s now leashed along with her dogs to a tree, by me.

As one who recently defended my affection for cats, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with people not liking cats any more than with people not liking dogs. It’s a matter of “like” or “not like”—simply a preference based on a composite of factors including what type of pets one grew up with, the type of space a person lives in, and the pet owner’s particular personality. I like dogs as well as cats but I prefer living with the latter.

I don’t pass judgements on peoples pet preferences, but I do think that disliking any creature for being itself is not very enlightened.
Whether or not you choose to live with said creatures is your biz. I love all animals but I don’t want a dog. I have had dogs and dogs are a lot of work compared to cats.
I also have pet geese which I adore and it used to drive me crazy when my ex MIL would always exclaim ” I just don’t UNDERSTAND WHY you want to keep geese!”

WTF! haha
Well…YOU don’t NEED to understand, and while we’re at it I don’t understand WHY you collect fucking Mickey Mouse clocks! That shut her up! lol

Nothing wrong with not liking cats, any more than liking cats. If everyone had exactly the same likes and dislikes this would be a pretty boring existence

Actually, I don’t mind cats, so long as they don’t come anywhere near me. The part about cats that I hate is that they seem to seek me out and they want to torture me. If they didn’t do that, I’d be fine.

I will admit that there is something I find a bit cloying about the way so many cat owners relate to their cats. Cats are there for one purpose: to hug and pet. Or sometimes play catch a string with. Other than that, for the most part, they seem useless. The only good thing they do, in my opinion, is catch vermin. I admire that.

But I have absolutely no interest in touching a cat. I don’t like their hair. I don’t like their smell. I don’t like the way they lick themselves. I don’t like the way they lie lazily in the sun. There’s a wrongness to it.

I was raised to believe in the value of work and accomplishment. I’ve been fighting that most of my life. So you’d think that cats would be the perfect example of what I want to be, but that isn’t the case. I like dogs. I like animals that do things. Work and run and play, most of the time. And of course, I’m allergic to cats. They make me itch and sneeze. I don’t know how people would like an animal that makes them uncomfortable, but my wife is also allergic, and yet she likes cats. Go figure. My poor children would kill to have a cat. Or a dog. My wife is not fond of dogs.

Why do cat lovers think there’s something wrong with me? Well, I just listed a number of things that are wrong with me. So perhaps that’s it. Perhaps there is something wrong with people who hate cats. I don’t know. I don’t really care. I don’t like cats and I am fine with that. There’s nothing wrong with me for not liking cats. It is not a necessary part of life. But it is fun to be a cat hater around here. I like ruffling feathers. I mean… fur?

@wundayatta Pfffft….hiss, growl, honk!

I love them but I’m allergic, thus I don’t have any, but I’m sure it’s because most cat lovers are ‘in love’ with their animals.

They are much easier to take care of than dogs, much like caged birds in that aspect, low-maintenance comparably.

I have to second wundayatta on this one as well, they do seem to be super attracted to me. My cousins had a poker game the other night and their big fat cat kept creeping over to sit on my bench, out of 15 people there, and curl up on my coat. When my neck started to itch, I finally had to move the cat about 5x then it left me alone. I felt guilty but it wasn’t worth swelling up and being unable to breathe….lol

My caged birds aren’t low maintenance.

Well, mine really aren’t either, but compared to my dogs they are…lol

It’s really very simple, they’re daft buggers.
For the record, i’d just like to say, I like a nice pussy ;}

Because there IS something wrong with you if you do not like cats.
Dogs on the other hand are disgusting abominations that should all be killed.

Really? I mostly hear that from dog-lovers. :)

I don’t get the ‘you’re either a dog person or a cat person’ either.

I like all creatures, great and small.

I like cats and I like dogs, but mostly I like squirrels. I’ve seen the “what’s wrong with you for not liking x or o” from both dog lovers and cat lovers, so I guess there are extremes in both camps. I also like blonds and Jons and geese, so there you go. If you don’t like bunnies and/or pancakes, you probably have issues.

@diavolobella I only like pancakes (OMG YES!) because they make me feel funny.

I don’t think it’s necessarily a cat thing. I think it’s a humanizing animals thing. Most of the folks I have met that think there is something wrong with a person for not liking animal “x” are the same people that refer to their animals as their “babies”.

Spoiler Alert: Unless you impregnated a pet or were impregnated by one they are not your babies. They are an animal that you take care of and you need to quit trying to make them human to fill whatever human void there is in your life.

for the record i have two dogs and two cats. they are outstanding animals and i love them to death but they are still just animals.

@Blondesjon BTW, your wife likes cats more than dogs. She told me not to tell you, but I’m mean like that.

I own cats and I couldn’t give a rat’s butt if anyone else likes or doesn’t like cats.

@WillWorkForChocolate . . . she has to. she worships satan.

LOL

@Blondesjon I agree. I love my animals dearly but I am not neurotic about them and certainly don’t refer to them as my babies.

Well, in my professional, cat-loving opinion… I don’t understand why people don’t like cats. For me, dogs are too in-your-face and very needy. Cats, on the other hand, are very independent, but also loving. They don’t have to push you to the ground and lick your face every time you enter the room just to prove that they care for you. Rather, they do it in a quiet way, like by sitting on the end of your bed, or underneath it. Also, if a cat needs to pee, you can let it go outside. If a dog needs to pee, you need to prepare yourself for “walkies”. A cat needs food? Don’t worry if you haven’t got any, because chances are it’s been fed by every house down the street, and has then gone and eaten a bird and a few mice as well. A dog needs food? Prepare for a stinky mess. D: Dogs, for me, are cute, but I’d rather have a cat. xD

Most of us who share our lives with a cat or cats, are aware of the personalities of our cats & we enjoy the interplay of our cats personalities with our personalities. Most of us are aware that many people do not like cats & this makes us feel defensive about our cats. Cats are much easier to care for than dogs are & cats are very affectionate. What’s not to like about cats? Cats are enjoyable when they are kittens & then they grow into gorgeous cats!

I’m a cat-loving Jelly, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with folks that don’t like cats.
I haven’t noticed cat-lovers picking on cat-neutrals or cat-dislikers on this or any other site.

Because they’re crazy cat people.

Fuck cats.

1. I can’t understand people who don’t like any animals. I don’t want to be around those people.

2. I’ve never seen any indication that the “cat lovers of fluther” care whether or not you, personally, like or dislike cats.

3. Calling something a baby has nothing to do with “trying to make them human to fill whatever human void there is in your life.” People call cars, boats, phones, stuffed animals, computers, blah blah blah, baby. Are they all trying to fill some void? What if they call their kids, car and phone a baby? Should each fight to be the one and only void filler in one’s life? That’s such an ignorant and pointed statement, and you know it.

My baby boy kitty was and will always be my baby boy. He was smarter, kinder and sweeter than most kids. And I treated him better than many people treat their “real” babies.

I don’t dislike cats per se, I like my dogs much more, but not all dogs, because we all know that some dogs are fucking assholes. That may have something to do with the people they live with. I’ve never come across an asshole cat unless having an attitude is being one so you just deal with them. They don’t deal with you. But my dogs are more like my friends you can do things with and the cats are pretty much boring. And then there’s the litter box situation I hate to deal with. My favorite cat has always been the mysterious stray that adopts us, but insists on spending most of their time outside as well as improvising their rest rooms there also. The down side of them is they tend to die or never come back one day but they still had the better life compared to the pampered poop in the house cats.

I’ve never heard a cat lover say this. In fact, many, it seems to me, are too apologetic, even in their own homes: “I hope you don’t mind cats…I can shut her in the garage if she bothers you, it’ll only take a moment…I hope you’re not allergic…”

But I have certainly encountered many a canine lover who assumed that everyone would just naturally adore their bumptious, drooling, shedding, barking, crotch-sniffing, chest-leaping darling doggie: “Oh, don’t mind him, he’s just enthusiastic…he likes you, see?”

Yeah, fuck dogs, too.

@Jeruba haha…so true!
When dogs are in your face they are REALLY in your face. My ex boss actually brought his dog to a dinner party at my house with him and let her run amok much to my consternation. Seriously! When’s the last time someone brought their cat to your house? haha

@WillWorkForChocolate You are so mean. I asked you not to tell! I’m taking that orange chocolate and not sharing. :P

Do cat people really do this? I love my kitties, but I couldn’t care less if someone else doesn’t like cats. I don’t understand the hate that some people feel for cats, but whatever. So long as they aren’t torturing them or something, to each his own.

Personally I love cat, especially in a spicy ginger sauce over rice.

I denno. Maybe if you’re a cat lover, it seems natural for you to love cats, so, since it seems natural, anything that opposes what you recognize as part of your nature, even if you’re not aware of it, seems alien and odd to you. Then some kind of dismissing conclusion of the cat hater comes in the mind of the cat lover.
Like, I love pillows, and obviously, my degree of pillow fascination and love, without a joke, is a kind of psychological problem, I believe. I don’t even understand why people don’t snuggle pillows all the time. At least, not in how I feel about them. But disregarding that, I DO understand why. I’m not five anymore. But my pillow love hasn’t left that age. (not comparing pillow obsession with cat obsession, but rather using an example in what I believe might be right when it comes to ’‘not understanding why you don’t love this shit as much as I love this shit)
Thing is, a lot of people love cats, (including me) and so that widespread love might be a much bigger ’‘indication’’ that if you don’t like cats, there’s something wrong with you; because as far as norms go, it’s out there a lot. Unlike my pillow obsession.

I love cats, but I never figured that anyone who doesn’t like them has something wrong with them. Never even thought of that before.

kittiiiies!! :D

pillows

I like dogs, cats and I just saw a doco about meercats and now I want one, they are so cute. And I agree with @mrentropy my 2 birds seem to take a lot more time to look after than my 2 dogs!

@tinyfaery . . . Take it easy baby.

@Jeruba I’ve encountered the same problem with several dog loving friends and family members.

Because there IS something wrong with you if you don’t like cats.

Oh, hahhaha. Not funny.

you know you smiled a little even while you were grinding your teeth

Personally I have little problem with people who don’t like cats, because there are some animals I don’t care for either. Unfortunately many people who don’t like cats from my experience seem to question why I do like cats, even when they bring the topic up first.