Do cats really consider their humans as interchangeable heating pads or cooling units?

People are furniture (and heating pads) for cats.

Cats do everything for their own comfort. Haven’t you learned that yet.:) My cats were always more cuddly in the wintertime. Come summer, they had very little use for me other than as a food and water source. They would come by for a quick few pets and then go find their spots on the linoleum (which they frequently alternated).

It’s sad, but true. It is time that you recognized your role in Milo’s life. I will say that I don’t want pets lying on me in the summer. They are little heat machines.

I think that’s just Milo. You’ve got to accept that you hold a very utilitarian place in Milo’s life as he is Emperor of the Universe and King of All He Surveys.

that is what makes cats so great. they enter a symbiotic relationship, offer you peace of mind, someone to cuddle and play with and all you have to do is offer a place in your home and food. and all on a voluntary basis. (as opposed to dogs, these foul beasts are subservient footlickers without honour.)

Yes.

my cats always try to climb on me when I’m roasting boiling hot. Yet when I need a cat on my abdomen because I can’t find my heating pad and I’m crampy, or when I’d like a cat on my freezing toes or hands, they want nothing to do with me.

I think the real question here, is whether or not they have a sensor that tells them when you want to cuddle, and their instinct tells them to do the exact opposite.

No. My cats have favorites. Baby boy Mushroom prefers my lap, no matter what. My wife can seat him on her lap, and he will come over to me and demand that he sit on my lap. Jelly prefers to sleep on my wife’s head, and Flower likes my wife’s back as opposed to mine.

@tinyfaery I like your cat’s names. Mine are: Boo, Firefly, Spiderman, Clyde, and Smores.

Aww… I have Flower, Mushroom, Jelly, Blackberry and Cali.

@tinyfaery: lol mushroom jelly… you should mention blackberry first in the future ;)

You know that the world is really run by cats – they let us get away with thinking humans are dominant because we create such great cat toys.

@poof Jelly (who is really Jelly Bean) and Blackberry are sisters. They were named as a pair.

@tinyfaery: lol I was just kidding, because the way I read it quickly, it came out like “mushroom jelly” and that sounds icky ;)

I thought it was funny, too.

Absolutely. They are sensible creatures, and they don’t let morals get in the way of using their personal humans like a warm blanket.

I know some people who would make excellent cats.

@kyanblue: And conversely, I know some (most) cats who would make exemplary human beings.

I read somewhere that dogs have masters, cats have servants. Yes, I pretty much agree with that!
—penned by Adagio, lady in waiting to the Hon Lucy—

When Spot meowed, Data immediately gave her a wool ball to play with, to which Geordi observed: “I don’t know about Spot, but it seems to me your training is coming along just fine.”