Cats do not need their owners

[Mr.United_Nations]

Dogs are pack hunters and cats can hunt on thier own, easy

[PersonFromPorlock]

Our late tomcat seemed to have mixed feelings about dependency. Any time he and I were in the living room (about 20 feet from the bathroom) and I went to use it, when I opened the door there the cat would be, sitting in the hall with his back turned, studiously ignoring me.

[Grandpa Greenman]

I think they are missing the point that a cat that lives outdoors without human help lives an average of 2-5 years, but a cat that lives indoors live an average of 15 years. So a cat living in the wild doesn't live as well cat which is cared for and actually lives a miserable short life. I really don't like the idea that it might be ok to dump your unwanted cat off, because it will be just fine. It won't be fine. That being said, cats aren't like dogs in which dogs are like a servant, at cat is more like a friend. If you treat a friend poorly they will naturally eventually unfriend you. Treat them well and they will be a loyal friend. My late cat, when I was really sick and out of my mind one time never left my side, the dog went and hid under the bed.

[questionmark]

Two of my cats are completely dependent on me as they are both blind... strangely they act as "independent" as the others.

[rivendel]

My Brief Marriage to a Cat Lover:

me : Believe it or not, we were married once.

the therapist: What??

me: We were young, we were stupid, it was Moscow. So I moved into a house territorially sectioned out by three cats who lived there too. One lived in the basement, another had the main floor and the other… the attic. I got the garage… though in a sense they claimed that too because that’s where the catbox was.

It wasn’t easy. Couldn’t even sit on a chair at the kitchen table without having one running to it and sitting on it moments before I got to it. It’s like they knew ahead of time which chair I was going to sit in!

I knew, in my heart of hearts, they didn’t want me there. I was an intruder; an uninvited guest whose existence they barely even acknowledged.

In their small, selfish little world, I was a nobody and they made sure to remind me of that every –single- day of that marriage.

They not only had complete control of the house but my husband too… and our bed.

So let me tell you about cats. No one OWNS one… because once they’re settled in, as they were in this case as they were my X’s cats, [eerie music] they OWN you.

Edited September 6, 2015 by rivendel

[Occult1]

why it took researchers until 2015 to figure this out?

Cat lovers already knew this for a long time. H.P Lovercraft once wrote an essay ''Cats and Dogs'' in 1926, which really nails it down.

[...]''but for the cat I have entertained a particular respect and affection ever since the earliest days of my infancy. In its flawless grace and superior self-sufficiency I have seen a symbol of the perfect beauty and bland impersonality of the universe itself, objectively considered; and in its air of silent mystery there resides for me all the wonder and fascination of the unknown. The dog appeals to cheap and facile emotions; the cat to the deepest founts of imagination and cosmic perception in the human mind. It is no accident that the contemplative Egyptians, together with such later poetic spirits as Poe, Gautier, Baudelaire, and Swinburne, were all sincere worshippers of the supple grimalkin.''

Source: http://www.hplovecra.../essays/cd.aspx

Edited September 9, 2015 by Phenix20

[Katzenking]

As a toddler when none of my friends were around, I used to watch and follow stray cats. I kept distance and hid but I'm sure they always knew that I am there and I began to feel some kind of togetherness.

The cat you see on my avatar-picture is the one who currently gives us the honour to share our lifes. He is a common farm cat and my wife brought him in after we tragically lost our former cat by a deadly desease.

She desired a black cat and found a farmer's wife (more than 50 miles away) who breeds black cats.

All cat lovers know that each cat has a different personality but this one is very special. He is extrordinary big and rules the neighbourhood for a decade now. He attacks all other cats who dare to move on his ground except 2 or 3 females who regulary visit him to show their respect.

But he never hunts mice or birds and has surely never eaten one.

Inside the house he is always friendly although he mistrusts strangers. His presence is extraordinary, I always can feel when he enters the room even when I don't see him. He brings peace into our house only because he is there and this is most valueable.

I believe that the relationship between humans and cats can be a real symbiosis if it's done right. We give them food and shelter and they give us mental stability.

[highdesert50]

The success of cats is in their diversity and subsequent adaptability. And, unlike pack animals, e.g. dogs, "friendship" must be earned and recognized as mutually beneficial.

[Erowin]

I guess those scientists have never met my moms cat. He's the clingiest thing I've ever seen. He would sit on her all day if she let him, and yowls at the front door once she leaves the house. My cat gets clingy towards other family members if I'm gone a lot, and if everyone leaves for a few days on a vacation they are VERY mad once we come back. My friends cat also punishes her if she leaves for 2 or more days. He'll ignore her, attack her and then stay glued at the hip during the next few days!