I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

I wanted to smack my little brother today

(and my sister this weekend)

if I have hear my cat is "just a cat" one more time

it's so rude...

I never say their dog is "just a dog"

my brother even went so far to say I am stupid for spending money (which I HAVE) on getting my cat groomed


ok- vent over- I just really find it so rude..why do cats always get treated like second class to dogs? a Pet is a Pet to me!

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

I AGREE!!!

i feel that cats are SO hated by SO many people.... like REALLY hated.... which is fine, im not saying that everyone has to LOVE cats... but dont be rude about it!

ive gotten the same comments before about my Miller

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

I agree- you don't know how many people have told me they HATE cats.
I don't get what is to hate about a cat?
They are clean, smart as heck, self sufficiant.
I guess because they are more independant than dogs and you have to work for their affection!

Regardless, I can't stand when people have to voice their @sshole opinions

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

According to my DH our cat is our son & you can't tell him otherwise. He loves this cat like you wouldn't believe...and the cat is completely attached to him. DH would and DOES do everything for this cat.

I ESPECIALLY cannot stand when professed "animal/dog lovers" say cats aren't lovabale as dogs or cats are "nasty" creatures How can a cat be "nasty" - thats just plain RUDE to say - especially knowing that people have cats as pets.

What exactly qualifies dogs as BETTER pets? I swear it takes all I have to NOT tell these persons where to go...

The thing with cats is they NEVER forget. So if they were mistreated in some way - it effects their persona, that doesn't mean that they can't be loved.

One of my moms cats was rescued from an abusive home. When we got him, he would run & pee everywhere out of fright. Once he began to trust us, he became a lap cat

It breaks my heart to see so many unwanted cats - they are lovable animals and can be just as loyal to you as a dog.

Message edited 7/1/2009 11:33:43 AM.

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

I got this comment quite a bit when DH and I spent $1500 for emergency surgery when one of my cats had a huge hole in his belly out of nowhere. He was bleeding and in pain and I was told I should have just put him to sleep because he is just a cat and it's ridiculous to spend that kind of money on a cat.

It made me really sad. He was perfectly healthy otherwise, he had just gotten fixed and I think it was an after affect.

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

I agree, its horrible to hear people say that about cats.

2 years ago, one of our cats had to have major surgery (bladder replaced) in order to continue living. He had it, and is fine now (see my avatar pic) but we ended up spending about $6k in total between ER visits and the lengthy hospital stays. It was hard, but well worth it to me.
I actually had friends say to me - why are you spending any sort of $$ on him, he's only a cat?


how dare they?? he was only 7 years old, i'd had him since he was 8 weeks old and he had been with me thru everything. As far as i'm concerned he's a member of my family. He had a very high chance of coming through the surgery and being 100% back to normal afterwards, so to me it was an easy choice.

It just irks me that people can be so callous and say something so heartless and rude.

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

In the interests of honesty, I'm going to confess... I am not a "cat" person. I have always preferred dogs. Big ones that can knock me down. Just my preference, what I like for myself.

I used to joke with a friend of mine about what's better - a cat or a dog - and we would tease each other mercilessly. All in good fun. Besides preferring dogs, I am allergic to cats. I don't hate them, but obviously, I will never have one.

Now that I have a dog and have heard people say that he's "just a dog", I would never, ever even joke about that with anyone. Cat or dog, doesn't matter. I *especially* would never say something like that if someone was faced with paying for a procedure to make them well. How presumptuous.

I've learned to censor myself with certain people who don't get it or who go so far to make remarks about how I care for my dog. If it continues even after I stop talking about it, I will talk back, and it usually doesn't happen again.

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

My DH used to say this. But since getting our dogs, he has learned that cats/dogs are family members, not just animals. He can understand what I have been saying all these years and why my parents and all of us cried so many times when each one passed away.

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

Like someone said above...when I spent 3K to save Chloe from a string she injested and was stuck in her intestines some one my family said I am crazy and it's a "Cat"!

I can't even put into words how much Chloe means to me and how much we have been through together. She is and will always be my most special little girl!

I don't care if people don't like cats, but they are just as special, loving and beautiful as other animals and deserve the same kindness as dogs.

It's funny but my FH was never a "cat person" and now sometimes when he walks in the door he greets chloe before me...he carries her around and plays with her every night.

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

I am MUCH more a cat person than a dog person, but a cat is just a cat, but a dog is just a dog. If anyone wants to spend thousands of dollars on their pets, then go for it, but if something like that happened to one of DH's cats, I'd try my hardest to persuade him to not spend the money. I don;t understand how people can see animals as family, the same way you can't see them as "just" cats.

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

Beth....to get back to your original point. I feel the same way. I too was never a cat person until we got our first two. Now I will never be without them.

People who say that have never had them and realized how wonderful they are.

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

I totally agree - it is terrible and heartless to think that way!

I find this happens a lot with other animals too. Like, when we had our snakes -- people don't "like" snakes because they are "scary" so that means they aren't real pets to us and we don't care about them?? I always had people make faces and go, oh god WHY would you want them?? They were such great pets!

We had chinchillas too and people would just scoff and call them rodents.

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

Posted by greenfreak

In the interests of honesty, I'm going to confess... I am not a "cat" person. I have always preferred dogs. Big ones that can knock me down. Just my preference, what I like for myself.

I used to joke with a friend of mine about what's better - a cat or a dog - and we would tease each other mercilessly. All in good fun. Besides preferring dogs, I am allergic to cats. I don't hate them, but obviously, I will never have one.

Now that I have a dog and have heard people say that he's "just a dog", I would never, ever even joke about that with anyone. Cat or dog, doesn't matter. I *especially* would never say something like that if someone was faced with paying for a procedure to make them well. How presumptuous.

I've learned to censor myself with certain people who don't get it or who go so far to make remarks about how I care for my dog. If it continues even after I stop talking about it, I will talk back, and it usually doesn't happen again.

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

My orginal vent was not about vet bills or if pets are family members

It is about how cats don't get the same respect as dogs in my family

Not a debate about if you cat is worth saving

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

I have always commented on this. How come when you go to a pet store there are aisles and aisles of things for dogs and like two for cats?
Cats are considered second class to dogs in the pet word and it drives me nuts. I HATE it when people say that dogs are better pets; that they are more loving or whatever. I love both cats and dogs but IMO there is nothing better than a cat curled up next to you and purring. I'd rather have that than a dog jumping on me and slobbering on my face. j/k I love that too!

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

Re: I really get upset when people say cats are "just cats"

I agree. I wanted to strange people who made nasty comments after I told them I spent almost $2K on my 3 yrd old cat for his surgery and aftercare. Thank god DH's loves cats as much as me.