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Why do some people hate cats?

russell_314

russell_314

macrumors G3
Original poster
Feb 10, 2019
8,190
13,300
USA
I saw this reply to a tweet, and it just made me wonder why certain people hate cats.

No one hates dogs, not even cat people. Some people are afraid of dogs but no one actually hates them that I know of.

Just to be clear, I’m not talking about how some people just don’t really like cats or prefer dogs over cats. I’m talking about absolute hate for cats. It reminded me of when I was younger how some teenagers would kill cats for entertainment.

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Some people are allergic to cats, but overall a cat is easier to have than a dog. One family in the neighborhood even walks a pair of cats. Most walk their dogs a lot more carrying those little bags. People might say cats claw up furniture, but have you ever seen what a dog can do when they are upset their master isn't around. Yes furniture badly torn up when the master comes home.
 
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Realityck said:
Some people are allergic to cats, but overall a cat is easier to have than a dog. One family in the neighborhood even walks a pair of cats. Most walk their dogs a lot more carrying those little bags. People might say cats claw up furniture, but have you ever seen what a dog can do when they are upset their master isn't around. Yes furniture badly torn up when the master comes home.
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I can see allergies were people wouldn’t want a cat because it would make them sick or miserable. I don’t think that would count as hate for cats though. That’s just not wanting to be sick.

Years ago I had roommates with a dog and it chewed the leg off of a chair and a hole in the wall. Any pets can do damage. I don’t think cats have the exclusivity on that.
 
Some people concerning this preference for one over the other is from childhood experiences. Like their parent owned a dog, and you got used to the friendly dog being around. Where as an outdoors cat, would occasionally be around to pet, but stayed its distance. So the example in that twitter post is from someone that likes that dogs always come when called, versus a cat that has its own independence. He likely also jealous of the cat taking attention from his girlfriend at times. :p
 
Depends what 'hate' means in this context. I don't hate dogs but would not want to have them around personally. Some mixed encounters as a kid play into this but generally the smell, the noise and the neediness deter me.

I'd take a cat but thinking they might need garden/ground floor access to be happy and not having to deal with their fur distributed everywhere suits me fine. They are interesting characters though and I appreciate their independence. Several cats are in the family, haven't heard anything about damage being done by them.

Most damaging pet I remember having around was a rabbit that tried to chew through everything.
 
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Realityck said:
Some people concerning this preference for one over the other is from childhood experiences. Like their parent owned a dog, and you got used to the friendly dog being around. Where as an outdoors cat, would occasionally be around to pet, but stayed its distance. So the example in that twitter post is from someone that likes that dogs always come when called, versus a cat that has its own independence. He likely also jealous of the cat taking attention from his girlfriend at times. :p
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Oh no I completely understand people having a preference for one or the other. I prefer cats, but I also love dogs and other animals. I’ve had dogs, cats, ferrets, hamsters, and fish. Honestly, the reason why I don’t have a dog is there just a lot of work versus a cat that you can just ignore and it still will be fine.

I just meant people that hate cats. I’ve only met a few people like that in my life but it’s crazy because you can tell when some talk about cats, they would just kill one if they had the opportunity.

Maybe it’s a jealousy thing with his girlfriend. That would be funny 😂
 
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th0masp said:
Depends what 'hate' means in this context. I don't hate dogs but would not want to have them around personally. Some mixed encounters as a kid play into this but generally the smell, the noise and the neediness deter me.

I'd take a cat but thinking they might need garden/ground floor access to be happy and not having to deal with their fur distributed everywhere suits me fine. They are interesting characters though and I appreciate their independence. Several cats are in the family, haven't heard anything about damage being done by them.

Most damaging pet I remember having around was a rabbit that tried to chew through everything.
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I think what you’re describing is maybe a mild dislike. You tolerate it, but would rather not be around it. Correct me if I’m wrong but that’s just what it seems to me.

If someone says I hate something so much, they’re using the word hate and then emphasizing it by how much they hate it. I think that’s pretty clear. Of course I can’t read this person’s mind or anyone’s mind so there could be language or communication issues.

I wasn’t necessarily talking about specifically this person, but just in general people who absolutely hate cats to the point where they would just consider them a pest such as a rat or roach vs a pet like a dog.

My interest of the topic is I’ve never heard anyone say this about a dog or other pets. With dogs it’s sometimes fear but I’ve never seen hate. I wonder what it is about cats that puts them in the category. Maybe it’s how people project an attitude on a cat? Often you’ll hear people say how cats just don’t care and they will do stuff and not feel bad about it. It’s kind of funny in a meme but in reality it’s just people projecting human emotions onto an animal that doesn’t necessarily have these emotions.

Of course, there’s always the superstitions about babies and witches, but I feel most people are intelligent enough not to believe those.
 
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JacquesleMac said:
Because they destroy millions of birds each year? For fun?

If you let yours out of the house at night, consider putting something like this round its neck, ideally with bells on.
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That’s a good reason. I don’t like mine out of the house because there’s too many dangers with cars and everything else with living in the city.

I don’t think they’re doing it for “fun”. I think, as I said in the previous comment is projecting a human emotion onto an animal. It’s most likely an instinct ingrained after millions of years.
 
JacquesleMac said:
Because they destroy millions of birds each year? For fun?

If you let yours out of the house at night, consider putting something like this round its neck, ideally with bells on.
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Just curious, how does a cat catch a bird? I’ve had cats all my 67 years, some indoor and some in and out. Not one of them ever caught a bird. They caught mice (good thing) and other rodents but not birds. Birds are in the air or perched on a wire or tree limb. And if they did happen to fall out, cats would probably hunt them by instinct not for fun.
 
The tweet reply you posted is obviously a troll and someone exaggerating for effect. I bet in real life when he's not trying to impress anyone else or rile people up, and you put him around the right cat, he'd fall in love 😉
 
DianaMR said:
Just curious, how does a cat catch a bird? I’ve had cats all my 67 years, some indoor and some in and out. Not one of them ever caught a bird. They caught mice (good thing) and other rodents but not birds. Birds are in the air or perched on a wire or tree limb. And if they did happen to fall out, cats would probably hunt them by instinct not for fun.
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The kill ground-nesting birds.
 
DianaMR said:
Just curious, how does a cat catch a bird? I’ve had cats all my 67 years, some indoor and some in and out. Not one of them ever caught a bird. They caught mice (good thing) and other rodents but not birds. Birds are in the air or perched on a wire or tree limb. And if they did happen to fall out, cats would probably hunt them by instinct not for fun.
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I seen female cats practically run up a wall and whack a small bird on a ledge so many feet high so it drops to the ground. Also if a bird nest has young in a tree, they can go nuts to reach that. But one shouldn't ignore the other predators, like crows, they will go after small birds on the ground easily and invade bird nests,
 
Cat behavior.

Cats do cat things.

I hate the fact that cats makes a mess and destroy property.

It gets worse when the cat malfunctions and starts outputing things that should only be outputted in the kitty litter.

I'd love any pet outdoors and not indoors.
 
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Well I hate to say it but my dog kills birds. He doesn't really mean to he just wants to catch them and unfortunately sometimes succeeds. Particularly goes for crows and magpies who lazily take off at the last moment not realising how far he can leap. Gun dogs have chasing birds in their nature.
No idea why anyone would hate a cat. Dislike but not hate.
Who was it said: dogs have a family, cats have staff? I think that's maybe it? They do seem to look down on people a bit .
 
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The majority of my experience with those who dislike or hate cats comes down to control. Dogs are pack animals, they go along with the pack, especially the pack leader. If you own a dog, that's you.

You can't control a cat. You can teach it, you can discipline it, you can put obstacles in its path. But, ultimately, cats will do whatever it is they feel like doing. Dogs, on the other hand follow their training because that's what the pack leader (you) expects.

And there are lots of people who hate anything they cannot control.

Certain dog breeds are also chosen by certain people with the intent to make themselves look 'tough' or make others fear or respect them, or for a sense of protection. These owners are attempting to control their environment. You don't get that with a cat.

And there are lots of people who hate anything they cannot use.

That's been my experience with these kinds of people anyway. Usually, they grew up powerless, became the local bully and have dogs to intimidate others. Controlling the dogs makes them feel better about themselves and they have no problem with their dogs running wild, injuring or killing other peoples animals (including cats). Grow up rural and you're bound to run into that type of person.

Anyway, my take on it.
 
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