Woman who loves cats adopted a rescue cat and learned to hate him

This is a story on social media which tells us that it is possible to love cats in general, to want to adopt a cat and then finally adopt a cat after a long wait when you have your own property but thereafter to learn to hate the cat that you adopted. 

It's a sad story and it is possible sometimes for this to happen. Cat owners need to do a reality check and accept it when they feel that they can no longer live with their cat. That doesn't mean abandoning your cat but it might mean rehoming your cat to the best of your ability because that is part of the obligation of a caregiver.

In this instance, the woman said that she waited for the right one to adopt. She wanted an older cat who would be happy living indoors because she lived on the second floor of a house conversion in a one-bedroom flat without direct access to a garden. In short, she adopted a cat to be a full-time indoor cats.

But she found that her elderly male cat screamed at 3 AM in the morning until 6 AM in the morning every night. She had no idea why this was happening. She took her cat to the vet who gave him arthritis injections because they thought that he was suffering from arthritis causing pain. He obviously wasn't. Because the screaming continued.

She got to the point where she couldn't function any more at work because she couldn't sleep properly and she learned to hate him and sought advice on the Internet.

In follow-up posts she said that on third visit to a veterinarian they diagnosed megacolon. And because her cat suffered from megacolon, they decided that it was the reason why he was screaming during the night. I doubt that. 

That might have been one reason but the thing is this: the symptoms of megacolon of very specific and quite apparent and the lady never mentions these symptoms which are: straining to defecate, weight loss, lethargy, vomiting and anorexia i.e. a lack of appetite. And a painful abdomen as well as dehydration and depression.

I would have thought she would have had picked up these symptoms if they truly were present and that her cat was indeed suffering from megacolon. He might have been but I think the more likely reason why he was screaming at night was because this cat, historically, was an indoor/outdoor cat with free access to the outside unsupervised. Keeping him indoors full-time drove him nuts. He screamed at the top of his voice as a consequence. He was asking to be let out.

But the lady couldn't do it because she lived on the second floor and there was no access to the outside. The answer would have been to rehome the him but almost all of the very many people who advised didn't advise this. 

In the end she decided to euthanise her cat because the operation to fix the megacolon was going to be too expensive and perhaps too difficult. And the outcome was uncertain. She said that she he had five good months with her as the vet had administered medications for the megacolon and Feliway to calm him. I don't think the five months were that good. The Feliway indicates that he was agitated by being kept indoors.

I feel a little bit queasy about the story because, as mentioned, I think the underlying and genuine reason why this cat was screaming is because he wanted to be outside, to hunt at night, to roam freely as he had done before. I am guessing but the story indicates that.

To keep cats indoors full-time is a good thing sometimes because it protects wildlife and protects the cat from risk of injury and more severe harm. But sometimes cat caregivers have to accept that their cat is an indoor/outdoor cat. They have to accept that their cat is going to live a risky life relative to being an indoor life. 

People normally keep their cats indoors full-time for their own peace of mind primarily and the secondary reason is to keep their cat safe. I think people need to free up that thought and sometimes, just sometimes, they have to allow their cat to take life risks and decide that what happens is going to happen come what may.

If she decided that and found a way to allow her cat to go outside at night he might be alive today.

Why do a lot of people hate cats? 8 reasons listed.

A lot of people love cats too. The domestic cat is slightly more popular than the dog as a companion. This is probably because the cat fits better into a modern busy society. However, it does seem that people have stronger feelings about cats. This results in more people hating cats. Why is this?

Cat Hater. This is part of a poster by Ruth aka Kattaddorra.

I'll list what I think are the reasons in order of importance. If you have any ideas, please leave a comment:

1. Lack of knowledge of cats handed down generation to generation. Children learn from their parents. If their parents have distorted ideas about cats for whatever reason (usually because their parents had the same ideas) then the kids inherit these thoughts. It is self-perpetuating. As the domestic cat is the most popular companion animal, I feel confident in saying that if a person hates a cat, it more or less has to be due to incorrect ideas about the cat. Why do the parents of kids have these 'distorted' ideas? These are reasons:

2. Fear. The cat is probably the world's most effective predator. The cat has sharp claws and a strong bite. The cat is quick and athletic. Some people are scared of that. It is as simple as that. If you fear something you won't like it. In fact, it can lead to preemptive killing or abuse. Fear of cats can be acute when it is called: Ailurophobia. But often it is just in the background.

3. Independence. Cats give the impression of being very independent. They can be but the domestic cat is actually totally dependent on us. Cats do their own thing. You can't force a cat to do something. This irritates some people who like to get their own way with other people. Alpha types are like that and they prefer dogs. The cat can seem aloof and often people who hate cats say they are 'mean'. Perhaps needy people require the cat to be more giving. The problem ultimately is a human problem and not related to the cat's independent air.

4. Feral and stray cats. There are too many. This is bad publicity for the domestic cat. The feral cat is forced to lead a dirty, cruel and short life in a human world. They are often ill with infectious diseases. Some are zoonotic. Is this why people see the cat as 'dirty'? The problem is the feral cat per se. The problem is the people who created the feral cat. Once again, this a human misconception but it is a reason why some people hate the cat.

5. Superstition. This goes back to the Middle Ages (14th century etc.). There is a long history here and the human race has still not released itself from the shackles of superstition.  There is still a lot of superstition. Black cats are bad luck etc.

6. Gay. Some people, I must say they are ignorant people, think that if a boy or man likes cats, he has to be gay. Rubbish; but this may have a negative impact on the male of the species liking cats. In any event being gay is irrelevant but there is still a lot of baggage in society attached to the word "gay". It was illegal in Britain at the time of Oscar Wilde and still is in some countries today.

7. Grooming habits. I have read some websites where religious types say they don't like the fact that cats lick their bottoms. They see this as dirty and devil-like. In fact the cat is very clean. Almost certainly cleaner than the average human!

8. Predation. This is the last item on my list but it is perhaps the most important. A lot of people don't like the fact that domestic cats prey on much loved wild animals such as birds. Obviously, bird lovers in particular dislike cats for this. Ironically, most cat owners are more concerned about their cat's safety as a reason for keeping them inside and not to protect wildlife. 

But there is increased pressure on keeping cats inside because there is a heightened awareness about the environment nowadays due to global warming and the gradual destruction of the natural world by people due to consistent human population growth and a lack of sufficient concern for nature.

When people see the destruction of wild species, they tend to pass the buck onto cats rather than look to themselves as the cause. And this can attract hatred for the domestic cat and perhaps more so the feral and stray cat. Once again people tend to forget that the feral and stray cat is a product of their own carelessness. This is a blind spot for humankind.

Associated: i hate cats.

What percentage of people hate or love cats?

It would be interesting to know the percentage of people who love cats compared to the percentage of people who hate cats. There are no statistics on this so we don't know! There is a third category: people who are ambivalent i.e. neither love nor hate cats. I am referring, of course, to domestic cats.

As there is no data on this, I'm going to suggest a figure: 20% of people dislike cats, 60% like or love cats and the remainder are ambivalent i.e. 20%. That is a wild guess, straight out of the top of my head without much thought. The general idea is that more people like or love cats than those who dislike or hate cats. And we have to distinguish between people who dislike them and those who hate them. The number of people in the latter category are relatively small and they are a danger to the animal.

They are predisposed to abusing cats, shooting feral cats (in America legally or illegally) and generally misbehaving with respect to stray an outside cats. There's lots of videos and articles about, normally teenage, boys abusing outside cats for their entertainment. Quite horrible and ridiculous because they end up uploading a video that they made of their abuse to social media which then gets around and they end up with a knock on the door by a police officer.

The same distinction must go for loving and liking domestic cats. True cat lovers are quite rare relatively whereas there are many millions of people in say America who like cats but don't necessarily live with one. Like all things in life there is a wide spectrum of attitudes towards companion animals.

It is important, from my perspective, that parents educate their children to at least respect animals and I am referring to all animals. They should learn that although they might fear cats or even dislike them for whatever reason, they should respect them and leave them alone, at least. It stops and starts with the parents and education. Animal welfare is about knowledge and education. The more you understand animals the less likely you are to disrespect and abuse them.

DISAGREE WITH ME ON THE NUMBERS? Please comment and tell me why.

i hate cats

i hate cats, no i hate f**k**g cats is what some people say when they dislike cats. But they nearly always don't explain why. It appears that they don't understand why. They don't understand how to write good English either as the title to this post indicates. A lot of them use lower case "i" to start a sentence, for example. And their grammar is appalling - lack of education.

Also, they rarely say, I don't like cats because...and then give a good, reasoned argument. They tend to swear and declare to the world how they would like to kill cats in a cruel way. They are probably the kind of people who'd like to hunt cats. They appear to be quite violent and angry people.

i hate cats - the picture above - my response

Before I make my comment about cat hating people's comments, I'd like to refer to the picture above:

"They never look happy". Well, they probably don't when they're around the person who did the drawing! Cats don't smile and laugh (as we do), yes, but neither does any other animal so if this is a reason for hating cats, you'll have to hate all animals and if you do that you are in real trouble because they are a major part of life and the world so you'll simply end up hating the world. Also, humans smile and look happy but the smile is often fake and humans look sad a lot of the time. If we are observant, we can notice that cats do in fact show contentment and sadness on their faces and in their demeanor. So, this statement is incorrect on a number of levels.

"Their claws suck". Well, there are lot of things about humans that "suck". There are a lot of things about humans that are good and beautiful and the same goes for animals. In any event humans are animals (meant in the biological sense). This comment is pointless. Anyway, what sucks more, a cat's claws or a human with a gun? Think about it. A cat's claws are vital to their lives. What particularly sucks is Americans declawing cats in an unnecessary and cruel operation. In 38 countries declawing is outlawed; it would be a crime.

"They will never try to save you". How many people would try to save you and how often do you need saving? How many animals would save you? How many animals have the physical capability to save you. The cat would have difficulty on a physical level. In any event this statement is also incorrect. Cats can, for example, sense the arrival of an earthquake. They will forewarn people of an earthquake. This could save many hundreds of human lives.

"No tricks". This is also incorrect. Cats can be trained and in fact there is an entire circus (The Moscow Cat Theatre - see video below) based on cats doing stunts. Sorry guys you just keep on getting it wrong demonstrating your ignorance. In fact, cats train their owners! And vice versa.

"They make your house f**k**g stink". Well maybe they make the houses of people you know stink but this is because of irresponsible cat keeping. Cats are very clean. If you provide a proper litter tray, they will use it instinctively. They groom themselves fastidiously. People are often dirtier. Litter does not stink if it is maintained correctly. This is about poor human behavior not poor cat behavior. We create the environment in which cats live.

"They kill babies". This is a cruel and a highly ignorant comment. It is completely incorrect. I think the person is referring to toxoplasmosis. You can read about this by clicking on this link. I am afraid that you will need to be educated, which is evidently lacking in the extreme. A note about education. A lot of the people who write "i hate cats" in lousy grammar are uneducated about cats (and a lot of other things, I expect). Combine that ignorance with ill-discipline and plain nastiness and the person is a severe hazard and real danger to cats. Or this is a reference to the old wives tail of cats sucking the breath from babies. That comes from Medieval times! It ain't true.

"Floppy" No idea why he mentioned this. Some cats are longer and therefore floppier but people would normally consider this an attractive quality. Cats are flexible which is why they are such good athletes.

i hate cats - the things these people say

Now I'd like to refer to the kind of comment that people make, the people who say"i hate cats". I can't quote them verbatim because it might be a copyright violation and anyway, they are not worth quoting except as a curiosity, but I can summarize their feelings:

---One person liked squashed cats on the road. He was pleased to say that he had seen one that was completely flat with a paw sticking up and another with just the head in the middle of the road. He seemed to take delight in this. Don't you feel that this person has a problem? He would seem to be very angry and the anger comes out in a hate of vulnerable animals or perhaps objects. He seems to me to be the bullying type.

---Another person said he whacked a cat with a rock at point blank range and the f**k**g stupid animal was to (this should have been "too") stupid to die. He seemed pleased with himself in inflicting an act of cruelty on a animal. This would be a crime in the UK. The way he writes indicates a lot of anger. A lot of criminals have difficulty with anger. In UK prisons criminals have to attend anger management courses which indicates that criminality and anger go hand in hand. The anger probably emanates from a poor childhood that lacked security and there may have been violence in the family. This is very often the case. Violence begets violence. And one way of expressing anger is through violence. It is easier to be violent towards a small animal rather than a big one (e.g. a person bigger than the person who hit the cat with a rock). I'd bet he wouldn't hit a big person with a rock. He is therefore probably a bullying type as well.

---Another person who said he hated cats said that cats are squishy and purple. Not sure about that. I haven't seen any purple cats. Maybe he wrote that while taking recreational drugs.

---Another person said i hate cats because they do nothing, they are stupid and can't be house trained (he refers to litter training), they won't play with you or show affection or emotion, they are unpredictable and will claw and bite you, they are filthy, cats are vermin and should be eradicated. Well I think that this person needs training or educating but I think training is more applicable. Pretty well everything he says about cats is incorrect. Cats love to play and use the litter naturally (99% of cats will and if not it is probably due to stress caused by the human or by illness). The cats that this person meets are probably frightened by him or he treats them badly and that is probably why he gets scratched. Cats are extremely clean animals. I could go on. He has had a bad education regarding cats and probably dislikes lots of animals.

---One agreed with the phrase, i hate cats because she saw a cat hunt and kill a bird on a bird feeder in her garden. She wanted the cat to be killed as a result. I wonder whether she thinks that a few thousand people should be killed for sport hunting wild animals and killing them. Or all the wild cats in Africa should be destroyed for killing wild animals to live. People kill for pleasure in sport hunting and cat kills out of instinct to survive. Which is more deserving of punishment?

---One person ran over a cat at night and it gave him a nice feeling. You are sick.

---One person, though, makes a good point, which should be addressed. He says i hate cats because they foul his garden and he can't do anything about it. He is not protected by the law and nothing really stops them. He refers to cats belonging to neighbors. I can sympathize with this. But we all have to suffer many things that displease us when we live close to each other. Noise is a big problem which is difficult to resolve, for example. When we live near each other we have to tolerate a certain amount of disruption to the way we want our life to be. Sometimes the person doing the disrupting will breaking the law and can be stopped. But if he is within the law the legislators (the people we elect) have decided that the nuisance caused is to be tolerated. As legislators act for the majority people who are upset with neighboring cats fouling their garden are in the minority. It is also worth mentioning that cats most often bury feces and most cats use cat litters in the home so this particular person was unfortunate to live next door to a person who was possibly acting irresponsibly.

Sometimes, however an action can be started in the tort of nuisance but the this is a difficult and off-putting route. Sometimes too the nuisance is minor for some but grave for others. In other words, the person doing the complaining has a problem with the problem and magnifies it. The person who doesn't like cats fouling his garden has a point but he probably doesn't like cats that much either.

i hate cats - Conclusion

I sense that these people have a personal problem - probably anger related. I'd bet my bottom dollar that they are sometimes people who are angry but don't know where the anger comes from. If it is not that it is probably a lack of education that makes them say, i hate cats....There are many stories on the internet where a man who was a cat hater becomes a cat lover because his girlfriend kept a cat and got to know cats. It is more about knowledge and experiences that will draw you to cats. One other thing, as women are more likely to prefer cats over dogs and therefore to keep a cat it is probably sensible for a man to get to like cats as it will improve his prospects of finding a good woman - practical point...

There is nothing in a cat or any animal that can be hated as they all behave naturally. If a person hates cats, he hates a natural animal. He therefore must hate nature and as nature is the fabric of our world, he hates the world but doesn't know it.

Update

Update - 21 January 2021. This is 13 years after the article was written. And still a substantial section of society anywhere in the world hate domestic cats. Perhaps America is best known for this split in society between those who love and those who hate cats. Or perhaps I'm being unfair. Australia is probably where it happens the most. This is because ornithologists i.e. bird lovers hate domestic cats for killing the birds they love. And when the birds are native species, it hurts particularly distressingly for bird lovers. And the problem is not going to go away. In fact, it's going to get worse because there are more cats as there are more people and therefore there will be more bird deaths at the hands of cat predation. You wonder where it will end up.

There is a lot of anger against cats from some people. It can lead them to taking the law into their own hands. These people sometimes shoot feral and stray domestic cats which, although a crime, is hardly ever treated as such because (1) law enforcement is disinterested and (2) people hardly ever see it happen and therefore there is a distinct lack of evidence which is a barrier to a successful prosecution which in turn feeds back to apathy amongst police officers. There is also the view that cats are 'just cats' and the police are too busy dealing with crimes against people. This is the age-old problem of humans being superior to cats and other animals of any species.

Some people ask whether it is normal to hate cats. Obviously, it is normal to hate gets but most people don't hate cats. And if a person hates cats, it is normally for the wrong reasons. It is normally because they don't understand the domestic cat or wild cats. Or it is because they are frightened of them. An extreme, irrational fear of cats is called ailurophobia. You might have heard of it. It is normal for humans to do a lot of strange things. Because humans can be very strange. It is equally normal to love cats. And there are more people who love cats than hate them. Although there are more people who hate cats than hate dogs. That's because cats are more independent than dogs. And dogs look up to their masters, the human as the pack leader. Humans like that. It massages their ego. That is why more people like dogs than like cats in my view.

Photo published under a creative commons license and by PDXdj

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