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Fighting like Cats and Dogs
Jul. 24th, 2016 07:20 pmI've always found the differences between cat people and dog people to be so odd, yet so interesting.
I personally am a cat person. I have been, apparently, since before I could talk, considering my first word was "meow." Apparently being a veterinarian has been my destiny since birth. Do I have reasons why I prefer cats? Yes, of course I do.
I enjoy the struggle that comes from really making a cat love you. Cats are finicky. Cats don't put up with bullshit. Cats don't care if you're the one feeding them if you're also the one who refuses to pet them or pets them in a way they don't like. Cats are stubborn and independent, yet can be so loving and needy at the same time.
Dog people often explain their preference to me in that dogs give unconditional love. No matter what you do to a dog (bar outright abuse, but I'm not talking about animal abusers in this post anyway, so just assume anything I say doesn't apply to them.), the dog will be excited to see you. Dogs can be trained, and if trained properly, will do whatever you ask of it.
To me, this seems as if dog people just like not having to try and they like having control. Which is fine. Every person is different, so if that's your preference, that's your preference.
I personally feel it's more satisfying to be loved by a cat since you actively have to earn that love. And while you can train cats, it's not something cats will inherently put up with. And there's no guarantee they'll do what you've trained them to either.
The point of this post though is just to mention a general observation. In all my years (and this phenomenon has also been observed by a friend I used to have (also a cat person)), I've never met nor witnessed a cat person condemn a dog person for being a dog person, yet the opposite seems to happen all the time. Dog people tend to be disgusted that anyone could like cats more than dogs. They judge and they joke and they scoff and they openly express indignation on behalf of all dogs.
But cat people live and let live.
As I said, I have no problem with dog people. I understand their viewpoint. I just don't share it.
So why does it seem so difficult for dog people to have the same outlook?
Obviously I don't have an answer. I wish I did. I wish I could theorize that maybe everyone would be a cat person if cats weren't so unpredictable. After all, maybe every dog person in the world has had an unfortunate experience with an attack cat that turned them off the entire species. I have a feeling though that that's pretty unlikely.
So why, if it's unlikely that every dog person has had a bad cat experience, do all dog people seem to not even try to understand the perspective of cat people? I mean, I've had tons of bad dog experiences. Comes with the territory of being a vet-in-training. I've had bad cat experiences as well, but my opinion of both species hasn't necessarily changed at all. If anything, I've gained more respect for dogs, since with every bad experience has come five separate good ones.
So if a "dog person" happens to read this, please let me know: Do you look down on cat people in the way I've described, and if you do, why?
I personally am a cat person. I have been, apparently, since before I could talk, considering my first word was "meow." Apparently being a veterinarian has been my destiny since birth. Do I have reasons why I prefer cats? Yes, of course I do.
I enjoy the struggle that comes from really making a cat love you. Cats are finicky. Cats don't put up with bullshit. Cats don't care if you're the one feeding them if you're also the one who refuses to pet them or pets them in a way they don't like. Cats are stubborn and independent, yet can be so loving and needy at the same time.
Dog people often explain their preference to me in that dogs give unconditional love. No matter what you do to a dog (bar outright abuse, but I'm not talking about animal abusers in this post anyway, so just assume anything I say doesn't apply to them.), the dog will be excited to see you. Dogs can be trained, and if trained properly, will do whatever you ask of it.
To me, this seems as if dog people just like not having to try and they like having control. Which is fine. Every person is different, so if that's your preference, that's your preference.
I personally feel it's more satisfying to be loved by a cat since you actively have to earn that love. And while you can train cats, it's not something cats will inherently put up with. And there's no guarantee they'll do what you've trained them to either.
The point of this post though is just to mention a general observation. In all my years (and this phenomenon has also been observed by a friend I used to have (also a cat person)), I've never met nor witnessed a cat person condemn a dog person for being a dog person, yet the opposite seems to happen all the time. Dog people tend to be disgusted that anyone could like cats more than dogs. They judge and they joke and they scoff and they openly express indignation on behalf of all dogs.
But cat people live and let live.
As I said, I have no problem with dog people. I understand their viewpoint. I just don't share it.
So why does it seem so difficult for dog people to have the same outlook?
Obviously I don't have an answer. I wish I did. I wish I could theorize that maybe everyone would be a cat person if cats weren't so unpredictable. After all, maybe every dog person in the world has had an unfortunate experience with an attack cat that turned them off the entire species. I have a feeling though that that's pretty unlikely.
So why, if it's unlikely that every dog person has had a bad cat experience, do all dog people seem to not even try to understand the perspective of cat people? I mean, I've had tons of bad dog experiences. Comes with the territory of being a vet-in-training. I've had bad cat experiences as well, but my opinion of both species hasn't necessarily changed at all. If anything, I've gained more respect for dogs, since with every bad experience has come five separate good ones.
So if a "dog person" happens to read this, please let me know: Do you look down on cat people in the way I've described, and if you do, why?
