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| Pets and personality; ...our secrets revealed | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 22 2007, 03:11 AM (374 Views) | |
| Eral | Mar 22 2007, 03:11 AM Post #1 |
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Kopi Luwak
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It's not as interesting or action packed as the Incest thread, but I'm a lightweight. I recently visited a girlfriend and was horrified to find she lets her dogs (Prince Charles Cavalier spaniels) sleep on the pillows of her bed. Eewww, yuck, I thought to myself. Disgusting. Yet a few weeks ago, my sister said to me "Your cat is drinking from the bathroom sink", and I said "Oh, she must be thirsty, I'll fill it up", something she thought profoundly disturbed and unhealthy. My nieces also thought it was fascinatingly gross: they viewed it slightly more positively because it's going to play well at Show and Tell. My cat knows there is a people end of the bed and a cat end of the bed, and that she gets the cat end, but it took a long time. One of my sisters is revolted by the idea of an animal on the bed. My cat also has four steps on the stairs that she scratches - yes, she has a scratching post which she uses, but these four steps area part of her routine and even cutting her claws doesn't help. I have come to accept this: a fact that fills my sister-in-law with horror. Are you indulgent when it comes to animals, or do you have standards that must be upheld? Is it all a question of perception? Or do my friend and I need Dr.Harry, the TV Vet, to come and help us get our lives in order? |
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| Bex | Mar 22 2007, 05:34 AM Post #2 |
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puppet dictator
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The animals pretty much do as they will, within reason. No cats on the table when we're eating, but it's en route to an important windowsill, so not always off limits. They're pretty good about only scratching permissible items, such as their own scratching toys, and the exposed wall studs in the basement. There's one cheap IKEA ottoman that they've clawed a fair bit though. Meh. My cat sleeps on my head sometimes. He seems to only like the pillow when the weather is changing. Again, I don't mind. The only cat-in-bed thing that bothers me much is when he wants attention while we're sleeping and tries to reach under the covers and pull at our hands. He uses his claws. This is an Upstart behavior. Let's see... Distortion behavior. He hangs around when I'm in the shower, and when I'm done he tries to climb me and steal cotton swabs out of my hand, and sometimes he licks water out of my navel. I let him because it's freaking funny. Also, he keeps his claws sheathed the whole time, or he would be banned from the bathroom. Distortion is a rather peculiar cat. Lila (that would be our Keeshond mix, go Keeshonds!) is just inclined to try to act like a lap dog, even though she's a bit big for that. And she's really stubborn. The dog wins. I know we're very nonchalant about animal-related stuff. I don't really care about the furniture, or having a clean floor, and I'm definitely the opposite of a germaphobe. I'm willing to share food (that I'm still eating) with the cats, but not the dog, because of the slobber factor. Cats just have drier mouths. |
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I belong to one of those families that does not speak to or see its members as often as we should, but if someone needed anyone to fall on a sword for her, there would be a queue waiting to commit the deed. -Min Jin Lee | |
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| Krazy | Mar 22 2007, 11:06 AM Post #3 |
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I haz powah!
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Great stories, I don't have a pet, but our family always had a cat. What freaked us out is when we went to see our dad's sister aka my aunt (lol). She had a German shepherd dog and whilst making lunch the dog would come over and she'd stroke it/let it lick her hands whatever and then put her hands to finished the salad without washing them first. That was definitely disgusting. |
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| Regullus | Mar 22 2007, 01:33 PM Post #4 |
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Reliant
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I don't mind pets sleeping on your pillows or the counter deal unless they use indoor plumbing and then they will leave a trail a cat litter and that is unhygenic even a litter box that is kept scrupulously clean. When it comes to cooking, I wash my hands pretty frequently and don't pet or feed the dogs without washing my hands afterwards. I'm pretty easy going, I like lap dogs regardless of the size and I like lounging pets. I take after my great-great uncle Ogden, he didn't believe a house was properly furnished until it contained animals. I am amused when my keeshy tries to sleep on top of the back sofa cushions like the pug, doesn't quite work. Lots of pillow squashing goes on in my house. |
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| Joe | Mar 22 2007, 10:42 PM Post #5 |
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Coffea Canephora
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Our animals sleep where they please, within reason, and that is as it should be. |
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In the shadow of the light from a black sun Frigid statue standing icy blue and numb Where are the frost giants I've begged for protection? I'm freezing | |
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| lara | Mar 23 2007, 03:30 AM Post #6 |
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Kopi Luwak
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I come from a long line of farm folk. No cat on the living room furniture. No cats on tables or countertops. Drinking from the toilet gets a dunking, drinking from the sink or tub gets a dousing. When I had no one else to sleep with, she slept with me (not on my pillow, which thankfully was her own choice), but my husband vetoed that when I started sleeping with him. His family had dogs who lived outside. Shepherds and the like, who are happier outside, but could sleep in the garage in case of inclement weather. Their cats were not allowed in sleeping quarters. I had a roommate who let her cats eat of her plate.
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| Blood_Raven | Mar 23 2007, 12:55 PM Post #7 |
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Come burn with me.
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My cats do as they wish except get on the kitchen counter. That is off limits to them. I don't want filthy cat pads on my counter where I place food and stuff. |
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TheFrozen North forums. Where it's at. Mood for today: Perfection | |
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| Regullus | Mar 23 2007, 01:40 PM Post #8 |
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Reliant
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We sleep with our dogs but the avatar gets too hot and leaves; she can't handle the snuggling. However, we don't have sex in front of our dogs. ![]() Honestly, lara, if my husband had asked me to choose between sleeping with him or the dogs, I would choose the dogs. I think he sensed this about me and had the good sense to never ask. My mother wrote a book and there was a brief scene where the protagonist has relations with a woman while her peke is sleeping at the foot of the bed on a dog pillow and I convinced her to add a scene where the dog is gently placed in the hallway with his dog pillow before relations commence. I have a friend, who would absolutely kill me if she knew I was telling you this, she was getting her SO's sperm checked out and she not only had sex in front of her dog but she had her dog bring her the sample bottle at the appropriate time. :o I love my friend but geez, I thought that was a little inappropriate. My friend sleeps with her cat and dog and if the pets get too comfortable and interfere with her comfort, she bops them off the bed. I re-adjust them gently as to not disturb them. ![]() I was in the hospital for six days when I had my daughter and my dogs were with my mother. When I came home, the first thing I did was visit my dogs and at the first opportunity I went and brought them home. My brother assured me that after my daughter was born, I would kick the dogs to curb. I told him, "Never gonna happen." He disagreed. Never happened and never will happen. There have been adjustments, my pug doesn't get the lap time she used to but kicked to the curb? Never.
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| Joe | Mar 23 2007, 08:18 PM Post #9 |
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Coffea Canephora
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Yep! |
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In the shadow of the light from a black sun Frigid statue standing icy blue and numb Where are the frost giants I've begged for protection? I'm freezing | |
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| Eral | Mar 23 2007, 10:59 PM Post #10 |
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Kopi Luwak
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Your brother mustn't be a pet person. The curb? Very harsh.
:o My mum was really hostile to animals as pets. She believed that children were enough work, and animals made her hit the housework barrier. I think there were also issues related to growing up in a very poor family. She always hated having an animal in the house; and even when she had lost most of her speech due to the Alzheimer's, if my sister's cat jumped up on her chair she would say "Down cat!" After she had lost speech altogether, it was quite a common occurence to enter the room and find Mum looking really really cross: and Jake curled up on the blanket at her feet. Sylvia only gets to sleep on the bed in the daytime, now she is very grown up. At night she sleeps in the laundry. She bitterly resents any attempts to move her during sleep, resulting in lost skin to the person moving her, and also seems to have a perceptual difficulty understanding that she should not attack legs that move under blankets. When she was younger, she liked to wake up and have a scamper at 5 o'clock: she scampers very very loudly. I probably should mention at this point that most of my family believe Sylvia is possessed by the devil. One sister maintains that's what you get when you name a cat after a suicidal poet, another suggests it's my fault -the cat has my neuroses. My first cat, Doug (RIP), used to sit on my alarm clock. As soon as it went off, if I did not get up and feed him, he would scratch me on the nose. |
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| Bex | Mar 23 2007, 11:07 PM Post #11 |
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puppet dictator
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My parents' old male cat, Cisco, got accustomed to 4AM feedings once there were babies in the house, so for the duration of our collective childhood, Mom had to feed the cat first or he'd scream and really wake up everyone. |
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I belong to one of those families that does not speak to or see its members as often as we should, but if someone needed anyone to fall on a sword for her, there would be a queue waiting to commit the deed. -Min Jin Lee | |
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| Eral | Mar 23 2007, 11:28 PM Post #12 |
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Kopi Luwak
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Cats have ego-centricity issues, I think. Monomania, even? Dr.Harry, the TV vet, makes visits to people whose dogs and birds have developed difficult behaviours, and he always manages to come up with a strategy to eradicate the behaviour. I have never seen him treat a cat. I bet that's because you can't. :lol: |
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| Blood_Raven | Mar 23 2007, 11:30 PM Post #13 |
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Come burn with me.
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Ah yes now that others have brought it up. Cats are not allowed on the bed or in the room while I am having sex. |
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TheFrozen North forums. Where it's at. Mood for today: Perfection | |
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| Eral | Mar 23 2007, 11:33 PM Post #14 |
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Kopi Luwak
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Yes, I forgot to say, absolutely not. It's private after all. http://www.vetinfo.com/catbhave.html Cat personality disorders. :lol: |
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| lara | Mar 24 2007, 04:03 AM Post #15 |
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Kopi Luwak
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I think I might agree with this sister. My cat's name was Kat. Well, full name was Krazy Kat, but she rarely was called Krazy (that part was self-evident, I didn't have to keep repeating it). I used to tell people she was generic brand. Bex, I love that about your mom's cat. That got me really laughing. And pets present during sex bother me not a bit, although the bringing of a specimen bottle is rather odd, and, well, not exactly sterile. |
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| Regullus | Mar 24 2007, 01:38 PM Post #16 |
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Reliant
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My husband isn't keen on cats, he's mildly allergic to them and of course they make a beeline to him whenever they see him and he also doesn't think cats are as affectionate as dogs. I like cats. My mother has two cats at the moment and they're both very sweet but they do cause damage with their clawing in spite of the scratching post which was costly and remains untouched. <_< Lily loves cats but they don't love her. One excited shriek from her and they are sensibly gone. :D |
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| Joe | Mar 24 2007, 05:15 PM Post #17 |
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Coffea Canephora
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If I had to chose a preference, I'd say dogs, because they appear to love humans much more than cats do. But I adore both. |
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In the shadow of the light from a black sun Frigid statue standing icy blue and numb Where are the frost giants I've begged for protection? I'm freezing | |
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| Eral | Mar 24 2007, 11:09 PM Post #18 |
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Kopi Luwak
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I like cats because they are self-monitoring, except for doors. Cats are happy for you to ignore them for long periods, and are very low maintenance. You don't have to get up early for dog obedience school, you don't have to take them walks, they don't tear your washing off the clothes line as kittens and they sleep for 16 hours in the day. They have nice fur, and purr, which is a much better sound than a dog can make. When they are kittens, they play adorably and go to sleep. Their poo is also smaller than a dog's, and they learn about kitty litter really quickly. A cat is happy for it's day to comprise of sitting next to the computer, and following you to the bathroom. Cats. They're the best. More interesting than fish, quieter than birds. |
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| Blood_Raven | Mar 25 2007, 12:39 AM Post #19 |
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Come burn with me.
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Cats are awesome. |
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TheFrozen North forums. Where it's at. Mood for today: Perfection | |
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| underdog | Mar 25 2007, 01:48 AM Post #20 |
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Irish Breakfast
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The difference between cats and dogs A dog thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me... They must be gods! A cat thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me... I must be a god! a few more http://www.petsdoc.com/html/funpages/diffdogscats.html http://help.com/post/53175-the-difference-...en-cats-and-dog |
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| Krazy | Mar 25 2007, 08:44 AM Post #21 |
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I haz powah!
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Not being a dog expert but I thought they still have that pack mentality, and being in a family gives them that and they need a "leader" figure as well. Cats are just kewl. And I think we really need this link about now, http://catsinurstuffdoingthings.ytmnd.com/ |
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| Boeing | Mar 25 2007, 03:36 PM Post #22 |
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Yellow
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Pets in a room during sex? Isn't that a bit of a moment killer? |
| I want you. I want you so bad. I want you so bad it's driving me mad. She's so heavy! | |
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| lara | Mar 26 2007, 02:06 AM Post #23 |
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Kopi Luwak
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Cats will wash themselves. If they need some teaching, spritz a little water on them - they'll go nuts licking themselves, trying to get it off. And my cat loved me so much, she once brought me a LIVE mouse. In the dark. In bed. When I was sleeping. Yup, she really loved me. |
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| lara | Mar 26 2007, 02:09 AM Post #24 |
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Kopi Luwak
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Why? They don't care. At least, my cat didn't. She just kept sleeping in her corner, or whatever. We were happy to ignore each other. Well, I was happy to forget her existence, she was happy to ignore me. |
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| Bex | Mar 26 2007, 05:15 AM Post #25 |
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puppet dictator
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Cat jumps up on the bed and wants to cuddle or be petted during intimate encounters... cat gets turfed from the room. Cat is sleeping on top of the laundry hamper (abandoned pants!-->trousersdammit) or looking out the window... cat is ignored. The dog is pretty much banned from the bedroom all the time, because if she's nearby, she wants all the attention to be on her. Animla personalities are individual, not based on species at all. Upstart and Distortion are extremely affectionate and people-oriented, but less demanding than the dog and easier to deal with. Lila is adorable, and energetic for an old girl, but she's very needy. Cisco was a mean cat, and we kids knew well enough to keep our hands off him. His sister Lucy was a more stereotypical cat, friendly enough, but also fairly detached. Of my family's old dogs, Jane was completely neurotic and a bit unpredictable (she bit my brother a couple of times), and Wolf was pretty much the perfect dog. I've been accused of romanticizing Wolf, but he was gentle and well-behaved, yet deeply loyal and protective (and big enough for it to mean something; a shepherd/retriever-ish mix). We barely had to do any training with him, possibly because when I found him as a stray, he was already about 6 months old. He would greet family members with a low ah-woo-woo, and a single wuff meant he needed to go out. He also had a disapproving grumble when his people raised their voices at each other. He learned to flip over his water dish if it was empty, in just such a way that it would spin and rattle on the floor; no mistaking the noise when the dog's dish was dry. If I let him off the leash on a walk, he still wouldn't go out of my sight, or even leave my side for very long, unless I told him to go home, in which case he'd run to our back gate. In a car, he'd just go straight to sleep. He loved raw vegetables, except asparagus, which he chewed for a moment when I gave him some, and then very politely spat out. One time, my Mom was putting bird seed in her feeder after dark, and a man came into the yard, wrapping his hand in a rag, presumeably to break a window and break in (though people were obviously home, meaning he was more likely looking to commit assault than robbery). Wolf ran him off. Another time, we came home and Wolf had put his head through a window and cut his nose. We never knew why, but something must have happened, because it certainly wasn't a habit. And perhaps more than all that, it was Wolf that soaked up all the tears of my teenaged period, as I brought him home when I was just 13. He was a damned good dog, a once-in-a-lifetime friend, and I still miss him. |
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I belong to one of those families that does not speak to or see its members as often as we should, but if someone needed anyone to fall on a sword for her, there would be a queue waiting to commit the deed. -Min Jin Lee | |
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6:59 PM Jul 11