Are you a Cat or Dog person?

[RWood]

Standard size Poodles are great guard dogs. Easily trained and among the highest IQ of any breed.

My Father could walk down the street and the dogs in the area would fall in behind him follow him. I don't think he ever met a dog that did not like him. When we would visit my dog would go over and sit next to him and ignore me. I think he was happier to see her than he was to see me.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by mellina 52

My hubby and I have a dog. Plus we also have chickens. We raised them from when they were just a day old and they love cheese - hand fed, of course. Mellina

Are your chickens 'pets' or do you eat them? (Just asking).........

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

Would I look slightly intellectual if I said that "Homer" was, naturally, named after the famous Greek poet...or would I look like a liar?

I've always liked the freshwater red oscar cychlids, for fish, (and, naturally, Axolotls) but the Loved One would go for a big marine tank, no doubt. I don't think he'd be happy until he had a shark in there, but otherwise he's always wanted blue tangs (well before Finding Nemo and Ellen made them "famous") and chaetodons.

Cheers,
Marc

Well, "Sammy" was chosen out of thin air by my daugher. We don't know anyone by that name, never have. I wanted 'fluffy' but was voted down. Can't figure out why.

And I was going to say I wanted a salt water tank! I love those beautiful colors, but in doing just a little research, realized the knowledge needed to maintain one properly was way beyond us......not to mention the expense. Still, it would be impressive for guests coming in to see all the beautiful fish....even if they were floating on their backs........

[slayda]

With my experience with cats (there were as many as 21 on our farm at one time when I was growing up) I do feel that cats are outside animals. I do understand "cat language". However, it's cruel, IMO, to pen one up in an apartmant or house. It's OK if they live there but they need the outdoors.

That said, I hate the cats that come and try to feed at our bird feeder since I like the birds better.

Also my brother had a Siamese cat that would hide behind the door when he came home from work and attack him, with serious wounding - to my brother.

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

Would I look slightly intellectual if I said that "Homer" was, naturally, named after the famous Greek poet...or would I look like a liar? Now let's see, I've also got "Maggie", and previously had "Monty". I wonder how credible by "Greek poet" story is looking now?

We didn't get to name "Oscar", as he's a rescue/surrender/re-homing. Otherwise, the next boy dog was "Zoidberg" and the next girl, "Leela".



Make sure you have a video camera running on it at all times - that stuff's a money tree for "Funniest Home Video" shows.

I've always liked the freshwater red oscar cychlids, for fish, (and, naturally, Axolotls) but the Loved One would go for a big marine tank, no doubt. I don't think he'd be happy until he had a shark in there, but otherwise he's always wanted blue tangs (well before Finding Nemo and Ellen made them "famous") and chaetodons.

Cheers,
Marc

I had a friend who had marine aquaria. When he wnet on vacation, I would tke care of them. that is, until he got the suicidal octopus. i went there thre days in a row to find that he had lept from the tank to the floor. The final time, he was so dessicated that they were pretty certain that even the regenerative powers of octopi were not going to bring him back.

After that, I decided that taking care of animals that were $400 and suicidal was not my thing.

[Slite]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

I had a friend who had marine aquaria. When he wnet on vacation, I would tke care of them. that is, until he got the suicidal octopus. i went there thre days in a row to find that he had lept from the tank to the floor. The final time, he was so dessicated that they were pretty certain that even the regenerative powers of octopi were not going to bring him back.

After that, I decided that taking care of animals that were $400 and suicidal was not my thing.

So instead you deal with suicidals at $400/h?

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by slayda

With my experience with cats (there were as many as 21 on our farm at one time when I was growing up) I do feel that cats are outside animals. I do understand "cat language". However, it's cruel, IMO, to pen one up in an apartmant or house. It's OK if they live there but they need the outdoors.

That said, I hate the cats that come and try to feed at our bird feeder since I like the birds better.

Also my brother had a Siamese cat that would hide behind the door when he came home from work and attack him, with serious wounding - to my brother.

On a farm, cats should be outside. In the city, with neighbors all around, they belong inside. No one wants to step in someone elses cat poo-poo, or have to clean it up. Outside, cats are susceptible to being run over, poisoned, or attacked by other animals. They pick up all sorts of fleas, ticks and diseases. (we have coyotes here, in a city of 106,000) I love my cat enough to keep him in.

I do feel, on the other hand, that dogs should not be kept by people that are gone all day, leaving them alone either inside or outside. Dogs crave human interaction. Cats don't. Not as much, anyway.

I can't believe there is something I actually disagree with you on!

[GeoffC]

both, the dog is well trained and doesn't lick or jump up .....
as for the cats, well; they have us well trained .....

[JSWolf]

Neither. I'm a parrot person.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Slite

The scary thing about both cats and dogs is the fact that they are both able to see the things that arent there

oh sheesh, seriously !!!

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

On a farm, cats should be outside. In the city, with neighbors all around, they belong inside. No one wants to step in someone elses cat poo-poo, or have to clean it up. Outside, cats are susceptible to being run over, poisoned, or attacked by other animals. They pick up all sorts of fleas, ticks and diseases. (we have coyotes here, in a city of 106,000) I love my cat enough to keep him in.

I do feel, on the other hand, that dogs should not be kept by people that are gone all day, leaving them alone either inside or outside. Dogs crave human interaction. Cats don't. Not as much, anyway.

I can't believe there is something I actually disagree with you on!

well, if it's any consolation, i completely agree with that, dg ! (although i do think even on a farm the cats should be allowed to come inside at night and in winter). an indoor-only cat who grows up that way can be very happy as long as you give them toys and love and something to climb on / scratch. this is the case of one of my cats. the other one i believe used to be an outdoor cat (i don't know what her previous life was like, but when i got her she was underfed, pregnant, and covered in fleas) and i think she misses it, and i feel bad for her, but on the other hand i would feel a lot worse if i let her out and she got run over by a car on the busy street which is only one door away. i don't have a garden for her to play in so she is much better off inside.

[slayda]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

On a farm, cats should be outside. In the city, with neighbors all around, they belong inside. No one wants to step in someone elses cat poo-poo, or have to clean it up. Outside, cats are susceptible to being run over, poisoned, or attacked by other animals. They pick up all sorts of fleas, ticks and diseases. (we have coyotes here, in a city of 106,000) I love my cat enough to keep him in.

I do feel, on the other hand, that dogs should not be kept by people that are gone all day, leaving them alone either inside or outside. Dogs crave human interaction. Cats don't. Not as much, anyway.

I can't believe there is something I actually disagree with you on!

Actually we really don't disagree. I understand cats and cat people. It's just that all of my cat experience was in the country (sans coyotes) and Thistle made a large impression on me. Other cats just don't live up to her standards. She never allowed a grown Tom on the place. She would chase them off, even to the point that her own "romances" were never conducted on our place. She also, often ran large dogs off the place, with scratched noses & eyes. As I said, she was the matriarch.

I do have a problem with people de-clawing cats although I understand their desires to save their furniture. Since cats are independent creatures, it just seems more wrong to keep them in jail, i.e. in a house, as opposed to small dogs (even if it is for their own good and preserves their life and safety). Again, this is probably because I'm measuring all cats against Thistle.

Now if I were ever reincarnated and had to choose either a cat or a dog, I would choose to be a cat. I'm not much of a pack animal.

[vivaldirules]

[zelda_pinwheel]

ha !! what about the cat who called 911 ?????

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Actually, as much as I wanted to be upset with this, I started laughing when I realized how true it was.........

[vivaldirules]

Let me also say that I'm fond of guinea pigs. Before we got our dog, I wanted our young daughters to have pets to enjoy and be responsible for and guinea pigs seemed a good option. We kept them in a plastic toddler's pool that we kept in the living room with no cover. It gave them plenty of room to run, they never jumped out, and it was trivial to clean. We had one that would purr like a cat when petted. And two of them would run and squeal with excitement whenever they heard us open the refrigerator and rattle the bag of spinach.