Cat Behavior

[Fluffy Princess Unicorn]

x

[Metamorph]

Cats and dogs have one thing in common: They'd rather not be your companion animal, and the fact humans bred, raised, and gave them medical treatments that make it hard for them to survive on their own is sad.

[Santa Claus]

I take it you never paid attention during biology classes and therefore don't know that symbiotic relationships between certain species exist in the wild?

Humans are part of nature, too. We just have so much more intelligence that we navigate it in more sophisticated ways. There are still people who survive with a hunter-gatherer lifestyle in modern times, and the dogs just live symbiotically with them naturally despite never being on leashes.

Those are not pets/companion animals. Those are basically livestock. That has no bearing on whether or not you should own an animal for fun and create more animals that can't survive without people, regardless of what you might like for Christmas.

Note: Misunderstandings can often be avoided if people pay closer attention to the specific phrasing I've used.

[Sisyphean]

Saying animals don't want to be our companions is strange to me, because it's plain to see through basic levels of observation that dogs and cats began their relationship with humans through symbiosis, not through forced captivity, and also that the bonds between humans and cats or dogs is strong enough for them to love and miss us. My own babies are currently little loafs beside me because everywhere I go, they want to follow and be with me. If they can't follow me, they meow and look for ways to get through the door or something so they can accompany me anywhere I go. Some dogs have literally taken knife wounds for their owners, to protect them, because of the love they have for the owners.

People saying things like this, I feel, are speaking more from some strange ethical objection to the idea of domestication than any reasonable appreciation of animal behaviors that are indicative of desires and instincts (have these people ever had animals as pets, companions, work animals?). Dogs actively seek out people, and when deprived of social environments get extremely anxious, neurotic, and depressive.

Edit: And cats can often be the same. I had a cat growing up that started ripping fur out when we went on a vacation for a couple weeks.

[Metanoia]

Domesticated animals have the potential to survive on their own - but of course it will always involve people to a degree. A stray dog will wander the streets until it finds a pack or a kind human that offers it food. It's rooted in their makeup to enjoy the presence and help of humans. They certainly cannot survive (and thrive) in the wilderness alone like their distant relatives.

I can see where the damage lies, though. I love pets and animals with all my heart like you do but you cannot ignore the fact we have bred and raised these animals to our standards - some of those being potentially dangerous. Like how certain breeds have breathing difficulties or other health problems because we've bred them for aesthetic purposes (pugs).

[FDG]

Cats are outdoor animals, they come indoors at night / sometimes at day for sleeping. If you let me be outdoors they don't need much just food and some companionship, they'll treat you like a friend with a lot of money and opposable thumbs. You know that good friend who inherited loads of money and liked to have you around got you a job in his father's company where you can just slack around, so that you'll stick around? You're the cat.

Now indoor cats are another matter and I think most indoor cats are just unhappy.

Last thing, they have vastly different personalities, some are really social and love interacting with humans and are easy to "train" (they also seem to understand language pretty well), others are more standoffish.