• @Weirdfish@lemmy.world
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    462 years ago

    My cats are the perfect balance of affection, entertainment, and low maintenance.

    Dogs are great, but I can leave my cats alone for a long weekend and when I get home, the house is just as I left it.

    • ikiru
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      72 years ago

      As someone with dogs, I envy this so fucking much.

    • CALIGVLA
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      182 years ago

      What the hell does toxoplasmosis have to do with liking cats?

      • Otter
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        162 years ago

        It inhibits the fear response in rodents, so they are more likely to cuddle up with cats

        The joke being that humans are infected too

        In rodents, T. gondii alters behavior in ways that increase the rodents’ chances of being preyed upon by felids. Support for this “manipulation hypothesis” stems from studies showing that T. gondii-infected rats have a decreased aversion to cat urine while infection in mice lowers general anxiety, increases explorative behaviors and increases a loss of aversion to predators in general. Because cats are one of the only hosts within which T. gondii can sexually reproduce, such behavioral manipulations are thought to be evolutionary adaptations that increase the parasite’s reproductive success since rodents that do not avoid cat habitations will more likely become cat prey

    • @currawong@lemmy.ml
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      122 years ago

      On the whole, there was little evidence that T. gondii was related to increased risk of psychiatric disorder, poor impulse control, personality aberrations, or neurocognitive impairment.

    • VM_Abrantes
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      62 years ago

      lmao imagine having an affinity towards felines because a parasite told you to

  • HEXN3T
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    422 years ago

    I’ve gotta be completely honest, anything is better than other people.

  • ThyTTY
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    312 years ago

    Because I can actually observe my adopted cat loving me more with every passing month. We’re learning each other, he communicates with me and gets closer and closer. For the first year he didn’t even think about cuddling but now he’s on my laps everyday. It’s really nice to feel him liking me more and more so I like him back as well. It’s a very positive circle of affection.

  • @confluence@lemmy.world
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    232 years ago

    I’ve had cats and dogs, and in my sample, cats have been better at navigating boundaries. Also, the beans. Also, the everything.

  • @terminhell@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    222 years ago

    I’ve had both over my life. Both have pros and cons.

    As others have said, cats overall require less attention; both in interaction and maintenance. Our cats are really good about keeping house bugs to a minimum with their natural hunter instincts. Flies,moths and other critters don’t last long. Also litter boxes are something I wish dogs could figure out lol.

    Dogs are more social, so they’ll need more from you. They need frequent outside time to run and exercise/bathroom. Most dogs don’t care about catching bugs and critters like cats. However, if treated right, will defend the house to the death from intruders.

    In my current situation, cats are better. If I had a much bigger, we’ll fenced yard, I’d love to have a dog again.

    • @SecretPancake@feddit.de
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      102 years ago

      You can easily train a dog to use litter boxes. There are actually indoor grass mats you can buy. It’s mostly a way to deal with very old dogs who have trouble keeping it in.

      But please don’t do that with young and healthy dogs. They need outside time. If you don’t want to do that, just don’t get a dog.

  • livus
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    2 years ago

    My family had cats when I was a baby. The cats put a lot of time into imprinting me to give them baby food, heat etc (babies are resource rich from a cat point of view).

    I always obey commands from cats.

  • @Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee
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    162 years ago

    Cats are independent and dogs are dependent. That’s why I like cats better. I also don’t want to deal with the death of a dog that I’d probably consider my best friend. No thanks.

  • CrimeDad
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    122 years ago

    I am not a cat person, but I’ve lived with a couple of them and they can be really charming little companions. They can also be incredible assholes and imo their charisma doesn’t make up for it. Some people just weigh the pros and cons differently.

    • @ChexMax@lemmy.world
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      52 years ago

      I think it’s more of a gamble with cats. Dogs are just gonna love you. Some cats are completely sweet and cuddly, and others attack your ankles everytime you try to get water.

      • @Coreidan@lemmy.world
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        22 years ago

        Depends on the dog too. Maybe you’ve only experience good dogs but there are MANY dogs out there with dangerous behavioral issues. “Dogs are just gonna love you” just isn’t true. It depends on the breed, the dog, and their history.

    • @GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca
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      42 years ago

      Part of this is people continue to believe cats can’t be trained. It’s harder, but possible. It also means you have to work harder to train out bad behaviour (and they will only mostly stop while you’re around). So getting your cat to not bite you can be done, as well as training them to not go on the counter when you can see it.

      Cats are also domesticated differently than most animals, and will absolutely, literally shit on things they know you care about if you piss them off.

      • CrimeDad
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        32 years ago

        It makes sense that bad cat owners are responsible, in large part, for bad cat behavior. That said, if it’s so difficult to raise a cat properly, then maybe cats just aren’t good pets for most people.

        • @GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca
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          12 years ago

          As I said, cats are domesticated differently. Current speculation is they self-domesticated during the beginning of agriculture. What this means for us is that, unlike dogs, it’s more of an agreement between us and them, and they will make it known if they don’t agree with the situation. This is the nugget of truth behind “Dogs have owners, cats have staff.” So, as with dogs, if your lifestyle isn’t acceptable to them, you shouldn’t own them. The difference is what is acceptable.

    • SpectreOP
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      32 years ago

      I have had several cats in irl and I still cannot answer the question 🤷🏽‍♂️

      • @rosymind@leminal.space
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        22 years ago

        Why would you keep getting cats if you don’t like them? Or do you mean you do like them but you don’t understand why you like them?

        • SpectreOP
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          12 years ago

          You misunderstood me. It is not that I don’t like them. It is that I don’t like them as insanely much as some people seem to like them. To me they are okay. However, for some people they are life.