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Cats can drink salt water
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2025
105 points (98.2% liked)
Mildly Interesting
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Yes, you can't expect an animal that basically tamed itself to respect your boundaries, and that's why dog people don't like them. They jump on the counter or try to break your coffee cup if it's too close to the edge of the table.
But overwhelmingly, in my experience as a cat shelter volunteer, people who have owned catsand do not like them feel that way, not because Mittens got overstimulated and scratched them once, but because they cannot cope with their boundaries being disrespected all the time. It isn't the cats fault, true. It's just an animal acting the way it evolved to act--but let's try to be understanding about why many people struggle with them as pets.
It really does take a certain personality to be okay with living with a cat.
Wow, you're completely right and I never recognized this before. I'm your quintessential cat person. I've lived with cats since the day I was born. They cuddled with me in my crib. My first word was cat. We joked that I was raised by cats. I'm just used to cats and don't often think about their behavior.
My partner is a dog person, so now we have a mixed family. When the dogs cross a boundary, we do something to correct their behavior and there is the expectation their behavior will change. If it doesn't, we adjust our response until it does. When cats cross a boundary, we still do something to correct the behavior, but entirely expect the cat will continue doing it and respond no differently when they continue with the original behavior.
I grew up in a mixed pet family. My dad loves cats; my mom dogs. It was exactly the way you describe it, too. I get why people adore cats and dogs both, but they do draw different personalities.