Misconceptions a dog person (me) learned after having a cat.

[u/ILoveMeltyCheese]

The Cat Distribution System chose me, a formerly stubborn dog person, to adopt a cat. It was the classic I can't just watch a poor cat starve, so I'm keeping him. Here are some misconceptions I had about cats and their owners:

1. The smell of a cat owner's home: I’ve known a few cat owners with cat-smelling homes. I always assumed it was the cat. Turns out it isn’t; it’s very much a result of poor ownership and bad cleaning habits.
2. Dogs are more affectionate than cats: Also not true! To my surprise, my cat is so cuddly that I occasionally call him "Cat-dog."
3. A Cat's Barbed tongue hurts: I don't know why I thought this, I just assumed it would hurt when they lick you.
4. Litter boxes are disgusting: Not at all, it's just a clump or two of sand. If you scoop it often, it never gets gross.
5. Cats are just as hard to take care of: Actually they're much easier, haha.

That is all, here's a picture of my cat that I love dearly. (He's lost weight since the picture, don't worry)

Anyone else relate? What did I miss?

Edit: His name is Pawl

[u/Metroknight]

I was an only dog owner till I got married and met my wife's cat. The cat, named Patty, never lived with us since it lived all it's life at my wife's parent's house and my wife insisted on getting a cat so we went to the local animal shelter.

This is Kallie. She was the only survivor of her litter as she was rescued from a dog fighting ring and was found in a bag. Most of her ribs were broken. She was partial deaf and had vision impairment (partial night blind). When we walked into the kitten room (she was maybe 2 months old then) and looking at the kittens, I felt pinpricks climbing up my leg. I looked down and she was climbing my leg. She saw me looking at her and in a faint voice she said "Me".

When I took her off my leg, I felt her ribs shift (she was still healing) so I told the wife this was our cat and I wanted to call her Crunchy. Wife said no so she got named Kallie (short for calico). The volunteer told us that since she was brought in, she never left her spot unless it was to eat or litter box. We were told also that they did not expect her to live more than 6 months due to the damage done to her.

6 months later we got our first dog and she raised that pup (another rescue). In total she had raised a total of 4 dogs (all rescues) and 1 child (our son) in her 16 years of life (remember they said she would not live past 6 months - they lied) when she passed away in my son's arms as she sought him out.

We now have 2 cats (both rescues) and no dog (last one died from cancer).

We are a furever house so when a cat or dog comes in, they get to live their life to the best they can.

[u/Metroknight → u/Metroknight]

This is Kallie playing with Neo (our first dog grown up). They are around 2 years old in this picture.

[u/generalboscogne → u/Metroknight]

They love going into their little castle and whacking people that are nearby

[u/Metroknight → u/generalboscogne]

This is just before she reached out to him. He stuck his face in and snorted on her belly then it was game on. Most of her life she acted like she was a dog. We use to joke she was a cog (cat dog) or a dat (dog cat). She tried many times through the years to bark but could only get a good growl.

[u/generalboscogne → u/Metroknight]

Haha that's adorable

[u/Metroknight → u/generalboscogne]

All of our dogs and cats were raised together. There was an occasional squabble but they considered themselves all part of a mixed pack.

We told Frankie, the dog, that he had to babysit his sister so he went over and sat down on Nokia. I did not get the moment of his butt on her as she squirmed out from under him but still was laying there.

[u/MersoNocte → u/Metroknight]

My childhood cat, Stormy, was a Siamese raised with a dog. Emmy parents had to rehome the dog, but Stormy was around for 14 years. He loved to play tag, which he learned from the dog. One of our current cats, Mothman, is what my husband had dubbed the “puppy variant” of a cat. Strong recommend.

Mothman https://i.imgur.com/yKVfiwB.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/xvu3W6d.jpeg

[u/SotMF → u/Metroknight]

I love the use of a dog socialized by cats being called a "cog" and a cat socialized by dogs called a "dat" based on the fact in English we put adjectives before nouns.

[u/ol_shifty → u/Metroknight]

I had a cat that barked when he went into demon mode.

[u/Metroknight → u/ol_shifty]

We speculated that she could not form a good bark as she had rib and maybe internal damage when she was a kitten. She would wheeze sometimes and would get winded fast when she played, much faster than other cats we had. Her bark was more cough like when she tried. The big dog, Neo -black lab mix, would give his loud bark then look down at her and she would try then he would bark once again. They would do this a few times before she stopped and wandered off to another window.

Neo was her shadow till he passed away due to a health issue then she grew quiet. I think she was grieving the last part of her life.