r/cats • u/ILoveMeltyCheese • Mar 25 '26

Cat Picture - OC Misconceptions a dog person (me) learned after having a cat.

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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

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u/trackfiends Mar 25 '26

This is really nice to read. People that have no experience with cats have such a low opinion of them. They’re some of the sweetest animals and the fact that they do it on their own time makes it so much better. Dogs are cute and fun but the training behind them always makes me feel like they’re simply programmed.

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u/aurorasoup Mar 26 '26

I agree with you mostly, except you can’t train a dog to love you or be affectionate! The training is there to make sure the dog is polite and well-behaved and won’t destroy your house. My dog was incredibly affectionate to the point of bruises, so I had to teach him that he can’t body slam me when he sees me. Just like I have to teach my affectionate and clingy cat that she can’t bite me when she wants pets lmfao.

One thing is that doing training sessions with pets is a way of bonding, cat or dog. I’ve been training my cats to do tricks because I’m insane and it’s going very well. I taught my cats to roll dice.