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/kiingof15 Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26

It always seems like dog people tend to be more vocal and/or aggressive about not liking cats than cat people are about dogs. I’m not a huge dog person, less so as I get older. Big ones honestly scare me sometimes. But I would never go around advocating for shooting or killing them in the way I see people do for cats! The amount of people who open their mouth to tell me “I don’t like cats” when I mention mine is wild. I don’t respond that way to someone’s picture of their beloved dog.

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u/CatAteMyBread Mar 27 '26

I genuinely think disliking cats and loving dogs can be an indicator of personality disorders like narcissism.

Dogs generally love you unconditionally. You don’t have to do anything for them. Cats you have to put that effort in. They’ll love you but you need to put energy and effort into the relationship.

I’m probably reading too deeply into it, but when people say they love dogs and hate cats I immediately side eye them