*Most likely because a cat started it.
Dogs or cats?
A colleague and I were once talking about dating. No, not the two of us dating each other, but about dating as a general concept and, more specifically, what people ought to reveal about themselves on the first date. I added, “Most blokes would be off like a shot when I told them I like cats.”
When faced with a comment like this, the only polite response is, “Don’t be silly, of course they wouldn’t” or some such thing. But, instead, he said, “Yup. And quite rightly so.”
Oh dear.
Does society see us as extensions of the animals that we like? Do others think dog people are loyal, affectionate and obliging? And, cat people, are we regarded as unreliable, aloof and unhinged?
Even Cat Daddy, who likes cats, has been known to make this judgement. If a friend of mine, whom he hasn’t met before, is due to visit, and I tell him that the friend is “a cat person”, he makes a face. And, if I add that I met this friend via an online cat forum, he suddenly remembers that he has a very important appointment, somewhere far away, which happens to coincide with the friend’s visit.
Having met a lot of cat people, both in person and online, I have to admit that most of us are a bit weird. But, usually, it’s in a good way. I know that it sounds dismissive and clichéd to say, “We’re not ALL crazy!”, especially if you see some of the petty yet vicious arguments that kick off on online cat forums (usually between Brits and Americans, usually triggered by a debate about whether or not cats should be allowed outdoors). But … well … we’re NOT all crazy. Despite the fact that I named my cat Sa Majesté Louis Catorze, Le Roi Soleil, I really am one of the more normal ones. And, the more cat people that Cat Daddy meets, the more he is coming to realise this, too.
So: dogs or cats? If you’re a friend, you won’t need to ask because you will already know the answer. If strangers ask, in order to distance myself from those complete freaks whose behaviour is embarrassing (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE), I will probably say, “Both”. It’s not an outright lie, because I like the IDEA of dogs; I am super-cordial when I meet them, and I don’t like it when people are mean to them. But do I want to share a house with one? Not really.
That said, there are times when I don’t want to share a house with Louis Catorze, either. But, now that he’s in, we have no idea how to get him out (and we’re scared that he might do something bad to us if we tried). Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
louiscatorze.com 
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