Friday, March 29, AD 2024 9:10am

This Explains a Lot

 

Church-goers are less likely to own a cat than atheists – partly because some of the latter see cats as a “god substitute”, according to research.

Owning a pet is said to replicate some of the benefits of joining a faith community, and while cats are “pretty low-maintenance, we end up serving them a lot”, an American academic has pointed out.

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Nate Winchester
Nate Winchester
Tuesday, January 7, AD 2020 9:37am

They’re doing it wrong. We’ve always tried to keep a couple of barn cats on hand to keep the rodent population down around the farm. They’re also strictly outdoor cats and thus very appreciative of us when we are outside as it is very clear who is in charge around the place. It does not do us any good to elevate the beasts into a position above us.

I did have one cat that adopted us who, if it was up to me, would be nominated for sainthood among cats. The opposite of arrogant (she even got along and was best friends with our dog at the time), I suspect she may have been lost or abandoned at one point and when she found our house, was ever grateful for the home we gave her. That she was black as well makes me think of her as quite the parable for we lost souls and sinners.

Nate Winchester
Nate Winchester
Tuesday, January 7, AD 2020 10:00am

“Her ancestor was the very last to leave Eden and join Man in his exile, for Cat lingered to see what became of . . . other animals more pure than Man. And it was for Eve’s sake alone that Cat came, and that slowly.” -the Book of Feasts & Seasons by John C Wright

Foxfier
Admin
Tuesday, January 7, AD 2020 11:44am

MOAR MURDER FLOOFS!

Foxfier
Admin
Tuesday, January 7, AD 2020 11:47am

We have two tuxedo barn cats who have been pets since they fit in my hand, and our obnoxious pastel marmalade tiger-stripe “kitten.” (Nearly two.)

It is stinkin adorable to see them try to act like they hate someone, and then curl up on that person when they’re sick, or asleep.

CAM
CAM
Tuesday, January 7, AD 2020 11:49am

Those parents of the babies toddlers are negligent parents! Children should never be left alone or at eye level with any pet be it a cat, kittens, dog or puppy. Pets teach older children responsibility.
Humans should always be the alpha with cats and dogs. Cats and dogs have their own pecking order. It may take awhile for the order to settle out when a new animal is introduced.
After stroking a pet for 12 minutes the human’s blood pressure starts to lower.
People who are cruel to animals often graduate to being cruel to humans.
Having two sons, depending upon where we lived, we’ve had goats, dogs, cats, guinea keets, goslings and chickens, parakeets, fish, ferrets, iguanas, lizards, geckos and snakes.
Also participated in Rhodesian Ridgeback Rescue. The sons are adults and living elsewhere, so I’m done with anything but dogs and cats. Never have had a mouse in the house if I had cats.

Foxfier
Admin
Tuesday, January 7, AD 2020 12:00pm

CAM-
I can’t agree; those cats WERE teaching the kids.
Notable, the cats were behaving as if the human babies were kittens– which is normal for folks who let their pets around the kids.

Our kids have been bitten by our pets, for the same reason they’ve been bitten by us. You cross a line, animals let you know. A well socialized pet– not anthropomorphized!– will recognize the baby as the “baby” class and respond appropriately.

Most of our kids learned to walk by hanging on the cats…

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
Tuesday, January 7, AD 2020 3:30pm

I prefer cats over dogs, but love them both. Had cats from my childhood years onward throughout most of my life. Only recently have I had a dog in the house – a mix of chihuahua & bichon frise: a female. The dog follows me everywhere (dogs know who’s senior in the house), and sleeps with my wife and me. Though she prefers to curl up with my wife in bed, she prefers to sit with me in the living room. And I am always the one to take her for long 3 to 4 mile walks. But unlike the dog, cats don’t make messes in the house and cats use the litter box. And cats are always more cuddly.

Neither dogs nor cats have anything to do with my church attendance. That’s ludicrous (though here at TAC I assume the suggestion was intended as a joke). When I do nightly devotionals (Bible reading, prayer), the cats would sit on the table and sometimes try to turn the pages of the Scripture for me or play with the Rosary beads until I shooed them away, at which point they would lay down and wait for me to finish. The dog sits in a chair adjacent to me and sleeps during my devotionals.

PS, my sister prefers horses, but has lots of cats. She is Pentecostal but is an infrequent church goer. Horses & cats have nothing to do with her lack of attendance. Hypocrisy does, however.

CAM
CAM
Tuesday, January 7, AD 2020 11:25pm

Foxfier, I disagree with you on babies being on the level of cats. A scratched eyeball or disfiguring bite on the face is not worth it. Preschoolers and older children though should understand cause and effect.
My brother, an ER doc, told me that 50% of cat scratches and bites become infected and it happens fast. I learned that statistic the hard way when I spooked the outdoor rectory cat trying to crate her for a spaying/shot appt. Juanita either clawed or bit me on the hand and on the way to the vet my hand blew up, turned pink and stiffened. I called my brother from the car asking for a call in prescription. I dropped the cat off at the appt and picked up the antibiotic. It took a week to heal. I was lucky considering that she was a feral. After 2 years at the new rectory Juanita was up for adoption. She is now mine and very cuddly..
I’ve learned my lesson and wore gloves when I trapped two yellow striped kittens at the dump. Fixed, immunized and socialized Lil Tiger and his sister, Ginger, get along with Tory a kitten dumped at the post office across the highway. Then there’s 3 Alabama cats who don’t like the other four so they live in the farm office.

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