Our team is red hot, your team ain't doodley squat!
January 18, 2019 7:47 PM Subscribe
Most right-thinking people agree that dogs are better than cats. Some people—those who have been infected with toxoplasmosis, probably—believe cats are better than dogs. Regardless, they can be taught to get along (the animals, that is).
Come now, it's not like it's Sit vs. Stand.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:59 PM on January 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:59 PM on January 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
Cats befool, dogs drool. It's science.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:06 PM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:06 PM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
i mean...and I don't want to needlessly futz but...swans? or maybe whales? and also if...
don't sell yourself short, adam...
posted by es_de_bah at 8:09 PM on January 18, 2019
don't sell yourself short, adam...
posted by es_de_bah at 8:09 PM on January 18, 2019
Our long-time cat just swatted at the new dog on Day One, drew a little blood, and now that they know who is the boss, they get along just fine. They are almost friends.
posted by kozad at 8:13 PM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by kozad at 8:13 PM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
They totes can be friends. You just gotta start them young.
posted by teleri025 at 8:18 PM on January 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by teleri025 at 8:18 PM on January 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Jack Byrnes: Greg, how come you don't like cats?DeNiro's spiel on cats and dogs from Meet the Parents. Not the first time I've identified with something specifically meant to identify a character as a crank, won't be the last.
Greg Focker: I don't not like cats. I-I just - I just prefer dogs. I mean, I'm just more of a dog kind of, you know. Come home, wagging their little tails, happy to see you kind of...
Jack Byrnes: You need that assurance, do you? You prefer an emotionally shallow animal?
Greg Focker: I...
Jack Byrnes: You see, Greg, when you yell at a dog, his tail will go between his legs and cover his genitals, his ears will go down. A dog is very easy to break, but cats make you work for their affection. They don't sell out the way dogs do.
posted by Zed at 8:19 PM on January 18, 2019 [15 favorites]
teleri025 is right. We had cats and a dog. The preexisting cats never cared for the dog and the new cats were fine. The dog didn't care, he just wanted to bother the cats.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:20 PM on January 18, 2019
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:20 PM on January 18, 2019
*raises a disdainful eyebrow at this thread's clearly canine-ist agenda, and strolls off to the kitchen to see if the water bowl has been refreshed yet*
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:33 PM on January 18, 2019 [19 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:33 PM on January 18, 2019 [19 favorites]
WHAT EVEN
Toxo has been all over the news in recent years, since it became known that the parasite manipulates people’s behavior. Maybe most interestingly and notoriously, it seems to make men more introverted, suspicious, unattractive to women, and oblivious to the way others see them. Infected women, inversely, have been shown to be more outgoing, trusting, sexually adventurous, attractive to men, and image-conscious. Infected men tend to break more rules than their uninfected peers, and infected women tend to pay them more heed. Infected men and women are 2.5 times more likely to have traffic accidents, more likely to develop schizophrenia, and more likely to engage in self-directed violence.
posted by Glinn at 8:35 PM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Toxo has been all over the news in recent years, since it became known that the parasite manipulates people’s behavior. Maybe most interestingly and notoriously, it seems to make men more introverted, suspicious, unattractive to women, and oblivious to the way others see them. Infected women, inversely, have been shown to be more outgoing, trusting, sexually adventurous, attractive to men, and image-conscious. Infected men tend to break more rules than their uninfected peers, and infected women tend to pay them more heed. Infected men and women are 2.5 times more likely to have traffic accidents, more likely to develop schizophrenia, and more likely to engage in self-directed violence.
posted by Glinn at 8:35 PM on January 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
FPPs shouldn't push a particular slant, I'm opening a MeTa.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:36 PM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 8:36 PM on January 18, 2019 [14 favorites]
Most right-thinking people agree that dogs are better than cats.
I can't even
posted by lefty lucky cat at 8:37 PM on January 18, 2019 [23 favorites]
I can't even
posted by lefty lucky cat at 8:37 PM on January 18, 2019 [23 favorites]
I'm opening a MeTa.
TIL Chrysostom is a shill for Big Cat.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:39 PM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
TIL Chrysostom is a shill for Big Cat.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:39 PM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
Currently one cat is in my lap and the other has her tail draped around my neck like a scarf. It's 8°F and snowing outside, and neither cat needs a walk before bed. If loving toxoplasmosis is wrong then arglfrkdkxkeiskxcgmtjrcccmxms
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 8:46 PM on January 18, 2019 [59 favorites]
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 8:46 PM on January 18, 2019 [59 favorites]
Link Wray, ladies and gentlemen...
posted by jim in austin at 9:13 PM on January 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by jim in austin at 9:13 PM on January 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yeah, as a committed member of Team Dog here I can't really get with the "dog people are better than cat people, amirite?" framing. Even as a "joke," because, like, you can't always tell anymore.
Anyway, if I weren't stupidly allergic to cats I would be on both teams. I think I would appreciate both a mutual stink-eye with the cat when I was grouchy in the morning, and a tail-wagging greeting from the dog when I got home in the evening. And yes, cats cuddling with dogs is the cutest thing ever.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 9:22 PM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
Anyway, if I weren't stupidly allergic to cats I would be on both teams. I think I would appreciate both a mutual stink-eye with the cat when I was grouchy in the morning, and a tail-wagging greeting from the dog when I got home in the evening. And yes, cats cuddling with dogs is the cutest thing ever.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 9:22 PM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
They totes can be friends. You just gotta start them young.
Oh, I don't know. Peter and Tribble met as two grown adults, and look at them now!
(Incidentally, the dog is the one who has decided what cats get to be in dog/cat friendships, and she is not buddies with the other four cats in the house--she just cheerfully ignores them most of the time and occasionally steals their food. At least two of the others have repeatedly made overtures of friendship, including my roomie's enormous tomcat, but she's sticking with Pete as her lone kitty buddy.
The dog has rules about who can touch her with their feet (no one except Pete, sometimes) and who can snuggle with her and in what circumstances, and who is allowed in her crate and when. The cats, by contrast, include one gleeful socialite who walks on a leash with delight and swaggers up to strange cats, dogs, and humans to say hello and one sweet face-licking yellow goofus who recently needed surgery for eating everything under the sun.
The personality stereotypes... amuse me, just a bit.
posted by sciatrix at 9:34 PM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
Oh, I don't know. Peter and Tribble met as two grown adults, and look at them now!
(Incidentally, the dog is the one who has decided what cats get to be in dog/cat friendships, and she is not buddies with the other four cats in the house--she just cheerfully ignores them most of the time and occasionally steals their food. At least two of the others have repeatedly made overtures of friendship, including my roomie's enormous tomcat, but she's sticking with Pete as her lone kitty buddy.
The dog has rules about who can touch her with their feet (no one except Pete, sometimes) and who can snuggle with her and in what circumstances, and who is allowed in her crate and when. The cats, by contrast, include one gleeful socialite who walks on a leash with delight and swaggers up to strange cats, dogs, and humans to say hello and one sweet face-licking yellow goofus who recently needed surgery for eating everything under the sun.
The personality stereotypes... amuse me, just a bit.
posted by sciatrix at 9:34 PM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by sciatrix at 9:35 PM on January 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
TIL Chrysostom is a shill for Big Cat.
Do not fall for this blatant attempt of Johnny Wallflower's to get us to call him Big Dog.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:36 PM on January 18, 2019 [17 favorites]
Do not fall for this blatant attempt of Johnny Wallflower's to get us to call him Big Dog.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:36 PM on January 18, 2019 [17 favorites]
Oh God, I just flashed back to those stupid t-shirts (which I guess are still around, somehow).
posted by Chrysostom at 9:44 PM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 9:44 PM on January 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
Two Huskies, 4 cats, small house. They figured it out. Once in a while I find Stevie the cat’s head in Maya the husky’s mouth.. but , for the most part, they get along just fine. Right now, dogs are asleep, cats are scattered around the house. Ray, cat with no eyes, is curled up next to me. Honestly, all of the resident four footers are essential to my happiness.
posted by HuronBob at 11:01 PM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by HuronBob at 11:01 PM on January 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
It's an old joke, but I still laugh when I run across someone hauling out the difference between how cats think of us, and how dogs do.
Dog: The human brings me food every day. It must be a god!
Cat: The human brings me food every day. I must be a god!
And it's not too far off from what I always explained as why I preferred cats myself, though I have no beef with you if you prefer our canine friends. A dogs worships you. A cat likes you. And I wish to be no creature's god. I'd rather have a friend, not a subject, thank-you-very-much.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 11:10 PM on January 18, 2019 [21 favorites]
Dog: The human brings me food every day. It must be a god!
Cat: The human brings me food every day. I must be a god!
And it's not too far off from what I always explained as why I preferred cats myself, though I have no beef with you if you prefer our canine friends. A dogs worships you. A cat likes you. And I wish to be no creature's god. I'd rather have a friend, not a subject, thank-you-very-much.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 11:10 PM on January 18, 2019 [21 favorites]
Preferring dogs makes you more like the typical Republican.
posted by pracowity at 11:43 PM on January 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by pracowity at 11:43 PM on January 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
YOU ARE NO LONGER MY FRIEND MR WALLFLOWER
posted by prismatic7 at 11:45 PM on January 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by prismatic7 at 11:45 PM on January 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm often very afraid I have toxoplasmosis. I am socially isolated, rule-breaking, and unattractive to women. Obviously, there could be a thousand other explanations.
I'd like to get tested but here in Canada, tests are exorbitantly expensive when done privately, and impossible to request from you doctor. Does curing it later in life cure the symptoms, anyways? If I've lived my whole life like this, what happens if I get the antibiotics to kill it?
posted by constantinescharity at 11:48 PM on January 18, 2019
I'd like to get tested but here in Canada, tests are exorbitantly expensive when done privately, and impossible to request from you doctor. Does curing it later in life cure the symptoms, anyways? If I've lived my whole life like this, what happens if I get the antibiotics to kill it?
posted by constantinescharity at 11:48 PM on January 18, 2019
Obviously, there could be a thousand other explanations.
But you blame the cat. (Which is fine. I bet the cat blames you.)
posted by pracowity at 12:08 AM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
But you blame the cat. (Which is fine. I bet the cat blames you.)
posted by pracowity at 12:08 AM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'd also like to add that I have OCD, whereas no one else in my family has OCD. One of the studies I found notes that 40-odd % of patients with OCD were found to be infected with toxoplasmosis.
I'm being serious here, does anyone know how to get tested in Canada? I can't find anything through a cursory googling.
posted by constantinescharity at 12:08 AM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm being serious here, does anyone know how to get tested in Canada? I can't find anything through a cursory googling.
posted by constantinescharity at 12:08 AM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
A brief history of domestication.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:15 AM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:15 AM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm 99.9999999% Team Cat - but then, I discovered Boston Terriers.
Holy snot do I love Boston Terriers. Tiny, farty clowns. Like me.
So I'm Team Cat, and Team Boston Terrier.
posted by spinifex23 at 12:45 AM on January 19, 2019 [7 favorites]
Holy snot do I love Boston Terriers. Tiny, farty clowns. Like me.
So I'm Team Cat, and Team Boston Terrier.
posted by spinifex23 at 12:45 AM on January 19, 2019 [7 favorites]
I suspect there is an interesting study, on whether Toxo infected people tend to be disproportionately represented amongst those eaten by lions, awaiting funding. (Or indeed, those training lions).
posted by rongorongo at 12:58 AM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by rongorongo at 12:58 AM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I was convinced that I had toxoplasmosis for years, until a test confirmed that I do not. Apparently you do not need parasites to be burdened with a personality like mine.
Dogs appeal to the side of me that is excessively chatty. Cats appeal to the side of me that wants to live in a house constructed entirely out of reading nooks.
I love dogs, but cats are much more my speed as day-to-day companions.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 1:07 AM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
Dogs appeal to the side of me that is excessively chatty. Cats appeal to the side of me that wants to live in a house constructed entirely out of reading nooks.
I love dogs, but cats are much more my speed as day-to-day companions.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 1:07 AM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
TIL Chrysostom is a shill for Big Cat.
I will cheerfully admit that I’m in the pocket of little Big Cat, because my cats are fairly little. Will Doggy Wallflower admit his own bias? (Note: Doggy Wallflower is related to, but clearly different from, the autumnal Johnny Skullflower and the occasional Nega-Johnny Wallflower from the Evil Dimension.)
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:14 AM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
I will cheerfully admit that I’m in the pocket of little Big Cat, because my cats are fairly little. Will Doggy Wallflower admit his own bias? (Note: Doggy Wallflower is related to, but clearly different from, the autumnal Johnny Skullflower and the occasional Nega-Johnny Wallflower from the Evil Dimension.)
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:14 AM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
Yay, we're talking about dogs and cats! Here's my two monsters picking on each other (they're actually suuuper BFFs)
posted by AzraelBrown at 5:47 AM on January 19, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by AzraelBrown at 5:47 AM on January 19, 2019 [7 favorites]
I have both.
We keep a bowl of tooth cleaning dog biscuits on the sideboard that the dog gets each night.
The cat seems to like them as well and it is fun watching the cat pick one out of the bowl and drop it on the floor for the dog and then take one for himself.
posted by Burn_IT at 6:29 AM on January 19, 2019 [12 favorites]
We keep a bowl of tooth cleaning dog biscuits on the sideboard that the dog gets each night.
The cat seems to like them as well and it is fun watching the cat pick one out of the bowl and drop it on the floor for the dog and then take one for himself.
posted by Burn_IT at 6:29 AM on January 19, 2019 [12 favorites]
I'm on Team All the Mammals and currently have two cats and a small fluffy cat-sized dog, and the cats (both females, 12 years age difference) are more accepting of the dog than they are of each other. I recall that the dog did a little bit of cat chasing when we first got him about 5 years ago but he's basically submissive and now just occasionally tries and fails to get them to play dog games by wagging his tail enthusiastically.
posted by drlith at 8:38 AM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by drlith at 8:38 AM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
Until very recently, I had both. There's nothing quite like waking up in the morning with 2 cats and 2 dogs smooshing you.
posted by MissySedai at 11:58 AM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by MissySedai at 11:58 AM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
pracowity: Preferring dogs makes you more like the typical Republican.
I DEMAND SATISFACTION, SIRRAH *throws glove*
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:23 PM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
I DEMAND SATISFACTION, SIRRAH *throws glove*
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:23 PM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
I actually like cats almost as much as dogs, but I have a brand to maintain.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:27 PM on January 19, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:27 PM on January 19, 2019 [7 favorites]
*continues to munch on popcorn*
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 1:41 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 1:41 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
We've had both off and on here at Chez Seahorses. Currently we have two cats, one of whom thinks she's a dog. Generally, we've found that we like our dogs catlike and our cats doglike. Which makes it very difficult to pick a team...
posted by Hold your seahorses at 2:03 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Hold your seahorses at 2:03 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
I don't know if I'm a dog person or a cat person, but I know I'm not a people person.
posted by The otter lady at 2:43 PM on January 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by The otter lady at 2:43 PM on January 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
Gentle reminder that while right-thinking cat people like to tease him as "that dog guy on the internet" Johnny Wallflower has also posted the lion's share (see what I did there?) of cat posts to the blue.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 2:55 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by ActingTheGoat at 2:55 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
I’ve had both but never at the same time. Right now I am on team dog but my loyalty is weak.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:25 PM on January 19, 2019
posted by Dip Flash at 7:25 PM on January 19, 2019
Team Cat here. Sisters. Someone sent me this. I laughed. Cats are Democrats, Dogs are ...
posted by Nosey Mrs. Rat at 8:05 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Nosey Mrs. Rat at 8:05 PM on January 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Yeah Wallflower, why you gotta post such a fighty post?? You lucky me an my teem iz too sleeping to get clawz out!!1!1
posted by a humble nudibranch at 9:30 PM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by a humble nudibranch at 9:30 PM on January 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
I was unaware nudibranchs came equipped with claws...
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:48 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:48 PM on January 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
Fooled ya with all those cute flirty ruffles ~~~
posted by a humble nudibranch at 12:20 AM on January 20, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by a humble nudibranch at 12:20 AM on January 20, 2019 [6 favorites]
I’m obligated to state I’m Team Cat. (I have to say it, or the cat in my lap won’t retract her claws, which are currently digging into my kneecap.)
Grew up with both, as did my wife; we both like dogs (and we’ve considered getting one) but the kid is fully Team Cat. He wants to grow up to BE a cat. His dream is to engineer a device that will allow future people to experience life as a cat. So, yeah, just cats in our house for now.
My favorite cat joke! How can you tell if your cat is being an asshole?
It’s awake.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:34 AM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
Grew up with both, as did my wife; we both like dogs (and we’ve considered getting one) but the kid is fully Team Cat. He wants to grow up to BE a cat. His dream is to engineer a device that will allow future people to experience life as a cat. So, yeah, just cats in our house for now.
My favorite cat joke! How can you tell if your cat is being an asshole?
It’s awake.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:34 AM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
it seems to make men more introverted, suspicious, unattractive to women, and oblivious to the way others see them. Infected women, inversely, have been shown to be more outgoing, trusting, sexually adventurous, attractive to men, and image-conscious. Infected men tend to break more rules than their uninfected peers, and infected women tend to pay them more heed.
So it sounds from this part of the description that only straight people get infected, or have their behavior altered when infected. That means I'm safe!
posted by bile and syntax at 8:56 AM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
So it sounds from this part of the description that only straight people get infected, or have their behavior altered when infected. That means I'm safe!
posted by bile and syntax at 8:56 AM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
I like dogs, but....here's an old Slate take pointing out high correlation between toxoplasmosis rates in population and success in soccer. Ah, but correlation does not equal causation you say?? Shut up! Cats make you good at soccer, it's science! It was written eight years ago, so it's also history! Cats edge a win! Case closed!
posted by grandiloquiet at 9:15 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by grandiloquiet at 9:15 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
There's no possible way of answering that argument, I'm afraid. I was only hoping you would not make that particular point, but I can see you're more than a match for me!
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:33 AM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:33 AM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
All I know is that I mistrust people who like neither cats nor dogs.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:05 PM on January 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:05 PM on January 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 7:54 PM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]