Crazy Cat Ladies (The strange and strong bond between women and cats)

Forbes ^ | 10-15-09 | Kiri Blakeley

[Dysart]

Courtney Kistler is a 28-year-old single gal who lives in New York City. She's sociable, outgoing and attractive. But that hasn't stopped Kistler's mother from worrying that her daughter, a freelance marketer, will never catch a husband--because she owns three cats.

"[My parents] think it's a little weird," she says of her multiple cat ownership. In fact, Kistler's mother has been known to ask her cat-loving daughter: "What if you want to bring a guy home? What would he think?"

While Kistler's last boyfriend wasn't too fond of her felines (he refused to pet them), the two men she dated before that (who both grew up with cats) were fine with them. Still, her mother worries. Says Kistler: "She's bought into the stereotype, and what am I going to do? I can't deny it exists."

Laura Adamson, a 23-year-old graduate student in Gainesville, Fla. recently learned some of the negative responses that can befall a single woman with a cat. After she adopted a kitten that had been tied up in a pillowcase tossed to the side of the road, Adamson began telling people her new pet's miracle story. Instead of being awed, some of her listeners called her a "crazy cat lady." She adds: "Usually they follow it up with 'Do you take the cat for walks?' or 'Does it eat at the table with you?' "

[Fawn]

and you’re a cheapskate. lol

[bvw]

It is true. I had TWO on my paper route as an eleven year old.

[brytlea]

Exactly!

[brytlea]

LOL Fawn, you’re so funny!

[brytlea]

Could be, I can’t untangle cause and effect.

[brytlea]

I am surprised how many children are afraid of my golden retriever. Perhaps they are afraid of getting yellow hair all over their clothes!

[brytlea]

If memory serves me (and sometimes it doesn’t) a calico male cat is either an XXY (and probably sterile) or perhaps a chimera.

[Slings and Arrows]

[Niteflyr]

People are stupid mostly! if I were single and a guy came a long who didn’t like my cats then he could just move on to the next person because I’d know quick that he wasn’t worth having around.

When dating I have the same feeling about cat women...not worth having around...they are always a few bricks shy of a full load...:o)

[Niteflyr]

whoops I meant to say THREE cats! ah well, that still isn’t many to me....it would be another thing if she had a houseful of them. Good test for bringing a date around!

Three cats IS a houseful to me....

[Niteflyr]

There is a chapter in M. Scott Peck’s “Road Less Traveled” about people that love pets just a little too much...it is a psychological problem...a need for control...problem with relating to humans...etc...
I had a friend who was going to have one of his cats put to sleep because it didn’t use the litter box as was getting old...he fancied himself the pet lover but was really a total control freak.

[Bigg Red]

I think some kids are just afraid of big dogs. Your retriever is probably as gentle as my lab.

[brytlea]

Yes, I guess that’s it. I’m sure there’s a reason, maybe they have been bitten or menaced by a big dog. I was always drawn to animals as a kid. But I find a lot of people who draw AWAY from my dog (I keep her leashed off my property and I don’t let her approach strangers unless they show an interest). It just surprises me how many people shrink away from her.

[brytlea]

Almost nothing stinks worse than cat urine. Perhaps if you’re around cats a lot you get immune to the smell. It’s even gross if they just use the garden as a litter box. Every time it rains? Eau De Kitty Cat.

[humblegunner]

I have two cats.
I’m not a crazy cat lady.

Maybe a little crazy, but for sure I ain’t no lady.

[boatbums]

I breaks my heart to think of losing a precious animal. We had to have our adopted stray, Emily, who we had for 15 years, put to sleep because she suffered from cancer. She was my best friend! I am consoled in knowing that the life we were able to give her was so much better than a life on the cruel streets. She was well cared for and very well loved, she had a great life and we cherish her memory.

I know they don't live forever, so I feel whatever we can do to help them and protect and love them for the short time they are in our lives the more they enrich ours. We now have two (6 years and 1 year - today - Happy Birthday, Beaux!)

[brytlea]

What a beautiful cat!
I know it’s hard to lose them. We had a cat when I was a kid, she was the funniest thing. We gave her to another family when we moved away (hey, I was a kid, it wasn’t my choice!) and she later died of feline leukemia. I was sad even tho I had not seen her for a couple of years.

[Fawn]

Nothing smells worse than cat urine? HAve you noticed your doggie breath recently?? :)

[brytlea]

Yes, she loves to breathe in my face. But, no, I will take even BAD dog breath to cat urine. And the nice thing is, no one else has to smell my dog’s breath, but cat urine, if they make a habit of using people’s gardens for toilets EVERYONE gets to share the joy. :)

[Fawn]

I have cats behind my house and never smell the urine....I suppose if you have 25 cats peeing in one place outside it might smell....
Thing about dog owners, there whole house smells bad.... My one friend has 2 dogs, sheets all over the furniture and on the rug...still smells like dog when you walk in the door or in her car. I remember as a kid how we would wash our dogs and the first thing they do is look for a poop pile and roll in it. Cats are very clean and keep themselve clean. You can't win this argument....dogs smell in a house is 100 times worse than any cat litter box.