A few months ago I wrote a post on people humanizing pets, reaching such levels of retardation that they refer to animals the same way they would have referred to kids. The leftist dirt rag Wikipedia is playing along as well, unsurprisingly. In the discussion section, I made the following comment, on which I am going to expand on:
My grandmother, for instance, had a much more utilitarian approach towards her pets. She had a few cats but she did not view them as replacement children. To her, cats had a reason to exist because they killed mice, and because she did a bit of farming, mice were sometimes an issue. The cats seemed to learn. One of them, in particular, brought dead mice and dropped them in front of her house, sometimes after proudly having carried them for long distances, which was pretty amusing. When any of her cats was nearing their end, they got euthanized and that was it. Today, in contrast, some women think they should be entitled to “grievance leave” if their cat dies.
There was another aspect towards pet ownership of my grandparents: There was obviously a strong utilitarian aspect. A cat had to earn its keep by killing mice, for instance. However, the level of exchange was much different to what in particular a modern woman offers her cat. My grandmother put out a bowl of fresh milk and some cat food every evening, yes outside the house, and the cast in the neighborhood sometimes just showed up. There was also a bowl of cat food indoor but I think this was only dry food. This was basically it. The cats were free to roam. If they were around, they were around and if not then not. Sometimes, they disappeared for days. I am not even sure whether my actually owned all those cats. Perhaps some used to be strays. On that note, it sometimes happened that a new stray cat would appear, perhaps because people from a nearby city just dropped off a cat they no longer wanted to care for.
Sometimes, the cats were around, and often they were not. I do not think that my grandfather cared much about these cats at all, but even my grandmother did not seem particularly worried if one of the cats did not show up for days. This did not strike me as negligent at all. Of course, in those days there was a lot less traffic, in particular in their small village, so there was no issue with cats just freely roaming around the area. However, my grandmother felt responsible for these cats, so when one got sick or hurt, she took care of it. I recall that one cat got hit by a car once, limping around the house. They took her to a veterinarian and had this injury properly treated. This was the first time I saw a cat in bandages. Also, when the cats got older and visibly weaker, she took extra care of them. I recall one of her cats having had a particular liking for tuna, so in his last few weeks, this cat got plenty of that too eat, as well as some kind of pain medication she shot into its mouth with a syringe. She did not tell me what this cat suffered from, but when I was a bit older, I managed to put the pieces together. It was likely some kind of cancer.
The approach my grandparents had towards their cats struck me as entirely natural. The cats lived their lives next to them, and everybody involved fulfilled their part in an unwritten social contract. The contrast to today’s women could not be starker. It is probably not at all unusual that cats cost as much as kids, at least in a country with free tuition. My grandparents did not spend any money on cat trees, cat beds, cat toys, gourmet cat food, or animal health insurance. The cats simply sat down on any soft surface and they sharpened their claws on the trees in the garden because they were well-trained and got sprayed with water if they wanted to abuse the furniture in the house for that purpose. They learn quickly.
There was a healthy emotional distance between the cats and my grandparents. I also do not recall anyone in their household ever talking to their cats in some kind of stupid baby talk, which is something I have observed a lot of women do. I really wonder where this comes from. My best guess is that this is a manifestation of their hijacked brain. In the past, women would have had two or three kids by the time they reach their late 20s. Today’s modern woman, on the other hand, has to spend her prime fertile years in an office, polishing PowerPoint slides, but her natural instincts are strong. She does not want kids, perhaps because not suitable guy is around as all those big-dicked billionaires are out of town again, so her motherly instincts lead her to focus on cats instead.
Interestingly, my mother has absolutely no interest in cats. When I was a kid, I asked for one, because I liked hanging out with my grandmother’s cats. My mother, obviously, told me that if I liked cats so much, I only had to take a short walk to my grandmother, or pat them when I come across them outside. Her experience was that cats were often in the way and more of a nuisance. Well, we did not have a mice problem, so it was not clear what purpose a cat could fulfill in their household. Thus, cats were utterly useless to her and it was perhaps not surprising that she likened them to “oversized rats”. As we now know, this was some very good intuition because cats carry many diseases. Just some years ago, it was discovered that the cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii, if it latches onto a human, causes behavioral changes, such as increasing impulsivity and ignoring long-term consequences of one’s actions. Thus, this is a vicious cycle, i.e. maladjusted childless women who get cats may become even more maladjusted, and less marriageable, as a consequence of cat ownership. Some women in the past may have known instinctively that they should not get emotionally attached to cats, even if they fulfilled an obvious need such as killing mice. Today, no woman could say this out aloud.
Aaron,
“I also do not recall anyone in their household ever talking to their cats in some kind of stupid baby talk, which is something I have observed a lot of women do.”
A lot of females celebrate their pets birthday. I’ve seen quite a few women host birthday parties for their pets especially dogs. This is not exclusive to women. I’ve seen men do this as well. I can understand the love a person has for their dog. I had dogs growing up.
I think owner-animal relationships with a dog are different, at least the kind of dogs men get. There is a clear utilitarian aspect to it. In contrast, many women get lap dogs that once again serve as a replacement for the kids she did not have.
Long time dog owner here. Dogs are wired to operate in clear pack hierarchies, and we humans have inserted ourselves at the top of that hierarchy. To a dog, you (and your family) are part of the pack. That should give you a hint of what kind of relationship you need to develop with a dog.
They are usually very happy with clear leadership, they are not to be treated like children and pampered (or perhaps we should even treat children a little more like dogs)
@Yarara
Its becoming somewhat common to pamper your dog in the West. There’s businesses that cater to dog owners where you can order a custom made birthday cake for your dog, there’s also dog resorts where you can drop off your dog if you are going on vacation.
To be fair,I have been witnessing the phenomenon of Mothers eventually taking a cat/small dog under their wing anyway,because of their failure to properly raise the kids and establish a healthy and fulfilling relationship with them.
I have seen this in several of my relatives and,unfortunately,even (or “especially” rather) my own mother.
Personally,I view toxic women (and,though it shames me to admit it,I definitely place my mother in that category. She is so goddamn blind to her own character shortcomings that its not even funny. I’ve already began to suspect some degree of narcissism in her) turning into cat ladies instead of dreadful mothers who screw up their kids (A cousin of mine is on his way to becoming one of those meme’d video gaming basement dwellers. Yes,his mother also eventually got herself a dog) to be a blessing. I personally wish my relatives and folks jumped straight ahead into becoming pet owners instead of starting out as parental failures *then* owning pets after they realize they’ve failed to fulfill their roles appropriately.
My mom has also dropped hints that she may have “oopsied” my dad. I began to suspect this with the way she phrased what she told me long ago when she was talking about my dad,that “He’s accepted that he’s a Father”. If my suspicions are correct,it definitely explains why neither of them turned out to be great parents,to put it lightly.
I don’t want to play contrarian here,but I feel its worth voicing the other side of the fence. I definitely don’t think all women (or people rather..) should or deserve to be mothers/parents. For all we know,the cat ladies we observe may well have just turned out to be toxic and dreadful mothers,if they had the opportunity. Sadly,raising children to become emotionally healthy and productive members of society is a lot more complicated than raising a house cat.
GLAS,I think you would also relate to my POV here,given the kind of background you came from.
I wonder how much of parental failure comes down to the character flaws of the parents themselves vs just raising them in the wrong area. I have made the assertion before that I believe a healthy school environment and good peers probably plays a more fundamental role in your children’s development than the parents themselves.
Yes Maou, I understand, friend. My mom later in life started to reflect on my dad’s positive qualities much more. After years of shit talk. She had us convinced he was a monster, but he sincerely was not. He was the only man who ever loved her for God’s sake. Damaged from a WWII veteran dad. These things tend to linger for three generations PTSD was not even treated back then. My mom was convinced she would find someone better, yet she never did. We lived in nice neighborhoods but too much moving. Too much starting over.
I’d like to add that my mom is incredibly thin skinned. ………but can dish it out like no other.
My mom loves to decorate. When I’d visit her in October, she had signs reading, “Beware! Witches ahead!” Or, “Let the witching begin!”
I had to stop myself from laughing.
……..I know…….I’m bad.
I’m very stern with the dog, but he loves me to pieces. We need to start treating women like that hehehehe…..
I avoid cats and they avoid me. Some households do indeed seem to be magnetic for strays. I do remember reading about some kind of brain disease that can develop with humans who have cats indoors too much. But yeah, they take care of the lizards and rodents. I also read they deliver the dead varmints to basically brag about what they are capable of.
Now horses? That’s a cool animal! Too expensive tho 🙁
I think that brain disease you mention is exactly the kind of thing Toxoplasma gondii does.
In lesser animals, i.e. the ones usually eaten or hunted by cats directly or indirectly in the food chain, the protozoan makes them practically suicidal. It still amazes me how such a simple organism can develop such a complex adaptation, I guess we’ll discover more about it in the future.
Any human unfortunate enough to catch toxoplasmosis is now developing a healthy mistrust of cats. They don’t even need our trust, or our affection, unlike dogs. They just need some shelter and some sure food for when they can’t roam around and hunt with other cats.
Yes, I looked it up and that is indeed it. Also cats rub their scent on humans to signal to other cats that the human belongs to them. No other felines can exploit their human. Kinda like a woman leaving a lipstick mark on your face, neck, or clothing.