Is it normal to love your kitten so much .. like he is your baby not just a pet?

[haley]

Because i do not crazy love though! .

And my friend told me that's not healthy and he will forget you if your gone and will eat you if you die :S 

But i don't care i will love him even if he hated me 

 

[rad65]

You should weigh in on another thread that was going on recently about whether cat owners can call themselves "cat parents" or not. It's a similar question asked from a different perspective. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/243990/pet-parents-are-not-moms

Even if you have nothing to add, you can see that there are lots of people in that thread who, like you, consider their cats to be like their children and love them as part of the family.

 

[p3 and the king]

Because i do not crazy love though! .

And my friend told me that's not healthy and he will forget you if your gone and will eat you if you die :S 

But i don't care i will love him even if he hated me 

Your friend is ignorant of true cat behavior and copacity to feel.  They do not forget us when we are gone.  They may not be as co-dependent as a dog, but they definitely miss us and they do remember.... Trust me.  When I moved away from home, our family cat Angel never forgot me and would always come up to me and do our usual head butt, he never did that with anyone else, but he never forgot our special thing and sometimes he wouldn't see me but once a year!  And as for eating you when you die... In some cases, yes.  But that's only if you are left there for a long time.  Animal nature says to clean up anything that could attract bad predators. 

It is perfectly normal and perfectly healthy.  Do not listen to non animal lovers.  They don't get it.  They are entitiled to their own opinions but it doesn't mean they know what they are even talking about.

 

[orientalslave]

It's normal to love our pets, but the problem in my mind starts when we forget they are animals and start treating them like humans, and expecting them to behave like humans.  Cats are not little people in fur coats.

Cats do remember us, a friend rehomed a 5yo cat and visited for the first time a year later, and the cat was all over her.  However some cats bond more deeply with people than others.  Mine were certainly very pleased to see me after 2 weeks in a cattery.

However if we are dead and they are very hungry I expect they may well eat us.  Ditto dogs.

 

[smitten4kittens]

I DO love my kitties like they are my babies.  I don't expect them to act human. I love all their adorable feline behavior. Enjoy your kitten.

 

[jlc20m]

I, too, love my adult cats and nearly four-month-old kitten very dearly. They are my fur babies. I love everything about them: their beauty, their innocense, their "catness." There is nothing wrong with that. Enjoy your new baby!

jlc20m

 

 

[sevenwonders]

It's normal to love our pets, but the problem in my mind starts when we forget they are animals and start treating them like humans, and expecting them to behave like humans. 

So, I wonder if you (and many others) would think I have a SERIOUS "problem?"

But then again, perhaps I don't really understand what it means to "treat them like humans."

I don't ask them to read the mail for me, or expect them to understand a joke on "The Big Bang Theory"

or an Interstellar Physics concept on "How the Universe Works."

But then again, many people are not intelligent enough to understand those shows.

On the other hand, I certainly do talk to them, and sometimes they understand.

In fact, they come when called, give a paw, give the other paw, sit up, etc...

and my Kitties understand both English and Japanese versions of these requests.

I feed them as well as or better than I feed myself.

There are VERY few people on the Earth who I'd rather spend time with than my Kitties.

My Kitties would never do anything intentionally to undermine or hurt me...

wish I could say the same for people.

If our house caught fire, I'd make sure my Wife was aware of it,

but I would scramble to gather and get my Kitties out of the house -

she can clearly understand that she needs to leave - they might not.

If a car lost control and was heading for a group consisting of some friends, family and one of my Kitties

and I only had time to save one living being, my friends and family would be on their own.

Here again, I'd make sure they knew the car was coming, but they can understand what would happen

if they fail to move out of the way, whereas my Kitty might not realize the consequences of that mistake.

So, after more careful consideration, I see that I don't "treat them like humans,"

it seems clear that I treat them BETTER than I treat humans.

If you get the impression that my kitties are more important to me than people, you would be absolutely correct.

After reading some articles and doing some careful consideration about finding my "purpose in life" about two years ago,

it became clear to me that the thing I most want to accomplish is helping as many Kitties as possible to have happy, healthy lives.

My long term goal is to be able to have a Rescue for unadoptable Kitties,

something like "Caboodle Ranch" in Florida or "Cat House on the Kings" in California,

although hopefully with far fewer residents, so it does not become unmanageable.

If anyone wants to consider that to be a "problem" or "not normal" that is your right.

Please do not be upset however, if your opinion does not hurt my feelings.  

 

[rad65]

So, I wonder if you (and many others) would think I have a SERIOUS "problem?"

But then again, perhaps I don't really understand what it means to "treat them like humans."

The exact wording was "start treating them like humans, and expecting them to behave like humans." You can treat your cat like a human all you want, but you have to realize that your cat is not capable of reciprocating complex emotions like the love that you are giving it. Basically, remember that they are pets and not people, because it is just as unfair to your cat as it is to you if you expect more from it than it is capable of.

One other thing. You do NOT want to be like Caboodle Ranch in Florida. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/241779/...news-rescue-efforts-underway-to-save-the-cats

 

[callista]

However if we are dead and they are very hungry I expect they may well eat us.  Ditto dogs.

I don't see why people look down on cats for that. Humans have eaten pets and even other humans, when the alternative was starving to death. A cat shut in an empty apartment with a dead owner is in just as desperate a situation as any of the humans who've been forced to eat their dead. If anything, I'd feel sorry for the cat. I don't know that a cat can be traumatized by that kind of experience, because it depends mostly on whether they attach sentimental value to the bodies of loved ones; but they can certainly be traumatized by losing a friend and being left all alone.

One of the keys to a good relationship with your cat is to remember that it is indeed a cat you're interacting with, not a furry human. They think differently. They see the world differently. My cats are, for example, immediately drawn to motion, but they totally ignore the bright colors that tend to catch my attention. Humans have lived in clans, tribes, towns, and groups of all sorts ever since before we were humans, so we need social interaction (to some extent) to be healthy. Cats are solitary hunters; for them, social interaction is a luxury, not a necessity. The need to interact is not as basic for a cat as it is for us. 'Course just because it's not a basic need doesn't mean they don't enjoy it. For humans, the need for new knowledge is not a basic need, but we pursue it pretty intensely anyhow--whether the new information is a new theory of physics of the latest celebrity gossip. So do cats pursue socialization.

If we ever meet aliens, I think the people most well-suited to communicate with them will be the people who know how to communicate with animals. When you connect with a cat, you are talking to a species we share common ancestors with--but those common ancestors quite possibly existed while there were still dinosaurs around. That's an awful lot of time for us to diverge. A cat, essentially, has an alien mind--and that makes it all the more intriguing to us. A cat's differences from humans are what make the cat such a wonderful creature. It seems like such a waste to assume that a cat is just like a human. If you do, you miss such interesting things.

 

[ldg]

One other thing. You do NOT want to be like Caboodle Ranch in Florida. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/241779/...news-rescue-efforts-underway-to-save-the-cats

Not to take the thread off-topic, but did you read that thread on Caboodle Ranch? Yes, having digital medical records connected to all micro-chipped cats would be a great way to start, rather than upgrade to that status. But they were in the process of doing just that at the time of the raid orchestrated by PETA.

 

[rad65]

Not to take the thread off-topic, but did you read that thread on Caboodle Ranch? Yes, having digital medical records connected to all micro-chipped cats would be a great way to start, rather than upgrade to that status. But they were in the process of doing just that at the time of the raid orchestrated by PETA.

I read it when that thread was going on, but no, I didn't reread it before linking it. I guess most of the bad stuff I heard was from other sites that I went to after reading that thread, because I remember the issue being way more serious than that, with diseased and dying cats, no fences to keep out coyotes, cats living in their own filth, etc.

 

[orientalslave]

...
PETA.

PETA are scum.  Some of the criminal acts they have been guildy of in the UK are beyond belief.

 

[sevenwonders]

I read it when that thread was going on, but no, I didn't reread it before linking it. I guess most of the bad stuff I heard was from other sites that I went to after reading that thread, because I remember the issue being way more serious than that, with diseased and dying cats, no fences to keep out coyotes, cats living in their own filth, etc.

I have not read it yet, nor have I read any accounts of the seizure, but I have seen several videos on the internet of Caboodle Ranch.

They had tons of little houses and buildings for the Kitties made to look like a town,

with a Post Office and even a little WalMart.

In the videos I saw, the cats looked healthy and well cared for.

Perhaps they just accumulated too many cats to be able to continue to care for them properly?

On the other hand, if it was a PETA attack, the Kitties might have been just fine -

PETA will twist any situation around as necessary to make their point.

Back to the thread topic...

I am well aware that my Kitties are not human - I love all of their Kitty characteristics.

If they were just little humans in fur outfits, I seriously doubt I'd be a "Cat Person" at all. 

And I agree about them eating a dead owner...

what choice would they have in that situation?

If eating Mom or Dad was the only way to survive, that is what they would have to do,

and anyone should be able to understand that.

 

[ritz]

Back on topic, too, but different question:  am I bad Mom if I start liking the cat I am fostering a bit too much, and wishing my resident cat had some of my foster's personality (very affectionate, calm, submissive) and glad the resident cat does NOT have some of foster ca's habits (meows loudly a LOT)?  I not a parent to humans, but I never bought "love you differently but equally" idea.  I'm afraid Ritz will be irreparably jealous, sad.  It's the first time too Ritz has been around another cat.  Thanks.

 

[sevenwonders]

Back on topic, too, but different question:  am I bad Mom if I start liking the cat I am fostering a bit too much, and wishing my resident cat had some of my foster's personality (very affectionate, calm, submissive) and glad the resident cat does NOT have some of foster ca's habits (meows loudly a LOT)?  I not a parent to humans, but I never bought "love you differently but equally" idea.  I'm afraid Ritz will be irreparably jealous, sad.  It's the first time too Ritz has been around another cat.  Thanks.

No, you are not a bad Mom, unless you quit being nice to Ritz.  

Just keep loving him and give him the attention he deserves,

and it will work out just fine.

All Kitties are different, and some will have wonderful traits while some might have less desirable traits,

and I think it is natural for you to wish that some things would be different... not to worry.

 

[ritz]

Thanks SevenWonders.

Last night Twiddledee immediately jumped up onto the twin size bed with me.  He originally settled by my waist but I showed him where he should settle (by my feet to give Ritz more room) and he went there.  I saw Ritz looking at me from the bedroom door like 'what about me'.  I told her there was enough room in between my legs where she always sleeps but she is uncomfortable being that close to TDee.  So I ended up removing TDee and putting him in the 2nd bedroom.  Ritz joined me immediately in bed.

I need a bigger bed.  And need to think how to handle this situation.

 

[honestymum]

So, I wonder if you (and many others) would think I have a SERIOUS "problem?"

But then again, perhaps I don't really understand what it means to "treat them like humans."

I don't ask them to read the mail for me, or expect them to understand a joke on "The Big Bang Theory"

or an Interstellar Physics concept on "How the Universe Works."

But then again, many people are not intelligent enough to understand those shows.

On the other hand, I certainly do talk to them, and sometimes they understand.

In fact, they come when called, give a paw, give the other paw, sit up, etc...

and my Kitties understand both English and Japanese versions of these requests.

I feed them as well as or better than I feed myself.

There are VERY few people on the Earth who I'd rather spend time with than my Kitties.

My Kitties would never do anything intentionally to undermine or hurt me...

wish I could say the same for people.

If our house caught fire, I'd make sure my Wife was aware of it,

but I would scramble to gather and get my Kitties out of the house -

she can clearly understand that she needs to leave - they might not.

If a car lost control and was heading for a group consisting of some friends, family and one of my Kitties

and I only had time to save one living being, my friends and family would be on their own.

Here again, I'd make sure they knew the car was coming, but they can understand what would happen

if they fail to move out of the way, whereas my Kitty might not realize the consequences of that mistake.

So, after more careful consideration, I see that I don't "treat them like humans,"

it seems clear that I treat them BETTER than I treat humans.

If you get the impression that my kitties are more important to me than people, you would be absolutely correct.

After reading some articles and doing some careful consideration about finding my "purpose in life" about two years ago,

it became clear to me that the thing I most want to accomplish is helping as many Kitties as possible to have happy, healthy lives.

My long term goal is to be able to have a Rescue for unadoptable Kitties,

something like "Caboodle Ranch" in Florida or "Cat House on the Kings" in California,

although hopefully with far fewer residents, so it does not become unmanageable.

If anyone wants to consider that to be a "problem" or "not normal" that is your right.

Please do not be upset however, if your opinion does not hurt my feelings.

I love your way of thinking, I'm a new cat owner and I feel the same way ....

 

[astrael]

Well, technically, it's the same chemical reaction in the brain/body. The endorphins, oxytocin, serotonin, etc. So the physical reaction is the same whether the cause is animal or human (or whatever). Many people get that feeling even more from animals than humans, because animal interactions are simpler and more straightforward. There's complexities to human relationships that can diminish the good feelings.

But, in terms of how our brains works, that love and attachment is chemically identical. And how we're supposed to feel. However, how we express that affection is based more on past experiences. Goodness knows I have more patience with cats than I do humans. But I haven't been hurt by cats the way I have been by humans. (Loss hurts equally though)

So, from a strictly physical/chemical standpoint, it is actually completely normal to love your kitty that much. It's how we evolved. :-) It's also why pets often improve health so much, they offer those feelings often which does the body a LOT of good. Hope that helps.

 

[sargon]

Humans need to form emotional bonds, and in the modern world, pets are one way to do that (a very old way, as humans have bonded with some animal such as dogs and horses for millenia). int he modern world, cats have joined horses and dogs, because our need for emotional and tactile connections is so often unmet, and cats are very good at meeting those needs.

Cats, while not human, can clearly form a reciprocal emotional connection, as demonstrated in this video of my cat greeting me after I was out for the afternoon today. I'm sure that what goes on in her mind isn't exactly what went on in mine (though I suspect that animal emotions often are closer to ours than we usually credit, since the emotional parts of our brains are some of the more primative...), but I challenge any one to watch the video to say my cat doesn't love me back.

For those of you who have seen my videos of Freya saying "hello" in English, I'm aware that this is far from her clearest pronounciation (either time she said hello in the video), but she was sleepy, and I posted this as an example of cat emotions, not their ability to learn to learn human words similar to parrots.