[Serious] Why do people who spend lots of time with cats often go crazy?

[WhatchaCallKitty]

Let's face it, it's a stereotype.

Why do you think this is so, and is it true?

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

I don't think this is necessarily the case, I think that people who seclude themselves and become hermits are probable to break; mentally, whether there are cats involved or not.

 

[WhatchaCallKitty]

I don't think this is necessarily the case, I think that people who seclude themselves and become hermits are probable to break; mentally, whether there are cats involved or not.

There is definitely a stereotype that ppl who like cats a lot are crazy.

"Crazy cat woman" etc.

 

[Talien]

It started with someone who lives alone with a huge number of Cats in a house that stinks so bad of ammonia and feces that they must be crazy to live there. It's changed over the years to just "someone who lives alone with Cats".

 

[WhatchaCallKitty]

It started with someone who lives alone with a huge number of Cats in a house that stinks so bad of ammonia and feces that they must be crazy to live there. It's changed over the years to just "someone who lives alone with Cats".

Maybe.

Or maybe it's toxoplasmosis. Do you know that rodents infected with it become attracted to cats, and so they approach them when they otherwise wouldn't, and get eaten? Cat poop/toxicoplasmosis is like a magnet to cats for mice/rat brains (serious, Google it).

 

[KittyFriday]

You can get toxoplasmosis from raw meat too. And it is usually asymptomatic. Most people who get infected don't even know they've been infected.

To be 100% honest I feel totally sane with my cat. It's my dog that is driving me to crazy town.

 

[Azazel]

I don’t think there is any basis to your thread title that people who spend lots of time with cats go crazy. The “crazy cat lady” stereotype is not a classified mental illness.

 

[WhatchaCallKitty]

I don’t think there is any basis to your thread title that people who spend lots of time with cats go crazy. The “crazy cat lady” stereotype is not a classified mental illness.

It's definitely a stereotype. Not saying it applies to everyone.

 

[Azazel]

It's definitely a stereotype. Not saying it applies to everyone.

Sure, there is a stereotype of being a crazy cat lady if you love your cats the way a dog person loves their dog. I think the better question to ask is why does society think it’s crazy to love a cat?

There’s also another level of it where people hoard cats in unsanitary conditions that are unhealthy for both the cats and the human. Yes, this scenario might be considered “crazy.” But I think the victims here are the cats.

 

[WhatchaCallKitty]

Sure, there is a stereotype of being a crazy cat lady if you love your cats the way a dog person loves their dog. I think the better question to ask is why does society think it’s crazy to love a cat?

There’s also another level of it where people hoard cats in unsanitary conditions that are unhealthy for both the cats and the human. Yes, this scenario might be considered “crazy.” But I think the victims here are the cats.

Never thought about it that way, and you're right.

 

[kittyluv387]

I don't think cats make people crazy. Just some already crazy people get cats and since the US doesn't like cats people started stereotyping people who have cats.

 

[Willowy]

Misogyny has included hatred toward cats and single women for at least hundreds of years, possibly thousands. Just ask Rudyard Kipling .

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Stereotype =/= reality. Do you think all women are hysterical? All pitbulls are agressive? All people from the south are hillbillies? There is no point in focusing on stereotypes as they're as valid and logical as fairytales.

 

[Azazel]

Stereotype =/= reality. Do you think all women are hysterical? All pitbulls are agressive? All people from the south are hillbillies? There is no point in focusing on stereotypes as they're as valid and logical as fairytales.

Some stereotypes have some truth to them, it's just that they tend to be generalizations and, well, most things in life are circumstantial so they become problematic when you generalize them. So yes, the lady who hoards cats is probably crazy, but that doesn't mean that all people who love cats are crazy or that she went crazy because of the cats. The cats are the ones who suffer in that scenario.

 

[She's a witch]

I love my cats immensely, and I do stuff for them that many people find "crazy" in a colloquial sense. Like spending a lot of money on their food, making sure one of them gets twice daily medication at certain exact time, dealing with raw food for them despite being vegetarian, preferring to spend time with them than on random social events, being stuck for four hours in one position because cat is sleeping on my lap etc. People have different values and perspectives, and for many what I'm doing is indeed "crazy", while for me, it's simply love and responsibility. Not all people treat pets the way many of us on this forum do, because of cultural or family background or just because, and many simply find it weird when they see someone so attached to the animal.

 

[Azazel]

I love my cats immensely, and I do stuff for them that many people find "crazy" in a colloquial sense. Like spending a lot of money on their food, making sure one of them gets twice daily medication at certain exact time, dealing with raw food for them despite being vegetarian, preferring to spend time with them than on random social events, being stuck for four hours in one position because cat is sleeping on my lap etc. People have different values and perspectives, and for many what I'm doing is indeed "crazy", while for me, it's simply love and responsibility. Not all people treat pets the way many of us on this forum do, because of cultural or family background or just because, and many simply find it weird when they see someone so attached to the animal.

It is interesting though that society doesn't feel that it's "crazy" to go above and beyond for dogs; whereas, cats are crazy to love.

I think that people, in general, just don't really understand cats. They have a tendency to want to compare them to dogs and since cats dont "obey" or show affection the way that a dog does, they want to say that people who love cats must be crazy. The mentality is: why would you go out of your way to do all of these things for an animal that doesn't care about you and doesn't even need you? I think that the feline way of life is so different from humans that it's difficult for most people to understand them or why some people would love them so immensely. Since dogs are pack animals and have a more apparent social structure to their lives in the same way that humans do, I think we just have an easier time understanding them than we do cats. But those of us who do build a close bond with a cat learn to appreciate them for the creatures that they are.

 

[kittyluv387]

It's really a US thing. Japan and europe are far more cat loving and understanding of their natures. Americans are ridiculous and expect everything to bend to our wills.

 

[Azazel]

It's really a US thing. Japan and europe are far more cat loving and understanding of their natures. Americans are ridiculous and expect everything to bend to our wills.

Yes, I agree it is a Western thing. I haven't heard of the phrase 'crazy cat lady' being used in any other language but English. Cats have been revered in the Middle East for centuries (beginning in North Africa where the first wild cats were domesticated) and most Middle Eastern countries still respect cats very much. Unfortunately, it's almost the other way around over there where dogs are treated really poorly (way worse than cats are treated in the West) - but that's a discussion for a different thread.

The whole "treating an animal like your child" thing though is really a Western thing. And I have to admit that I do this...

 

[She's a witch]

It is interesting though that society doesn't feel that it's "crazy" to go above and beyond for dogs; whereas, cats are crazy to love.

I think that people, in general, just don't really understand cats. They have a tendency to want to compare them to dogs and since cats dont "obey" or show affection the way that a dog does, they want to say that people who love cats must be crazy. The mentality is: why would you go out of your way to do all of these things for an animal that doesn't care about you and doesn't even need you? I think that the feline way of life is so different from humans that it's difficult for most people to understand them or why some people would love them so immensely. Since dogs are pack animals and have a more apparent social structure to their lives in the same way that humans do, I think we just have an easier time understanding them than we do cats. But those of us who do build a close bond with a cat learn to appreciate them for the creatures that they are.

Yeah, I guess you're right. It's often reflected when someone writes, even on this forum, that they have a great cat because he/she behaves like a dog (meaning following humans, play fetch etc). I mean, really? Plenty of cats behave that way, there's no need to compare them to dogs. That's a cat thing too, that doesn't make them dog-like. (And since when being like a dog is a virtue )
Lack of need to please their humans and the fact that they care about themselves so much is what I personally love about cats, but I know majority of humans wouldn't agree, they value "loyalty" and obedience, and being worshiped by dogs more. There's this saying back in Europe: "if you want to be loved, get a dog. If you want to love, get a cat (and get a hamster if you want to experience their death)". Maybe since loving a cat doesn't come as naturally, as they don't necessary stare at us lovingly all the time, when someone do love cats, this love is somewhat stronger, crazy like? I'm just wondering.

 

[kittyluv387]

Yes, I agree it is a Western thing. I haven't heard of the phrase 'crazy cat lady' being used in any other language but English. Cats have been revered in the Middle East for centuries (beginning in North Africa where the first wild cats were domesticated) and most Middle Eastern countries still respect cats very much. Unfortunately, it's almost the other way around over there where dogs are treated really poorly (way worse than cats are treated in the West) - but that's a discussion for a different thread.

The whole "treating an animal like your child" thing though is really a Western thing. And I have to admit that I do this...

Japan and Korea are really treating their cats like their children these days. They have really low birth rates and really do view them as their babies. I'm guilty of doing that as well but have no shame. They're my babies and deserve the best! People who comment about it are just jealous because they don't even treat their human children as well.