Conference misery::feline_v1

    I don't have both, I only have the feline kind of kids, but I must
    admit that I do the same thing.  I will say that I love all my cats,
    but the emotional ties with some of them are much stronger than
    others.  Fire is my "baby"....the emotional attachment between the
    two of us is incredible...I loved him from the first time I saw
    him at 4 months of age at a cat show.  I then proceded to follow
    him around from show to show until I was "in the right place at
    the right time", and at almost a year old, Fire became mine.  I
    can remember even before I owned him, he would see me coming at
    a cat show and he would start to get excited and talk up a storm.
    He never even got that excited when he saw his "at that time" owner
    coming up to him.  Actually, he barely ever even woke up at a show.
    
    So, I guess I've gone on long enough ... but, I do think we have
    bonds with our cats, and I think, like people, sometimes your just
    attracted to each other.
    
    purrs
    cin
    

    One of my friends, who doesn't own cats, is always saying that I
    treat mine like children.  In fact, she is always saying that both
    of us should have children, since she thinks I lavish affectation
    on the critters.  Margie is a sweet person, but I don't think she
    really understands why I have cats and not dogs, for example.  I
    am only home maybe one night a week, and am usually not around much
    on weekends, either.  The cats (especially now that there are two
    of them to keep themselves entertained; JFCL used to cause a great
    deal more trouble when she was Only Cat) can take care of themselves
    for long periods of time pretty well.  I can go away for a weekend
    leaving a bunch of food in one of the automatic machines, fill both
    water dispensers, and make sure the kitty box is clean, and the
    critters are fine.  My mother-in-law can't go anywhere for more
    than a few hours because she has to go home to let out the dog (she
    thinks he is too old to board at a kennel), and he gets paranoid
    if deprived of human companionship for too long.  Not to mention
    how much care CHILDREN need!  I love my cats.  They are fun to watch,
    affectionate, and good compnay when I am sick or when things aren't
    going well, without requiring a whole lot of routine care.  They
    are NOT my "children".

    As one who has all three kinds: cat/kids, dog/kid, and kid/kids;
    I gotta say, if I had it to do over I would have my dog/kid, and
    cat/kids before and probably instead of my kid/kids.  PLEASE, no
    flames PLEASE!!!!!  I love my son and daughter more than anything
    in the world, but they are going to be leaving home soon, and they
    have already more or less left in one sense, they have their outside
    interests and friends, but my dog/kid and my cat/kids are the light
    of my life.  They will be with me until the end, they never talk
    back (well, the black Siamese does, but just to voice her opinion),
    they are there for me if I don't feel well, they are there for me
    if I am angry (even if the anger is at them for some reason), and
    most important, they are there if I want to cuddle and show some
    loving, my son is to big to be held on my lap and kissed and held
    in a loving way (he is as tall as I am, and boy is it awkward to
    cuddle with him), to hold him I have to stand up, and that isn't
    what laps are for.
    
    I talk to my "kids" the same as I talk to my kids, and nobody in
    my family thinks we are unusual.  Many a time I have heard my daughter
    say, "Casey, go find your brother", and the dog will go find my
    son. We are always teasing about who the "kids" look like, and the
    looks we get from outsiders is great.
    
    So for my sons  Brent 13 yrs and Casey Jones 3 yrs, and my daughters
    Sarah 11, Hotrail 3 1/2 and Chessie 2 1/2, I bid you ado.
    
    Mary-Lynn

        I have had many cats in my life, all of which I loved like
    friends, one dog, a Labrador Retreiver, I liked almost as much 
    as my cats. When I had Sabrina, the Lab, well she was the worst
    Catophobe I ever knew. If there were a cat in the house she 
    would have killed it for sure, so after she died, it was back
    to cats.
        When I have live alone I treated a cat more like a person
    than a kid, Like, "well Rascal, what shall we have for dinner
    tonight", or I'de talk to the cat as if he/she were a person.
    Sometimes I think they *do* understand us. When I've been very
    down, the cats have always come and curled up next to me purring
    loudly or laid a re-assuring paw on my face. There's also the
    secure feeling (for those living alone) of hearing a loud purring
    sound from somewhere on or near one's bed. I just look at them 
    as surrogate companions.
    
    Ray

    	I don't think I treat my cats as kids so much as they take the
    place of kids in my life.
    
    	Let me clarify a bit.  
    
    	I don't have nor do I have the desire to have kids.  My emotional 
    make-up is such that kids would always be too dependent or not
    dependent enough on me.   I need to be needed, to have someone that
    loves me, that I love, etc. But... I'm a independent person and
    I get impatient with people who depend on me too much.  So for the
    first half of the time they spent with me I'd be going crazy because
    the kids would be smothering me, and the rest of the time, I'd go
    crazy because they were starting to "leave the nest".  (There'd
    probably be about, oh, 4 days when the balance was right.)  I don't
    understand nor have patience with adolescent to teenage kids.  (Little
    ones aren't bad.  As a matter of fact, I'm quite good with them
    when I know I can home at the end of the day and leave them with
    someone else.  ;-))
    
    	Cats on the other hand are very much like me.  Independent,
    playful, choosy with their friends, a bit selfish, intelligent.
    I understand them.  I think they are perfect companions for me.
    My cats need me and some of them, I think, would be quite distraught
    if they were separated from me.  But they can survive short separations
    and they don't smother me like, say, a dog would.
    
    	Some would say I treat my cats like kids because they get as
    good or better medical attention than most kids I know.  (Hell,
    I give them better medical attention than I give myself!)  And they
    have lots of toys and a 2 Kitty jungle Gyms.  And I take time of
    of work, if necessary, to get them to the vet's or just be with
    them while they recover from anesthesia or whatever.  But I don't
    think so.  I think I treat them more like loved (slightly
    brain-damaged :-) ) companions.
    
    tlh 
    mom/companion to 6 of 'em
    
    
    	

    I've lived with my two "kids" for 3 years now, and I know I treat
    them much better than I ever would treat a kid/kid.   There have
    been times (during my "pre-DEC" poverty days) when Underfoot and
    Jellybean have eaten the best cat food and had clean litter boxes,
    when "mom" had to eat instant mashed potatoes and toast to survive
    until the next payday.     
    
    Don't get me wrong, I do want to have real kids someday, but right
    now living alone with my two loveable children is perfect for me.
    There's something about walking in the door after a hard days work,
    and saying, "Hi, guys....did you miss me?" and getting nothing more
    than very "vocal" meows, purrs, and various other explatives.
    
    Kelley

    
    I agree entirely with Tracey (see note 5).  I do not have any Kid/Kids
    and neither do I want any (maybe I will in years to come, who knows??)
    but at the moment I am happy with my "boys".
    
    I started off with 2 cats four years ago, "Dillan" and "Elsa". 
    They were brother and sister and given to me as an 18th birthday
    present.  Before I had Elsa spayed I decided to let her have a litter
    as I'd heard it made them more affectionate (which it did).
    
    She had four kittens all of which she let me watch being born. 
    I kept one of the liter, the first born, and called him "Sammie".
    Unfortunately soon after that Elsa got run over and killed.  I was
    heart broken and killed but glad that I had one of her offspring
    to remind me of her.
    
    Dillan is still around, even after having Key Gaskell Syndrome (see
    earlier entry 368.6 I think) and Dillan and Sammie seem both very
    happy.  
    
    Both come to meet me every night when I arrive home from work and 
    walk up to the house with me.  They both always want cuddles and
    talk to me all the time (well..mostly Dillan does cos Sammy can
    only manage a few squeeks now and then) and both never tire of playing
    with each other (not like Kid/Kids!!)
    
    Because of these reasons I feel I am more attached to my "boys"
    than I could ever be towards Kid/Kids. 

    I have three teenagers and I would rather raise cats.  They drive
    me crazy.  My cats give me comfort and relax me.  Also its easier
    to leave three cats than three teenagers and go away on vacation.
    The cats can stay outside, but God only knows what the kids would
    be up to.          
    
                 
    
    

    My Max-cat is fond of being cuddled and loves to be held tucked into my
    arm, on his back, with one paw flung across my chest (picture a baby
    nursing and you'll get the idea).  Stirs something very basic and
    protective in me.  I guess what I get from Max-cat is similar to the
    warm feelings I get from my son, but my relationship with Max-cat is
    of course much more limited in scope because his repertoire of
    responses is and always will be limited in comparison to that of a
    person.  Max-cat is sort of always there, willing to be petted and
    cuddled pretty much anytime I'm in the mood to pet and cuddle him. 
    Unconditional type of relationship that I don't have to work hard at.
    Lynn

I think the one aspect of pet ownership that is overlooked is the VISUAL
one.  I treasure the interaction I have with my cats and dog, variations on
the parent/child relationship all, but I also get great pleasure in looking
at them....particularly my cats.  I find them quite beautiful creatures
to watch - both in repose and at play.  I take pleasure in watching these
graceful, healthy, and I hope, happy creatures  move around in my world.
I read somewhere once where having a cat was a way of bringing a little bit
of the "wild places" into your heart.....I think that is true.

    RE: .10

    personally, I am amazed at some of the jumps that they do. The angles,
    the height, the distance, the body contortions. IMHO they far surpass any
    acrobats/gymnasts that I've ever watched.

    Deb