Have you ever noticed how cats seem to gravitate toward the woman in the household? Sure, they'll come to the male in the house at times, but for the most part, cats tend to center on the female (expecially in this house). Maybe that was the other part of "a dog is man's best friend." Somewhere lost in time was "and the cat is womans best friend."
Maybe that is why most people that dislike cats are men (men tend to say that cats are aloof, have no personality etc). Well, that is my experience anyway (the part about men disliking cats). Sure, there are some men that actively like cats, but a lot of the others put up with them because they hunt mice, or because the woman in their life likes cats.
Here is the answer to that burning question, "Why?". Seems that there is scientific evidence that cats bond to women more often and deeper than they bond with men.
I'm pretty sure I got this from Scott over at AMCGLTD (or maybe it was his other half, Ellen).
Bogie--The posting to which you linked is great! Just as the "roles" of women and men have changed over my lifetime, I think that the bond between men and cats is increasing. In the "olden" days, men gave orders. Cats did not obey. Women gave care. They "cared for" the cats. During each generation born since my own, I've seen men take on more nurturing roles toward their families. I've no reason to believe that this won't extend to cats.
Posted by: Cop Car | March 06, 2011 at 12:47 PM
All I can say, is that in this household, the cats adore me. Tory is indifferent to WS, Fuzzy will occassionally request food from WS, and Shadow will, nightly, request a pet from WS when he it on his recliner.
Shadow and Tory both interact with me on a regular basis during the day and join me in bed for more attention before I fall asleep (they help me go to sleep by purring). When WS gets to bed, they do not go to him.
WS claimed not to like cats at all early in our relationship, but New grew on him (although new didn't really interact all that much with WS).
Birdie makes up for it though. Even though I feed/water him, clean his cage and give him showers, Birdie flirts with WS and requests belly or head scratches. Birdie does not even tolerate me touching him.
Posted by: bogie | March 06, 2011 at 04:16 PM
It's the same here. The cats have been MY pets, and Dear Husband has suffered having them around. I mean, really suffered....he's allergic to cats and dogs. Of course, that didn't keep us from having both. Defer (the dog) was an equal opportunity dog, but I'd have to say that Fred gravitated more to Defer than to the cat. Toward the end of Ed's life he would oh so casually walk across Fred's lap to get to me, rather than jumping up onto my lap. I felt Ed was giving Fred the chance to pet him. Fred used to reflect sunlight off his watch to play with the cat, so the distance he showed may really have been to the allergies, and not disliking cats. It's likely to be a mystery.
Posted by: buffy | March 08, 2011 at 08:18 AM