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amyhinmn · 05-18-2005, 06:45 AM

To the group of people who I have been getting to know and feeling comfortable with, can anyone else relate to me and find this offensive and ignorant/short-sighted? I wrote, in response to yorkies whining:

Is this a common problem in yorkie adults as well, or just babies? Do they grow out of this? I have cats, so I cannot have an adult dog wanting to be near me 24/7 when I am home. Our girl is pretty good about not whining when we say no, but we would not satisfy her whining from day one. Even when we got home, we would not take her out of her pen until she settled down and stopped vocalizing. But, I am wondering if we should purposely separate her from us more often to teach her that she cannot always be with us.
amyhinmn

Then, Stitches29
Senior Yorkie Talker wrote:

Amy, this is sad to hear because Yorkies are people dogs. Their whole world surrounds around people. Cats don't need anybody. Cats could survive if they never saw another human. Some dogs are like that too. To me the definition of a Yorkie is LOVE and ATTENTION and that must go two ways. Hope you change your mind about your baby.

I then responded because I was upset about her generalizing the typical way people do about cats, which petpetuates MYTHS about cats that often leads to inadequate care and/or consideration:

Actually, I am 100% offended that you would even say that about cats. THAT SHOWS YOUR IGNORANCE and limited exposure to cats. My cats are all 9 and 10 years old, and they are the loves of my life. They are so loyal, and so loving, and get jealous and fight over attention. Either you have never owned a cat, or you or someone you know has "owned" a cat and never put any love or attention into the relationship.

Cats are every bit as friendly and needy as dogs, provided they are given the love and attention they need from day one, THE SAME AS A DOG. People who do not like cats are control freaks who want an animal to respond to their every command.

I am seriously quite pissed off right now. I was hoping that I could fit in to a dog lover's forum, knowing that people who are over the top about dogs often don't like or are indifferent to cats, since cats don't "obey" or "need anyone" just as you have said. Perhaps I was wrong.

Of COURSE between my boyfriend and I my pup will get plenty of love, attention, and spoiling. I am an animal lover and have done many rescues of everything ranging from a frog to a raccoon to cats. I DO NOT PICK AND CHOOSE WHICH ANIMALS IN THIS WORLD ARE WORTHY AND/OR NEEDY OF LOVE, AS APPARENTLY YOU HAVE FOUND IT YOUR PLACE TO DO SO. I will NOT, however, displace my ten year old cats who are the funniest and most loving as any dog I know. Some people think it is ok to displace loyal animals when a baby or some other "circumstance" comes along. Not me. I was expressing my concern that the yorkie will consume me and not let my cats get near me. Not that I would not pay attention to her, or that my boyfriend and I cannot take "shifts." The type of stereotypical thinking you have engaged in about cats is so mainstream and disgusting that I do not know what else to say. You are the kind of person who contributes to the persecution of cats in our society.

She responded:

Amy, you can get pissed all you want. I have a cat and he's 14 years old. My other cat died at 19 from renal failure. I can tell you more about cats than anybody. Here's a picture of MY cat. I was only telling you that cats are survivors. When a disaster hits, the survivors are usually cats, rats and roaches. So you can get un pissed as fast as you got pissed. That shows your IGNORANCE

Then luzangela428 wrote:

I think you really need to relax stitches was only making a valid point that YORKIES need a lot of attention and love...not every dog is the same but YORKIES are those kinds of dogs.....she didn't say a bad thing about a CAT..and she certainly didn't attack your cat...but if you were so worried about your cats being "displaced" maybe you should of thought it over before getting a dog that needs attention...so you don't feel like you have to take it away from your CATS.....I agreed with you Stitches

I am really feeling alienated from a forum of people who are supposed to be animal lovers, but feel that some of them "choose" which animals need/deserve the most love. This is absurd. A cat needs just as much love as a yorkie, and a yorkie needs as much love as a pit bull. I believe this person is perpetuating stereotypes about how animals/breeds typically are, and I think it is shortsighted and dangerous.

05-18-2005, 06:45 AM	#1
amyhinmn Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Minnesota Posts: 41	Anyone else find this offensive? To the group of people who I have been getting to know and feeling comfortable with, can anyone else relate to me and find this offensive and ignorant/short-sighted? I wrote, in response to yorkies whining: Is this a common problem in yorkie adults as well, or just babies? Do they grow out of this? I have cats, so I cannot have an adult dog wanting to be near me 24/7 when I am home. Our girl is pretty good about not whining when we say no, but we would not satisfy her whining from day one. Even when we got home, we would not take her out of her pen until she settled down and stopped vocalizing. But, I am wondering if we should purposely separate her from us more often to teach her that she cannot always be with us. amyhinmn Then, Stitches29 Senior Yorkie Talker wrote: Amy, this is sad to hear because Yorkies are people dogs. Their whole world surrounds around people. Cats don't need anybody. Cats could survive if they never saw another human. Some dogs are like that too. To me the definition of a Yorkie is LOVE and ATTENTION and that must go two ways. Hope you change your mind about your baby. I then responded because I was upset about her generalizing the typical way people do about cats, which petpetuates MYTHS about cats that often leads to inadequate care and/or consideration: Actually, I am 100% offended that you would even say that about cats. THAT SHOWS YOUR IGNORANCE and limited exposure to cats. My cats are all 9 and 10 years old, and they are the loves of my life. They are so loyal, and so loving, and get jealous and fight over attention. Either you have never owned a cat, or you or someone you know has "owned" a cat and never put any love or attention into the relationship. Cats are every bit as friendly and needy as dogs, provided they are given the love and attention they need from day one, THE SAME AS A DOG. People who do not like cats are control freaks who want an animal to respond to their every command. I am seriously quite pissed off right now. I was hoping that I could fit in to a dog lover's forum, knowing that people who are over the top about dogs often don't like or are indifferent to cats, since cats don't "obey" or "need anyone" just as you have said. Perhaps I was wrong. Of COURSE between my boyfriend and I my pup will get plenty of love, attention, and spoiling. I am an animal lover and have done many rescues of everything ranging from a frog to a raccoon to cats. I DO NOT PICK AND CHOOSE WHICH ANIMALS IN THIS WORLD ARE WORTHY AND/OR NEEDY OF LOVE, AS APPARENTLY YOU HAVE FOUND IT YOUR PLACE TO DO SO. I will NOT, however, displace my ten year old cats who are the funniest and most loving as any dog I know. Some people think it is ok to displace loyal animals when a baby or some other "circumstance" comes along. Not me. I was expressing my concern that the yorkie will consume me and not let my cats get near me. Not that I would not pay attention to her, or that my boyfriend and I cannot take "shifts." The type of stereotypical thinking you have engaged in about cats is so mainstream and disgusting that I do not know what else to say. You are the kind of person who contributes to the persecution of cats in our society. She responded: Amy, you can get pissed all you want. I have a cat and he's 14 years old. My other cat died at 19 from renal failure. I can tell you more about cats than anybody. Here's a picture of MY cat. I was only telling you that cats are survivors. When a disaster hits, the survivors are usually cats, rats and roaches. So you can get un pissed as fast as you got pissed. That shows your IGNORANCE Then luzangela428 wrote: I think you really need to relax stitches was only making a valid point that YORKIES need a lot of attention and love...not every dog is the same but YORKIES are those kinds of dogs.....she didn't say a bad thing about a CAT..and she certainly didn't attack your cat...but if you were so worried about your cats being "displaced" maybe you should of thought it over before getting a dog that needs attention...so you don't feel like you have to take it away from your CATS.....I agreed with you Stitches I am really feeling alienated from a forum of people who are supposed to be animal lovers, but feel that some of them "choose" which animals need/deserve the most love. This is absurd. A cat needs just as much love as a yorkie, and a yorkie needs as much love as a pit bull. I believe this person is perpetuating stereotypes about how animals/breeds typically are, and I think it is shortsighted and dangerous.