Philosophy Now Forum

i now have a cat, leaving alot out, i keep finding myself in this confusing, there's no answer, conundrum of guilt.

an addendum, i don't mean this in anyway whatsoever against other current pet owners as i am, it was just a question i had myself. i don't know the answer.

I like cats but I have always said I could not have something that intelligent in the house .

I love dogs, as they become your friend - you feed them, take them walks etc - you bond.

Cats do as they please , as demonstrated by Henri Le Chat Noir, 'Pondering the meaningless of life...and sleeping' on his website http://www.henrilechatnoir.com/.

Good luck!

Cata are cool. Everybody knows that. you can't let yourself worry about them. They certainly won't worry about you!

I'm with you Lynn...cats are okay...but c'mon it's not like they're dogs! Right?

bus2bondi wrote:i now have a cat, leaving alot out, i keep finding myself in this confusing, there's no answer, conundrum of guilt.

Why do you feel guilty? People tend to idealize nature as something pastoral. If that's so, why do people work so hard to avoid it? The reality is that nature is a nasty place. Trying to domesticate tigers is just a stupid idea, but housecats are a different matter. They know they've got it good, and they choose to cohabitate with people. Even if you set a cat loose, it's going to come back when it wants food, warmth, etc. Dogs also choose to cohabitate with people. It's a mutal thing.

But animals are animals. So, sometimes things like leash laws are necessary for mutal safety - the same way we legislate human behavior for mutal saftey.

I don't see why you would feel guilty about it.

P.S. But I do have to wonder why you would choose a cat over a dog.

bus2bondi wrote:i now have a cat, leaving alot out, i keep finding myself in this confusing, there's no answer, conundrum of guilt.

I have a dog, Jack. Shortly after getting him, to deal with the owner/pet problem (and my natural Catholic guilt), I decided to reverse the relationship. I decided that I would serve Jack, not that he would just serve as my pet.

He gets only the best: exercise in the morning at the dog park http://www.stpaul.gov/index.aspx?nid=2066 ; quality dog food and tasty treats; in doubt, his vet is instructed to consult the Mayo Clinic; his hair stylist, Tim, is at Petco; he likes parades for intellectual stimulation, and tomorrow we will bike downtown to enjoy some music in the park. http://lowertownrootsmusicfestival.com/ He loves to doze in the grass amid classical music.
http://www.yourstpaulhome.com/MearsPark

So serve your cat. Vow to make every day magical. Just do your best. Be happy.

Lynn wrote:I like cats but I have always said I could not have something that intelligent in the house .

I love dogs, as they become your friend - you feed them, take them walks etc - you bond.

Cats do as they please , as demonstrated by Henri Le Chat Noir, 'Pondering the meaningless of life...and sleeping' on his website http://www.henrilechatnoir.com/.

Good luck!

thank you for the videos Lynn, 2 of the best videos i've ever watched in my life. i don't know where she is now. somewhere in the house. i felt like going to find her, ... ha ha she just meowed when i wrote that.


interestingly enough, we might even be able to to entertain the discussion of radar animals. and if so, is it worth naught anyway? perhaps always has been.

why should i bother to say this?

if its worth naught.

Are you serious Tom ?
Because from my observation, if a more intelligent creature ingratiates to a less intelligent one a lack of balance results.

I have never had any pet but I observed little children sometimes. They often simply like to be told what to do. If they have to think on their own and make choices it can be too much for them and a nuisance.

duszek wrote:Are you serious Tom ?
Because from my observation, if a more intelligent creature ingratiates to a less intelligent one a lack of balance results.

I have never had any pet but I observed little children sometimes. They often simply like to be told what to do. If they have to think on their own and make choices it can be too much for them and a nuisance.

Yes; my effort to be a humane person through service to others extends even to animals, especially to a dog who lives with me. I also think that being of service to others is an honorable activity.

I have fathered four children. Forming a child's capacity for making autonomous choices is a process. Little children should not be forced to make difficult choices. "Do you want orange juice or apple juice?" is about the limit of choice for a little child.

tbieter wrote:So serve your cat.

I just came across this quote and matching image on facebook of a haughty regal looking cat wearing a jewelled collar.

"In Ancient Egypt, cats were considered Gods. Cats have not forgotten this."

thank you all for the replies, you can definitly look at it in many ways.


hi tbieter, i think Jack and yourself are very happy and what is wrong with that? i think you gave good advice. and am

doing my best. i've done some research online and off and of course i found many more varying opinions. some say

you should spoil them and treat them regally. or even on a basic level, never feed them dried food, only pure meat,

etc.. because apparently dried food is made mostly with grain fillers, etc. and isn't as good for them.


some say that all of them should be free. some say they are leaving the wild behind and entering a 'new' 'rhealm'

of cat royalty because cats are gods as Lynn had mentioned.


what i'm doing is trying to find a balance. they have dried food (i said they, because now i have 2 cats

) and every now and then i give them canned meat.


for the most part of my life, i grew up in the country and i recall it being much simpler then. we had cats and

dogs and they were indoor/outdoor pets. the majority of the time they were outdoors. and there wasn't much

confusion about what they should or shouldn't eat. they ate the scraps from our table. and anything else they found

in the wild.


at one location there were sheds and a big barn with hay. so we had barn cats:) a tom cat i had would sometimes be

gone for months at a time, but would always return.


but things weren't always peaches and cream either. i've had dogs ran over, one shot by a farmer, things like that.

Lynn wrote:

tbieter wrote:So serve your cat.

I just came across this quote and matching image

on facebook of a haughty regal looking cat wearing a jewelled collar.

"In Ancient Egypt, cats were considered Gods. Cats have not forgotten this."

hi Lynn, i mentioned above in my reply to tbieter that among the varying opinions i've found in my research, that

is one of them also. interestingly enough there is a regal cat in our neighborhood named Vivian. and the last

time i saw her she was wearing a jewelled collar.


however, i know some people who either don't believe in having cats wear collars, or that their cat will simply not

wear one.


(another question i've had is whether or not to get collars for them). and another question i've had in regards to

that is that i thought legally, they are required to have them in town. i'm going to check into that. also the

thought of putting a collar on an animal has bothered me. however, it can be helpful. for the pet, the owner and

others in the community.

hi again Lynn, "In Ancient Egypt, cats were considered Gods. Cats have not forgotten this." something occurred to me, that if in Ancient Egypt, cats were considered Gods.. then what about dogs? that reminded me of a time when i was younger and we went to the mall, and one of the stores had a side section of obscure inexpensive music. there were cassette tapes abound, and i think they were all around 25 cents, something like that. for whatever reason i was facinated by this section. i remember the 2 tapes i chose were 'Nocturna' (and the cover had big red lipstick lips on it) and the other was a band called 'Every Dog Has it's day' and actually there was a song on it called 'Every Dog has it's day'.

after i recieved the first cat, i decided to look up information on her breed, just because i guess. she is part Siamese and part Tabby, and who knows what else in the great cat ocean. i found all sorts of historical information and opinions on Siamese and Tabby cats. varied and facinating.

Resha Caner wrote:

bus2bondi wrote:i now have a cat, leaving alot out, i keep finding myself in this confusing, there's no answer, conundrum of guilt.

Why do you feel guilty? People tend to idealize nature as something pastoral. If that's so, why do people work so hard to avoid it? The reality is that nature is a nasty place. Trying to domesticate tigers is just a stupid idea, but housecats are a different matter. They know they've got it good, and they choose to cohabitate with people. Even if you set a cat loose, it's going to come back when it wants food, warmth, etc. Dogs also choose to cohabitate with people. It's a mutal thing.

But animals are animals. So, sometimes things like leash laws are necessary for mutal safety - the same way we legislate human behavior for mutal saftey.

I don't see why you would feel guilty about it.

P.S. But I do have to wonder why you would choose a cat over a dog.

i don't know, but i think you make many interesting points.

some of the guilt i was feeling had things to do with questions like this,

should i claw or declaw?

when i took her from her mother, and then she expected me to be so, even tho, i'm not a cat, i tried my best as a human to be cat for her, but still

hi Thundril, i agree Cata are cool.