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Comment by Rocky john on November 12, 2013 at 2:10pm

Comment by Matthew X on November 10, 2013 at 7:50pm

This is my bestest buddy, Lucifer.  I can't imagine my life without him.

Comment by Liz on November 9, 2013 at 5:35am

I've been a proud cat mom since iwasjuststretching just 3 years old. Aww. :D

I currently have 4 cats, and 3 dogs. All of them are rescues. I do a lot of volunteer & rescue work in my free time. Mainly feeding and TNR work with feral cats & kittens.

Anyone else work with their local feral cats or part of a local TNR group? :)

Comment by Unseen on November 8, 2013 at 11:19pm

Cats are sensual in a way that dogs are not.

Comment by Unseen on November 8, 2013 at 9:20pm

@Rocky John - I will check out all that stuff about dogs vs. wolves, etc.

@the Atheist who Stole from Jesus - I like holding Squeaky with my shirt off. She's so warm. It reminds me of when I visited my daughter shortly after she gave birth and I would lay my grandkid on my bare chest. Such a pleasant sensation.

Cats are so cute when they cuddle up next to you and nap. They adopt such contorted postures and sometimes cover their eyes with their paws.

Comment by Rocky john on November 8, 2013 at 9:14pm

Link 5 did not post properly so i will put it here

http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/why-wont-dominance-die

another one of interest. "Whatever happened to the term alpha wolf"

http://www.wolf.org/wolves/news/pdf/winter2008.pdf

Comment by Rocky john on November 8, 2013 at 8:57pm

I have gone to pains to point out that in most cases the behavioral changes are far more subtle than outright craziness. Such as   finding the smell of cat urine more palatable.

It is not just a hypothesis. Firstly he is a world recognized wolf expert."Lucyan David "Dave" Mech (born January 18, 1937) is an internationally recognized wolf expert, a senior research scientist for the U.S. Department of the Interior's U.S. Geological Survey (since 1970), and an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. He has researched wolves since 1958"

Secondly he's hypothesis is the accepted curriculum in universities. I actually first learned about it by paging through my friends text book that he had from an animal behavior course he did. And this was from Oxford university , not some two bit degree mill.

The fact is that the earlier research definitely was based upon seriously flawed studies of wolves in captivity. Not in their natural environment. Now there are some cases where unrelated wolf packs will come together and display behavior closer to what you believe. But this is the exception rather than the rule.

But even if this was a hypothesis(and 100% wrong to boot)  , the fact remains that dogs are not wolves , and have not been so for tens of thousands of years. They have evolved down different paths due to completely different selection pressures. Some of the most striking examples of this is that dogs are not monogamous, feral dogs tend to live not in socially structured packs but rather form amorphous group associations , neither do feral dogs have a feeding order , and  males do not  kill the puppies of other males. Which are nothing like wolves. i will provide a number of links and studies below supporting this based upon the work of  actual scientists and animal behaviorists. While all the stuff supporting the dominance hierarchy are either out of date ,or from supporters like Ceaser Milan. Ie non scientists who have never taken a university degree on animal behavior. Many animal trainers also subscribe to this outdated view. Which can be explained that there is no educational requirement to calling yourself a dog trainer. There are even courses that are a few hours long that certify you as an animal trainer afterwards. Calling them degree mills would actually be a complement.

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Comment by Unseen on November 8, 2013 at 6:59pm

Most cat lovers are just cat lovers and aren't particularly crazy. Hoarders can hoard other animals, dogs included. While I was living in Portland, Oregon, there was a rabbit hoarder. And what about people who keep and fly flocks of pigeons.

As for your point regarding dogs, so far the analysis you are espousing seems to be just a hypothesis which, though seemingly supported by HIS research, isn't the accepted description of wolf pack hierarchy.

Comment by Rocky john on November 8, 2013 at 1:32pm

"Well, cat loving isn't a form of schizophrenia as far as I can tell."

Have you never heard of crazy cat lady syndrome? 

"Recent research indicates a link between the parasite T. gondii, which sexually reproduces exclusively in cats, and numerous psychiatric conditions, including OCD. The compulsive hoarding of cats, a symptom of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), has long been associated with "crazy cat ladies"

Though the effects on human behavior are usually far far more subtle than outright craziness. Which is a relief, as around 1/3rd of the human population is infected with this behavior changing brain worm. One of the more subtle but interesting changes is that infected individuals find the smell of cat urine more attractive than non infected individuals. Which i guess helps infected cat owners put up with the smell of a litter box.

Your second point is only particularly true if you have an inside only cat. Most people let their cats roam. This  provides most, if not all,  of a cats entertainment needs.

Your last paragraph is  a gross oversimplification of a wolfs  social behavior, and just flat out wrong in regards to a dogs. The problem with the dominance hierarchy theory in explaining a wolfs social structure is that it based upon wolves kept in extremely unnatural conditions. Unrelated wolves are often thrown together in large numbers into an enclosure that is far to small. This is equivalent to generalizing human behavior from studying refugee camps.

In the wild , the wolf pack is a family unit consisting of the two parent wolves and their offspring. Yes the wolf parents are dominant to their children. But the exact same thing is true for human parents or a doe deer. "In wolves, recent research has indicated that dominant behaviors have been misinterpreted as personality traits that determine the individual's place in a linear hierarchy in the pack. In contrast, Mech (see recent research, above) argues that packs are family units, and that the "alpha" of a pack does not change through struggles for dominance. Rather, he argues that the family unit serves to raise the young, which then disperse to pair up with other dispersed wolves to form a breeding pair and a pack of their own. This model undermines the popular conception of dominance in wolf social behavior."

Comment by Unseen on November 8, 2013 at 8:49am

Well, cat loving isn't a form of schizophrenia as far as I can tell. Granted, I skimmed the article, but the symptom in infected humans should be or resemble schizophrenia.

Cats are not just a matter of food and water. They are far more work to understand. They are uncooperative. They say a cat has no master. Rather he has a staff. Even though you don't have to walk a cat two or three times a day, cats need play to remain keen and interested in life, so any responsible cat master must devote an almost equal time to entertaining their cat with predation play.

But also, dogs, even lap dogs, don't curl up in your lap and purr. Purring isn't only soothing to kittens, it soothes people.

dogs are...born with a hardwired desire  to trust, please,  obey  and form strong relationships with its caregiver.

Dogs inherited the wolf's DNA and its pack mentality. Dogs simply want their place at the table. They don't want to be scorned by the pack leader, so they need suck up after any infraction that threatens their pace in the pack.

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