"Man jailed for beheading girlfriend's kitten"

[High_Jumbllama]

I've seen cats get mad. I wouldn't dare kick a cat. I have wrestled and pinned dogs to the ground though when they got too hyper or loud until they calm down.

[Jon P. Inghram]

I can't remember ever kicking a cat. I've even tamed a cat that either feral or abused to the point that it was extremely afraid of people. Also, I've found that baring your teeth and hissing at a cat is a highly effective way of letting them know you mean business if they're doing something you don't want them to do.

[Gurm]

Ok let me be clear - if you have never kicked a cat, then you've never OWNED a cat. It takes an iron will to not lash out when the damn thing claws your leg. First time the cat gets scared and decides that your BACK is a great place to cling to for dear life, you'll very quickly become adept in the art of cat-tossing.

My argument is that you have to define "abuse" and "cruelty".

[Gurm]

Ok let me be clear - if you have never kicked a cat, then you've never OWNED a cat. It takes an iron will to not lash out when the damn thing claws your leg. First time the cat gets scared and decides that your BACK is a great place to cling to for dear life, you'll very quickly become adept in the art of cat-tossing.

My argument is that you have to define "abuse" and "cruelty".

We used to play catch with our half-chihuahua, half-fox terrier. The fence around the dog pen was 6' high (because the dog before that had been a great dane!) and we'd toss him over the fence to each other. He liked it, but it was "cruel" I guess, because my brother wasn't real good at catching!

I suspect that any cat owner that claims to have never punted the cat across the room... is lying. Full stop.

Maybe because they don't want to be child abusers?

[az]

Ok let me be clear - if you have never kicked a cat, then you've never OWNED a cat.

I do own a cat. I've never kicked it, and never needed to.

[agallag]

I've had five different cats during my lifetime. Only one of them has ever needed to be tossed across a room. He was an evil little bugger. The other four have never done anything violent in their entire lives.

[cjolley]

...
I suspect that any cat owner that claims to have never punted the cat across the room... is lying. Full stop.
...

I've owned LOTS of cats and I've never kicked one.
I can't even imagine really kicking an animal as small as a cat.

Seriously.

[ZokesPro]

Ok let me be clear - if you have never kicked a cat, then you've never OWNED a cat.

I suspect that any cat owner that claims to have never punted the cat across the room... is lying. Full stop.

That's pretty ignorant for someone who claims to have such a high IQ.

[Umfriend]

A high IQ just means someone can learn a lot, not that he/she actually has.

Or, at least that is what IQ-tests are trying to measure etc blah blah

[KvHagedorn]

When I was young (and so were my cats) I played roughly with them. I even spanked them for chewing on my speaker wire.. not because of the wire, but because I was deathly afraid they would chew on a lamp cord next. It worked, though.. no more wire chewing. Other than that, they were sweet as could be. Why the hell would I ever just kick them? If you can't see a pet as a friend, you don't deserve to have one.

Cats are pretty smart.. and remarkably like kids. If you don't pay attention to them, they will find a way to GET your attention. Your would never react as you said to having a cat claw your leg if you had any sort of relationship with that cat. My reaction would have been to trim his claws immediately. When Logan was in his destructive stage, did you ever react by wanting to kick him? No? Maybe you saw him as a person with real feelings, I'm guessing. If you had any sort of soul, you'd realize cats and dogs are the same way. In fact, in my experience, cats have more emotional range than any non-primate. You need to respect creatures like that, and if you don't have that capacity, don't have one in your house.

[ZokesPro]

Carry around a spray bottle with water in it. If your cat does something wrong, spray it. Since most cats hate water, this is just as effective as hitting it if not more. There's no need to hit a cat, even yelling can be as affective as violence or a spray bottle, but the spray bottle usually works a lot better cause once they see you going for the bottle they will stop without even having to spray them. But if violence is your only method, then you shouldn't own a pet, or have kids or be around other people for that matter.

[Gurm]

When I was young (and so were my cats) I played roughly with them. I even spanked them for chewing on my speaker wire.. not because of the wire, but because I was deathly afraid they would chew on a lamp cord next. It worked, though.. no more wire chewing. Other than that, they were sweet as could be. Why the hell would I ever just kick them? If you can't see a pet as a friend, you don't deserve to have one.

My cats loved me to death. But when you have a dozen and a half pointy sharp claws of death in your BACK, you swat the cat off your back. With PREJUDICE if the cat makes a habit of it.

Cats are pretty smart..

Sure. Big bundle of nerves. Advanced brainstem. Yadda yadda.

and remarkably like kids.

BZZZZZZT! WRONG!

Every time I hear someone say that cats are like kids, they either don't have kids or aren't good parents. KIDS ARE NOT PETS.

Additionally, pets are NOT children. They are NOT YOUR CHILDREN. I know the crazy cat lady disagrees with me. I know that the people who spend $10,000 on doggie chemo disagree with me. But pets are not kids. I would DIE for my children, in a heartbeat. No delay, no thought. No wondering. You can have the cat. NO pet is a child. NO animal is a child. There are smart animals, but none of them are human children.

If you don't pay attention to them, they will find a way to GET your attention. Your would never react as you said to having a cat claw your leg if you had any sort of relationship with that cat. My reaction would have been to trim his claws immediately.

AFTER you disengage him from your flesh, and put antiseptic on the potentially infected puncture wounds? Or before...?

When Logan was in his destructive stage, did you ever react by wanting to kick him? No? Maybe you saw him as a person with real feelings, I'm guessing.

Uh-oh, here it comes again! Wait for it, people. (Hint: He's about to say that pets have immortal souls, thus equating them to children...)

If you had any sort of soul, you'd realize cats and dogs are the same way. In fact, in my experience, cats have more emotional range than any non-primate. You need to respect creatures like that, and if you don't have that capacity, don't have one in your house.

Dammit, I was close though!

Cats... aren't... people.

Should you kick them FOR FUN? No. I'm not talking about that, and I think you people are thinking that somehow I am. I am completely disgusted by people who hurt animals for fun (bugs, maybe...) but you have to draw the line. What's 'cruel' and what's 'abuse' when we're talking about a non-reasoning creature with no capacity for higher thought or complex emotion?

(And don't launch into the rhetoric about cats and emotion... the fact that you read multiple emotions into "aloof and content", "aloof and pissy", and "aloof and needy" is your own need to anthropomorphize, not actual emotion from the animal.)

So I stand by my assertion, whether or not you feel that it's ignorant. I've had cats all my life until last month (Jacob is too allergic), and in that time I've kicked, backhanded, tossed, punted, and (accidentally) stepped on many of them.

And am I the only one freaked out by people who claim to have developed strong emotional bonds with animals, but live alone? (NOT picking on KvH here in particular...)

[Gurm]

Carry around a spray bottle with water in it. If your cat does something wrong, spray it. Since most cats hate water, this is just as effective as hitting it if not more. There's no need to hit a cat, even yelling can be as affective as violence or a spray bottle, but the spray bottle usually works a lot better cause once they see you going for the bottle they will stop without even having to spray them. But if violence is your only method, then you shouldn't own a pet, or have kids or be around other people for that matter.

Are you one of those "spanking your child is abuse" people? I don't think we can have a rational conversation if you're one of those people...

My cats LOVED water. Frolicked in the damn tub after we got out of the shower.

[ZokesPro]

Are you one of those "spanking your child is abuse" people? I don't think we can have a rational conversation if you're one of those people...

Ok let me be clear - if you have never kicked a cat, then you've never OWNED a cat.

I suspect that any cat owner that claims to have never punted the cat across the room... is lying. Full stop.

Obviously not because you think that every cat owner has kicked their cat across the room and you refuse to believe that the ones who haven't are lairs.

[Gurm]

Obviously not because you think that every cat owner has kicked their cat across the room and you refuse to believe that the ones who haven't are lairs.

I concede... that it's POSSIBLE... that you have such a good natured cat that it's never come up. *shrug*

It's FURTHER possible, in the same way that it's possible for quantum tunneling to occur spontaneously, that you've never booted the cat across the room because it was dark and you were trying to get to the bathroom and the cat wanted to cuddle your leg.

And I suppose that it might be possible, in the grand scheme of things, that maybe you don't have a cat that likes to lurk on the top step of your stairs, right where you'd step on it while carrying something heavy.

But pretty unlikely.