Back in May of last year I posted about the word "furkids". For those in the know, it's "n. A pet treated as though it were one's child." I'd read about the word from the Word Spy mailing list and found it amusing. And I blogged, in an admittedly deprecating manner, about the whole concept. (Dani, when I told her about it, mocked me for being condescending. I asked her "what's new?")
Meanwhile, a recent Blogger update added an "email me" option for all posts. It's a little graphic link added to the end of each post that allows you to send emails to me so you can express yourself regarding any of my posts. This, in addition to the comments option, leaves lots of ways that people can let me know what they think about what I'm saying. It's occasionally amusing.
Here's where this one gets amusing. The address I use for this "email me" option isn't one I check regularly… maybe once a month, if I'm lucky. So I was rather surprised, a short while back, to find that there were a couple of new emails from people I didn't know, dating back to the New Year. (Yeah, I'm right on top of this whole email thing.) I opened them up and was surprised and amused to find that, some 6 or 7 months after the fact, these folks had stumbled across my "furkids" post and were offended by it. So much so, that they felt the need to email me and chastise me for my uncharitable attitude to those who've embraced the word/concept furkids. (Did they MISS the title of my blog? Did they misunderstand the concept of MY OPINION? Ah well.)
In their emails, I was reminded that I'm not Jesus and therefore not perfect*, had my intelligence impugned (twice!), and informed that they felt sorry for me for owning cats, since they are "dispicable (sic) creatures" that don't do well at things like "flyball, agility, herding or obedience". (As if I need/want a pet that excels at such activities and behaviors.)
My favorite part of the emails might have been when one of my new 'fans' made the observation that cats will "shit in your house and then proceed to track it across the floors". At the time, I was rather amused by this, since I figure that someone who can't grasp the concept of providing a litter box for their cats shouldn't necessarily be casting aspersions at MY intelligence.
But, in the days since stumbling across these emails, we've come to own a dog. (Well, two, actually. Long story. Don't ask.) And my reaction to those emails has shifted a bit to the, shall we say, LESS charitable end of the spectrum…
For the sake of this conversation, we'll stick with the first dog… a 12-week-old Rottweiler/something-unidentified mix, whose favorite pastime seems to be crapping on the living room floor, and then turning around and eating it. Meanwhile, his favorite treat is a litter-encrusted cat turd, which he will zealously fish out of the nearest litter box. Along with plucking said cat turds out of the puppy's mouth, I am forced to point out that, in the past month of dog-dom, I have cleaned up more puppy pee and puppy crap than I have ever had to with the cats.
I know, I know… he's a puppy and, eventually, the training will take and he'll stop eating his own (and the cat's) crap. At least, that's the hope. (Need I point out that housebreaking a cat entails showing them their litter box and walking away?) But, having said that, allow me to point out that all the training in the world, and all the well-balanced behavior that will, supposedly, stem from that training, will NEVER erase the image of him gleefully lapping up his own crap, or gnawing on a cat turd. Never.
So, those of you who find cats objectionable, who think they're "dispicable" or filthy or whatever, who find their independence threatening to your fragile self-image, can kindly kiss my ass. I've never had to fish shit out of a cat's mouth. 'nough said, I believe.
*(Not a claim I've ever been prone to make, by the way. Though I once was told I looked like Jesus. Or Charlie Manson. I loved THAT particular dichotomy.)
Meanwhile, a recent Blogger update added an "email me" option for all posts. It's a little graphic link added to the end of each post that allows you to send emails to me so you can express yourself regarding any of my posts. This, in addition to the comments option, leaves lots of ways that people can let me know what they think about what I'm saying. It's occasionally amusing.
Here's where this one gets amusing. The address I use for this "email me" option isn't one I check regularly… maybe once a month, if I'm lucky. So I was rather surprised, a short while back, to find that there were a couple of new emails from people I didn't know, dating back to the New Year. (Yeah, I'm right on top of this whole email thing.) I opened them up and was surprised and amused to find that, some 6 or 7 months after the fact, these folks had stumbled across my "furkids" post and were offended by it. So much so, that they felt the need to email me and chastise me for my uncharitable attitude to those who've embraced the word/concept furkids. (Did they MISS the title of my blog? Did they misunderstand the concept of MY OPINION? Ah well.)
In their emails, I was reminded that I'm not Jesus and therefore not perfect*, had my intelligence impugned (twice!), and informed that they felt sorry for me for owning cats, since they are "dispicable (sic) creatures" that don't do well at things like "flyball, agility, herding or obedience". (As if I need/want a pet that excels at such activities and behaviors.)
My favorite part of the emails might have been when one of my new 'fans' made the observation that cats will "shit in your house and then proceed to track it across the floors". At the time, I was rather amused by this, since I figure that someone who can't grasp the concept of providing a litter box for their cats shouldn't necessarily be casting aspersions at MY intelligence.
But, in the days since stumbling across these emails, we've come to own a dog. (Well, two, actually. Long story. Don't ask.) And my reaction to those emails has shifted a bit to the, shall we say, LESS charitable end of the spectrum…
For the sake of this conversation, we'll stick with the first dog… a 12-week-old Rottweiler/something-unidentified mix, whose favorite pastime seems to be crapping on the living room floor, and then turning around and eating it. Meanwhile, his favorite treat is a litter-encrusted cat turd, which he will zealously fish out of the nearest litter box. Along with plucking said cat turds out of the puppy's mouth, I am forced to point out that, in the past month of dog-dom, I have cleaned up more puppy pee and puppy crap than I have ever had to with the cats.
I know, I know… he's a puppy and, eventually, the training will take and he'll stop eating his own (and the cat's) crap. At least, that's the hope. (Need I point out that housebreaking a cat entails showing them their litter box and walking away?) But, having said that, allow me to point out that all the training in the world, and all the well-balanced behavior that will, supposedly, stem from that training, will NEVER erase the image of him gleefully lapping up his own crap, or gnawing on a cat turd. Never.
So, those of you who find cats objectionable, who think they're "dispicable" or filthy or whatever, who find their independence threatening to your fragile self-image, can kindly kiss my ass. I've never had to fish shit out of a cat's mouth. 'nough said, I believe.
*(Not a claim I've ever been prone to make, by the way. Though I once was told I looked like Jesus. Or Charlie Manson. I loved THAT particular dichotomy.)
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