[I wrote parts of this earlier in the week but since I'm currently on my xth night of not sleeping well, I figured I'd share it. It has of course, nothing to do with science... almost nothing anyway. It was either this post, or a little one about comfort pants in the closet ... I'll save that one for another day.]
I have a little problem that people in general don't really understand. See, I'm not a huge fan of cats - nor dogs. I mean, I like small kittens.... and puppies are cute. Big dogs though, and big cats with teeth though, not so much. One could say I am sort of scared of them even. It's not better since I know that they can feel (smell or taste of whatever you call it) that someone is not loving them and they turn more nervous. It's that sad thing that the more nervous you are, the more on edge they become. You know, like in a horror movie when one person gets all the others riled up and then the guns, knives and craziness come out? And all could've probably been avoided if everyone just shut up and went in their own little corner.
Usually I'm fine with it though, if the pet's owner (or the one the cat owns looking at it from their perspective) is at the house with me. Well... that's not the situation when you are cat or dog sitting. Huh. One thinks a PhD could've figured that one out. (duh) Alas, it seems like this particular doctor didn't really put that into the equation when offering to help out.
To add insult to the injury - the cats (I've noticed it is more a problem with cats since I see their claws and fangs once they look at my) seem to take extra pleasure to be where I am to make me more fidgety. Sleeping? well... when the cat wants to snuggle in the bed I'm sleeping in, they can clearly sleep well. Me? Not so much. Not to mention that I am terrified of accidentally roll on top of them so they get a reason to claw me. (Hence loving the closed door, separate living quarters from the litter box, sleeping pad and the food. I don't feel that evil then for closing them out. Doesn't stop them from making all sorts of sounds when they want your attention though. But that's another thing. I can usually close that out pretty well... sort of.)
It's not out of nowhere this fear (or whatever one should call it) comes from. As a child my family cat sat a cat who turned out to be a bit on the bad side. Not to blame him really, he lived in a family of three kids who weren't gentle with him. He went after me one night in my sleep... and I clearly live to remember it. And have attributed most of the species with the same behaviour.
Ah well, the true kicker of the story is that I am not scared of other animals people tend to find scary. Horses for example. Not a problem. Could have something to do with the fact that I've been around them for a long time and have encountered a lot of tricks to do when they decide to play rough. A good thing to know might be that unless the horse is really out to harm you and takes aim from a long distance, you just cling to the head and hold on to that. Then they can't really hurt you. Of course, it helps if they have a "mouth/head thing" on since that is what you rear them in with. And clutch onto.
I'm clearly not mentioning the absurd idea of being a researcher with a fear of rats... and mice... the mice thing I got over real quick. Let's just say having a project that depended on you being alone with mice and working with them several hours a day for a really long time is a great motivator. Still not super keen on going after male breeder mice to pick up from their cage, but I can do it. To be fair, pregger female ones aren't too nice either - or when they have dropped a litter and you need to change the bedding. (And no, rats are still out of the equation. Even the dead one I saw a few days ago while out walking the dog I'm currently the best friend of. She loves me. And I have to say, she's not as scary as other dogs. And less scary than the cats.) Even rabbits are sort of on the bad side (big teeth and I'm sure you've seen the Killer Rabbit?).
And then I'm not even mentioning birds. huu.... virus and bacteria from I don't know what. And a viewing of "The Birds" when I was way too young. Still fidgeting when being outdoors and eating a sandwich and those sparrows or crows come hopping... guess that could also have something to do with seeing crows while mountain hiking and seeing what they can do to a deer... I know it might have been dead when they started, or at least half dead but still... those beaks and eyes, now I'm clearly not sleeping soundly too night. Way too vivid imagination for being a bright girl.
And yes, I can see that this might make me sound like a scared, slightly pathetic person. Then again, I've been confronting my fears about mice, cats and dogs (even if I agree that one of the cats really gave me hisses and showed teeth that I had never seen before and I wasn't the cockiest but then again, I was barefoot and in short shorts....) so at least I'm working on it... Loose dogs in the street though, still have a long way to go with that (and no, I doubt it will ever happen. I like my body too much for that ;) ).
6 comments:
Well, if it helps any, you are not the only one, I don't really care much for cats nor dogs either. And while I am not exactly afraid of them, I would rather have no contact. Which can become very interesting when I visit a friend who owns a cat, because the cat senses that, in contrast with other people, I don't really want to pet her and would prefer to keep the distance and so it is immediately all over me. My friend is always amazed how the cat, who usually never lets any people too close, immediately comes and jumps on my shoulders or in my lap (which of course I would prefer it not to do and just stay away from me, please!).
Well, I *love* cats and dogs, but I totally understand why other people wouldn't like them! And I never let my cats in the bedroom either - they're way too annoying to share a bed with. For the first week we had them, and for the first night after we come back from any trip longer than 3 or 4 days, one of them meows repeatedly outside the bedroom door in the middle of the night to make us (well, me) come and reassure her, but apart from that we don't hear a peep out of them all night.
Hmm, maybe I shouldn't tell you about this video...
Pika> exactly. They loooove to torture you like that. Hey, I'm not interested in petting you, and you don't fancy people - but you want to be with _me_ ?? ;)
Cath> I think I would love them more if it wasn't for the fact that I've not been around too many... and there is that "wild" factor. hm, I might look at that video at home tonight... it can't make me sleep less than I currently do anyway.
I've heard a theory that cats always come to people who don't like them because those people tend to kind of squint at them and/or look away. They find direct eye contact indimidating - in the animal kingdom it's pretty much a direct challenge - so they don't want to approach the cat lovers who stare right at them, and go to the non-threatening person trying to avoid them, instead. So maybe staring directly into their faces will deter them?
Either that or they do it on purpose to annoy you. Both scenarios are perfectly possible.
I have no idea if this is supposed to work for dogs, too, but quite possibly not - as a pack animal rather than a solitary beast like a cat, they may not have the same aversion to eye contact.
CAth> it could be. I'm always avoiding eye contact since it feels like they are going straight for my face with the claws ;)
then again, with dogs I know not to hover on top of them, crowding them since that makes them feel threatened.
Most times though, I just strech my hand down towards the cat/dog when the owner is there and say "sniff me" ;)
I don't know why cats seem to come to people that don't like them. That happened to me a whole bunch way back, now that I don't mind cats quite so much, they don't jump on me all the time.
Develop a nice mother-cat hissing sound, it scares away any cat brought up by it's mother. "Pppsssssttttt!!!" Something like that.
And ear plugs for sleeping - for you, too, Cath.
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