Stephen I'm surprised you believe anything you read in the NYT, in fact I'm surprised you read it at all.

Cats are wonderful as are dogs. We've had four feline members of our family and one wonderful half German shepherd half husky dog. They are all in heaven now and we miss them all every single day.

Yeah, gotta agree with you, erp, nothing wrong with cats. With 2 sons (12and 2 yrs old), a cat is much easier as a pet. We have had a dog, but it was more trouble and less love than the boys, and our cat is as close to a dog as you can get. She answers when called, and doesn't bark at anything.
As for Stephens wedding ring story, I only lost mine for a few hours, but it was a long few hours. I ran a bread route at the time, and at the first stop, I was lifting trays, and zing off flies the ring. I had to completely empty the truck I had just spent the better part of 2 hours loading to find it before I left that stop. I'll never go thru that again.

Dogs are so much better than cats. Cats just seem so European. Yes, dogs are loud and can destroy things, but they are also loyal companions and guard my wife and son and I against any intruders. Or squirrels.

There's a First Cat in the White House as well as a First Dog. Does that make W a girlie man (or less than a real American)?

Enough of this caterwauling! You're all getting too catty with these catfights, and if you don't shape up, I'm gonna dog the whole kitten caboodle of ya.

Cats make excellent pets. For dogs.

Actually you need a cat to keep the dog(s) in line

We are a country at war. We are divided by a bitter political campaign. Martha Stewart is in prison, and Ashley Simpson is suffering from acid reflux disease.

At a time like this, can't pets and their people all come together in mutual respect and understanding, regardless of species?

I have two and trust me, cats have as much personality as any dog. Unfortunately they have shitty personalities sometimes. :) One spent the entire night laying on my head and purring at me and the other could care less that I exist. They crap in a box and I don't have to walk them in the rain/snow so they are certainly more self sufficient than a dog.

Both dogs and cats are perfect companions to such a nuanced species as man.

I find comfort in the fact that were I to die unnoticed, my cat would have no reservations devouring my corpse if there were no other food available.

Of course, the bargain goes both ways.

Catblogging is for wimps - Olive Tree blogging is the real thing :)

http://www.di2.nu/blog.htm?20041029

Real men have dogs.

They also vote for Bush.

And they don't marry for money.

Rant? Perhaps.

My cats come when I call (even to the window) are great companions, are born potty trained and very affectionate.

I would love to have dogs too, but I think it is mean to leave a dog inside all day and I don't like wee wee pads (not the same as using a litter box). Some Cats and dogs can have difficult personalities, just like people.

The only issue I have right now is my new kitten brings toys into the bed to play with her sisters at 6am every morning before I am to get up! But it is also adorable.

Don't like cats, eh? Well, Steve, how would you like some of this delicious and tasty Kool-Aid? ;)

Will. So sorry. I just noticed that it wasn't Stephen who blogged this article.

I'm still not used to guest bloggers on this site.

Lileks shows a cute picture of a dog and you work it up to a full-blown failure on the part of your cat-owning fellow Americans. One might almost think you were John Kerry ...

I forget who said it but:
"To every dog, his master is Napoleon. Hence the popularity of dogs." I think it was intended as a slam on dogs and dog owners, but I take it as a point of pride. I'm not to big not to want to be thought of as Napoleon (in certain aspects).

Robert - that is particularly true of male dog owners who hate cats. It bothers them that cats expect to have their devotion earned and their egos can't take it. The need constant ego boosting by their dogs.

"real Americans have dogs"

Tell that to Heinlein, bub. :)

My two cats (custody from a soured relationship) flip-flop a John Kerry catnip toy all over the apartment. So there!

I do not have a dog and will probably never have a dog. This does not have anything to do with my like or dislike of dogs (although I do prefer cats), it has to do with only one thing: I refuse to follow behind a dog and pick up after it. No way, Jose. I would be a totally irresponsible dog owner and my dog's doo would be left where he dropped it, I guarantee. My cat uses the garden and that's just swell by me, as Mother Nature takes care of it all by herself with no help from me whatsoever.

I like cats, but there's something about cat people... the ones to whom cat ownership is something nearing religion.

I like cats, but there's something about cat people... the ones to whom cat ownership is something nearing religion.

That nails it. I've got a cat, and I've even come to not mind it and sometimes even enjoy its company (it was either a cat or a jamboree of mice....or is that a 'murder of mice'?). There is something slightly disturbing about cat people. Of course, there's something disturbing about dog people, but I digress.....

Jpe wrote:
There is something slightly disturbing about cat people. Of course, there's something disturbing about dog people, but I digress.....

I've met some fairly weird dog people (in fact, Christopher Guest made a movie about them), but they're not as common as the cat people. Cat people remind me of those people who are a little too enthusiastic about their iPod or iMac or their Mini Cooper. Come to think of it, I bet all of the above groups are much more likely to be cat owners. And the men to have goatees and thick-rim glasses.

It's an odd little subculture.

No one will see this, but I still have to write it:

I've met some fairly weird dog people (in fact, Christopher Guest made a movie about them), but they're not as common as the cat people.

Bullshit. Dog people are freaky when they attribute some odd masculinity to their dogs. Take a frat guy: he's likely to think his dog is 'rugged' and 'independent'. This is just as much an anthroporphization as any weird-o cat fan.

They're both weird. You're just characterizing cat owners as feminined, when the masculinization of dog owners is just as bizarre.

Well, maybe I just travel in the wrong circles, but I haven't met any of the weird frat-boy dog people. I have met drug-dealer types with their pitbulls, which is skeevy but not really weird. I don't get the impression that they view their pet as an almost higher form of life than themselves, which is the definite vibe I get from the cat people.

And I wouldn't call it feminized. More like Greenwich-ized, I guess.