I'm with you Tom. I'm not a pet person at all. Cats are native bird killers, dogs are noisy, smelly and needy and the others aren't worth bothering with. I do make exceptions for working animals. But as the bumper sticker says: I love animals - they taste delicious!

I think this blog post explains a lot about you. You have a complete lack of empathy. Are you sure you don't have aspergers or something?

Good topic. I am kinda of in the middle here. I don't have any pets but look forward to getting a cat or dog someday when I own my own house. I struggle to understand why people have pets while renting - quickly wipes out about 95% of potential places to live.

Also I don't understand people being totally in love with their pets. I.e. I have friends who don't like going out for the evening because it's too long to leave the dog home alone?!?! what the hell!

i dont own a pet, a cat allows me to share a house with her :)

We're all products of our upbringing. You are ambivalent towards animals as pets because you were robbed of the joy and companionship that comes from having a family pet when you're a kid. I've found that people who grow up with a dog will generally be more of a dog person. I like dogs, but having grown up with a cat in the house I prefer cats-they keep themselves clean and don't smell, and they can catch their own dinner.

I may have two cats, and I may buy them pricey Hills Science Diet, and I may be covered in fur...but you, Mr Fitz, have a sprog on the way. When said sprog arrives it'll cost more to feed, clothe and raise than my cats, and while it may not cover you in fur it'll wee, vomit and poo on you continuously for about two years, and overall be harder to train. I think I've got the better deal going on, but really, that's just my take.

I'm quite a lot younger than everyone in my team at work, but none of them have children. They all have cats though, which they talk about at length. ALL. THE. TIME. I honestly don't care that your cat isn't sleeping at night, or refuses to eat your chosen brand of jelly meat. One spinster even said to me "oh your time will come", which I took as a personal insult. If I don't like cats now, I probably won't in 20 years - with or without a husband.

We never had pets growing up as my mother didn't like them and refused to look after them (despite the promises from us that we would look after them, in reality it probably would have been her). I got a kitten 7 years ago sort of by accident, I had no intentions of getting a cat but within 5 minutes of seeing her I'd named her. Needless to say I went back the next day and bought her. Like you say Tom, holidays are a pain with trying to find someone to cat sit and I wasn't expecting to feel guilt when I go away and leave her, but I've turned into one of those people who talks in funny voices to her cat and no matter how hard I try, I always seem to have cat hair somewhere on my clothes. I think it's made me less selfish though and I wouldn't change having her for the world.

I have a cat known by the slightly odd name of TinkleKitten.

My wife found her in a shocking state living under our house. She was mangy, had a gamy leg, fithy fur, no tail (cut or ripped off) and was shockingly thin, and terrified of anything that moved.

Over a month or so, we gained her trust and fed her up on top quality cat food. After a few months, she started sleeping in the kitchen and would even let us touch her. Once she was fairly tame we got her fixed up by the vet. Now we have a healthy, happy, extremely friendly cat.

I'm not a big animal fan, but this one would be dead if we hadn't looked after it. That creates a special bond even with a non-animal lover like me.

No pets, not anymore...Goldfish + soy = Yummy!

I agree. I really like animals, but I am not really a pet person. And am definitely not a dog person - I believe dogs are ok if they have a purpose ie police dog, sheep dog etc. People will argue that companionship is a purpose but meh whatever. Having said all that, I actually have two cats - but not necessarily by choice - my son, who is now 6, had asked constantly from the age of 3 for a sibling - as a single parent I couldnt see that happening anytime soon, so earlier this year fobbed him off by offering up kittens instead. He was quite happy with that. (And they are nice cats.) Anyway, life being what it is, next year our household will be made up of me, him, 2 cats, and a baby......guess who's happiest about this scenario!!