preferences | It is p e c u l i a r

Allan

EN/ About Preferences, Part II

Before reading this, please read Part I here!

I started observing the reasons that people who did not like cats because they are: traitorous, selfish, that attack. I never understood that, how can someone not like cats? And worse, if you do not like it, why stay badmouthing? Talking about things you don´t know …

I had already gone through this stage, but it seems that there are people who never leaves that. From the moment I started to have contact with dogs and cats, I could analyze better the dog lovers that dont like cats. Noticed that like me, some had had a bad experience in the past, and others simply could not get to know cats to be able to change it.

When Allan came into our lives I’ve become daily conviviality with a dog in the house. The funny thing is that on the day he arrived, came straight towards me on the couch, leaving behind my sister, his “owner”.

We were lucky, what a sweet and obedient pet! Over time I noticed how much he is easy going, just by saying the word “walking” that he forgets who his family, who gives food, and goes running after that person. And how he is dependent, sticks to your feet, and gets excited how many times you arrive home in the same day.

I started to do a deeper analysis of human behavior, what he hopes and the feelings he directs to animals, especially to man’s best friend. No wonder the slight preference to dogs (which was higher before), the human being has a need to feel required, loved, to have something or someone that depends on it. Something that dogs can provide well, as the man is their leader, respects a hierarchy as if we were superior and they fragile. Dogs sociability really is much warmer, but for me the mystery of cats, with a certain seduction to win trust, is much more attractive.

Humans like this ease of approach of dogs, easy involvement of them to their leader. For this reason dog lovers find cats snobbish and do not confortable with them, just because they do not fall in love at first sight. The independence of cats is very often confused with detachment from the owners, their nature has always been free to explore. But that does not mean that they do not love their owners, they just have a different way of showing it, just as people also have and so some identify more with dogs and other cats with.

Another thing that people often talk about is that cats abandon the owners, which is not true. The truth is that the nature of cats, especially the stray, is they go around the neighborhood, socialize or fight with other cats at night. Many of them come back the next morning or in the middle of the night if the owner keeps a way to get the cat into the house. But nightlife can be dangerous, they can suffer accidents, poisonings and violence from ignorants, and never return home. So it’s important to think about the decision to keep them at home. Another thing that can happen is the cat does not have the basic home care or attention, enough affection and so they begins to attend other houses, and sometimes moves to another house. So think again before saying that they just abandon their owners.

Also please note that cats have a lot of personality, and each has a different personality, some have traumas. So generalizing will not make you an expert in this spicie. If by chance a person has a bad experience with a cat, whatever the reason, it does not mean that all are like that. It will depend on the person opening the mind and / or have the opportunity to live with other cats and learn from the experiences.

Therefore, I believe that people had to be aware that there are issues and differences that they do not understand enough, and they should not opine negatively before getting to know it. It is very unfair to make an animal a villain, whatever the feature you get attached to. It is also very bad to insinuate that people who like cats are weird or that are similar to those bad characteristics that “you” created for them.

If there is something I learned is that we have to learn, to know and have experiences before you think you own the truth. We have to respect the differences and know that there will always have someone who likes what you do not like, some prefer cats to dogs and prefers someone else to “you.” And so we would live happily ever after.

Milo

PT/ Sobre Preferências, Parte II

Antes de esse texto, leia a Parte I aqui!

Comecei a observar as razões que pessoas que não gostavam de gatos por serem: traiçoeiros, interesseiros, que atacam. Eu nunca entendia isso, como pode alguém não gostar de gatos? E pior, se não gostam, por que ficar falando mal? Falar do que não sabe…
Eu já tinha passado por essa fase, mas parece que tem gente que nunca sai dela. À partir do momento que comecei a ter contato com cães e gatos, analisei melhor os apaixonados por cachorros que não suportam gatos. Vii que assim como eu, alguns tinham tido uma experiência ruim no passado, e outros simplesmente não puderam conhecer gatos para mudar isso.
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Baby me and my first cat, Bolinha (diminutive for ball) / Eu bebê e meu primeiro gato, Bolinha.

EN/ About Preferences, Part I

Fear and hate in general are feelings that arise from the unknown, if I dont grasp it, I fear it. There is also the possibility of fear to be the result of a bad experience in the past, a trauma. As a kid I never liked dogs, my mother says that one day, a huge dog of a friend, jumped on me and knocked down me when I was about 3 year olds. I just got to know this story years later, from complaining so much in the presence of any dog, she told me that.

I was always afraid, and avoided them, used it cross the street so I wouldnt be close, I never found any of them cute. If we were going to a house that I knew had a dog, I would suffer from anxiety in advance to imagine having to face a beast of those in the same room as me, or simply just at the entrance of the house.

From an early age I had contact with cats at home, in my grandmother´s house, on the street I always made sure to get close to them, encouraged by my mother, who throughout her life have probably had around 9 cats. I admired their beauty and behavior, and over time I began to further identify myself with them. There was a phase where I raised the flag to say they were the best, and could not bear dogs because I thought they were silly. This was nothing other than me trying to self affirm to an animal I have total involvement, trying to reduce the other animal that made me insecure.

When I was round 10 years old riding my bike on the my gramma´s street, a neighbor who had rottweilers came out for littering, and guess what? The dog ran out to the street! Today I’m not even sure if it came after myself, but I despaired, left my bike on the pathway, went in and closed the gate really fast. It was scary, I thought I was going to die and this reactivated that trauma.

Over time I could not get away from certain situations involving dogs, a friend that I frequented the house like mine, had a dog called Hanna and it took me a while to get used to her. I had in mind: “show no fear, but keep away, try to greet to see she leaves me alone”. I even had to deal with a rottweiler a schoolmate had when we used one or two lectures off to go to her house. I remember to explain in advance about my relationship with the species and my colleague assured me that the dog was quite calm. Arriving at her house, who received us? Fila was her name, huge, and really very calm, just came to see who were coming, let her smell me as I repeated with my heart racing, my internal mantra: “show no fear, but keep away, try to greet to see if she leaves me alone”.

It was by having to go through such situations, rather than avoiding them, I began to notice more canine behaviours, find out that they bark but do not bite and do not attack for anything, understand gestures, noises, all this that for me It was scary and I could never find out whether they were good or bad.

PT/ Sobre Preferências, Parte I

Medo e ódio em geral são sentimentos que surgem do desconhecido, se eu não domino, eu temo. Também existe a possibilidade do medo ser resultado de uma expêriencia ruim no passado, um trauma. Desde criança eu nunca gostei de cachorros, minha mãe diz que um dia, um cachorro enorme de uma amiga, pulou em mim e me derrubou quando eu tinha uns 3 aninhos. Eu só soube dessa estória muito tempo depois, de tanto reclamar na presença de qualquer cachorro, ela me contou.

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