I learned several years ago that I am allergic to cats. I believe they can sense that I would rather they not be around me because they always do something trying to get me to give in to their tactics - rubbing against my leg(s), climbing up on something next to me, purring, staring at me, jeez.
I've also noticed cats have a tendency to warm up to people that leave them alone. It must be because they don't see those people as threats.
I have noticed with a few of the cats that I have had that they seem to go out of their way to cozy up to visitors who don't much like cats, while they often ignore people who would like to have them on their lap. Then again, they do something similar to me. When I am begging them to come over to me, they act like they don't even hear me but when I am busy doing something else, they're all over me.
Since when does a cat need a reason to do any darn thing it wants to do? Cats are *free*. They are beings who have been through all their previous lives and are coming to the end of the Eternal Spiral. They don't need to be "nice" to people. They may choose to, but they don't have to, unlike dogs, who were used camel dealers, politicians, lawyers or door-to-door/phone solicitors/spammers in their previous existances. Dogs are still working off their Karma by being loving, loyal and faithful. Cats? Eh, they're superior to us and don't hesitate to let us know. Today's crackpot theory brought to you by Rama Lama Mary, who sincerely hopes to be some nice old lady's cat in my next incarnation.
I have a theory. I don't think it has anything to do with allergies. Natural selection? There has always been a percentage of people who despise cats for whatever reason, for as long as I can remember. They will at best just chase cats away and at worst take drastic measures to get rid of them. I remember in my lifetime when no one would have ever dreamed of getting a cat spayed or neutered. I think cats were more or less on their own, outside pets, for generations here. Cats who were more cautious around people were more likely to survive longer and reproduce. It has been bred into them to be standoffish. Once a cat determines you are no threat many will be friendly. A person with allergies is deemed not a threat quickly because they try to avoid the cat. That very behavior is what some people don't like about cats. I don't blame the cats.
That makes sense, Nancy. Cats have not been domesticated as long as dogs have and, even then, their domestication differed greatly from that of the pet dog. I've mentioned it in this forum before, but I grew up on a farm and we always had at least a dozen cats on the farm. The number varied because when a cat had kittens, the kittens seldom stuck around into adulthood. Perhaps realizing that there were enough cats on our farm, many of them would find homes on other farms nearby. Maybe they were even run off by the other cats when they became adults. When a cat was sick, it would usually disappear somewhere, as we rarely found dead cats. Although my mother and some of my brothers would pet the cats sometimes, I was the only one who actually spent time with them, and would sneak one into my bedroom at night. Mom didn't allow animals in the house, so the cats lived in the barn, some of them, while others would make their homes in one of the other outbuildings. Some of our cats were practically feral, while others were very tame.
My allergy to cats are only triggered if I stay around them too long. I found out when we did an overnight stay at my son's home. I was fine when we arrived in the morning but by the afternoon I starting sneezing. Through the night and waking up the next morning sneezing and itchy eyes. When I sat outside for a while it all went away then started again once inside. It was a beautiful cat. I petted it, talked to it but I didn't have a clue. It dawned on me as we were driving home that those annoyances were gone and didn't come back, until our next trip back to my son's and they came back much quicker than before and disappeared again on the way home. This was before their firstborn which was 15 years ago there were no cats during our visits then and no annoyances so I summed it up as being allergic to the cat. I know my summation is based on just one cat but I don't want to feel that way again.
Same here. I have a good friend who is a cat owner, and being at his house is miserable for me. My eyes get itchy and "sticky" feeling and I get that throat-clearing thing. As soon as I leave his house the symptoms clear up. I also have a deep-seated cringe factor to pet hair. My sister has a Boston Terrier and there is little white dog hair on all the furniture in her den. I don't even want to sit down in there. (Yeah, I'm weird but there you are.)
I forgot about the throat clearing. I'm okay with dogs was raised with them and owned plenty. Granted they have their downsides too but I'm not allergic to them as with cats.