Indoor cats (unless your home is overridden with vermin) can't feed themselves or obtain fresh water OR (I lament) change their own damn litter boxes.

The glory of autofeeders! And waterers! No solution, sadly, to the box problem, though apparently, toilet training is possible. For me, they're less trouble yet more reward than, say, fish.

Johnny

Speaking of cats as pets....

Product Service Systems: Japan's Cat Cafés

Now we present Neko JaLaLa, or the Cat Café. You don't get to rent the cat, but you get to join them for tea while catz loll around. After all, cats are like tribbles; rubbing them makes you feel good. It is only in the morning that you pay with your skin. One customer says "When it comes to having cats, it's a burden. I work and I don't have the time to take care of them in a responsible manner," but thinks cat-gazing is "a way to relax and let go of my stress." Others note that it is a big help for people without time or space to have their own.

"I always used to play with cats back home, but now I can't, since I live on my own," says Yuka Sato in the CSM. "I wish I could live together with cats like this."

Oh, and Layla barks when the doorbell rings. Or when a doorbell rings on television, which is hilarious.

aww Frank used to do that before he went mostly deaf. I can't remember the last time I heard him bark. He was never a huge barker but when someone broke into my house (while I was there) in 1999 he barked more fiercely and loudly than I've ever heard him bark before or since. The guy broke in upstairs and the dog and I were downstairs. I thought the noise was just the cats messing around but Frank knew. And I found out when I went upstairs to investigate and ended up fighting with (and then chasing off) the young asshole who'd been hiding in the bathroom.

I used to think cats were fairly self-maintaining until my one got the diabetes.

What to they mean by "pay with your skin" in that article?

My cat is a talker, and a pee-er, but she doesn't have to be walked, which is a plus. Also, she gives me back massages.

Oh, and speaking of dogs, my friend posted this link on her Facebook: [link] It's a local news story about the place she works, which is a residential facility for kids with various issues, and one of their programs for teens is training assistance dogs. The news piece is about disabled veterans and the dogs they get from this program. It's an amazing thing -- helps everyone on all sides.

I assume "pay with your skin" refers to scratching and biting (they specify in the morning, which seems to be when cats INSIST that you get up and feed them RIGHT THIS MINUTE).

What to they mean by "pay with your skin" in that article?

Oh, in the original article, it was a like to that "Simon's Cat" cartoon: [link]

eta:

I assume "pay with your skin" refers to scratching and biting (they specify in the morning, which seems to be when cats INSIST that you get up and feed them RIGHT THIS MINUTE).

Yeah, that's exactly what that cartoon is about. (Someone linked to it before.)

I guess people raised by people who were raised by people in rural environments or cultures where animals are part of the landscape just don't know any better.

::raises hand::

I've never understood the idea that dogs represent unconditional love and much neediness. We had an outside dog that got played with by us, but she was just lucky to have a family with kids. Many of the dogs on our street didn't. She had her preferences--she liked us kids just fine, loved our older live-in cousin and paid no attention to our parents at all.

Not a loud dog at all (Doberman) and not that social--she was alone unless an neighbour's dog snuck in, until she gave birth and we kept one of the puppies. But I don't recall too much interaction on her part once he was weaned.

Reinforcing the notion that Buffistas know everyone, I'm two degrees from the Giant Hands running the puppycam. Hee! Friends in SF know them.

A friend of mine who did both Shiba and Akita rescue for many years used to say that it wasn't so much that they think they're Akitas -- it's that they actually are, just super-concentrated, like the detergent that does just as many loads with a smaller bottle.

So totally true. Shibas are about the bossiest little dudes I've ever met.

Kuma is a Jindo, the middle-size, between Shibas and Akitas. Not hardly bossy, but with all the blowing coat and cutitude.