Read with interest exchange between Howie, Bzdaddy, Gaudygoddess etc.....

Howie,
So there are no chinese girls in Slim River? Poor thing... if there is any consolation, I am Chinese.. and I am a girl... who happens to adore my cats very much. I used to own dogs but decided to care for cats due to lifestyle changes...

I was in Bidor (not too far more Slim River) a month ago, on my way to Pangkor.

There aren't too many Chinese that I know, like cats. Which is a pity since cats are interesting and loving.




Gaudy,
I have read some of your postings in puppy.com.my. It's been interesting reading your postings and seeing you appreciate your pets there are not too many Chinese girls out there with cats and it's really nice to know someone who appreciates the beauty of cats.

Quite a task to get my girlfriends to see why I prefer my cats over a shitzu.... hmmmm...




Anyone knows why many Chinese prefer dogs to cats? I have no idea why it is so.

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Now 1st off, I think all of us are humans... and Malaysians.... Chinese, Malay, Indian etc is just a way to measure our experiences in life... Because our culture gives us our history and our pass...

So now there is Horatio, Howie, Gaudy and I who are avid cat lovers... maybe there are not many cat lovers because not much about cats are mentioned in chinese history?? Am not very good in Chinese history but think dogs were the prefered pets by royalties eg Pekingnese.... might explain why every Chinese girl in Melaka wants a shitzu... too many shitzu-s at the vet's.....

An interesting point:
Nabi Muhammad was compassionate towards cats. As we know, many of our forumers are Muslims and Muslims are known to love and care for cats. Any correlation?

well, no doubt our Prophet loves animals and muslims cant have dogs living with them except if the purpose of having a dog is to guard the house (a house with a very big compound)....i had 2 german shepards when i was very little due to my fathers work as an estate manager in kulai....we loved the dogs so much....they were our guardians and also my playmates...and i still do adore german shepards.....i can say i love dogs and would like to have 1 if i can accept muslims staring and cursing me lah.....chinese not liking cats is wierd but its a reality......

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dunno about Chinese history and why every Chinese girl in Malacca wants a shihtzu. why not pekingnese?

as for me, i had always preferred dogs. when growing up, parents never let us keep pets but we would encourage kittens and puppies to follow us home and feed them but cannot keep. no dogs allowed cos we had very good Malay neighbour and not abt to mess up that friendship.
in campus life, cats were everywhere! university cats, very learned and difficult to catch kan? one particular white one would walk pass my window and gave me the shivers! my room was on the 4th floor! also, some cat pissed in my sports shoes, couldn't get rid of the smell and had to dispose the shoes and i was a really, truly poor student then!

well, after dog 1 and dog 2 came, one day they rescued a kitten, probably abt 2-3 days old. couldn't just leave him so we nursed him and he's now 2+ years. healthy and manja.
3 months after cat 1 came, dogs found kitten 2 in drain, covered in her own faeces. i got her out and brought her home. pretty little thing stayed!
we got kitten 3 from a coffeeshop, kitten 4 from the food court.

now i can't imagine not having either.

do i still prefer dogs? in some ways. dogs are more interactive and greet ppl so much more enthusiastically. cats being more aloof, still greet u but on their own terms. one of them will jump up and sit on my lap when i read the papers but struggle to free herself if i pick her up when she's walking past.
i think dogs are more loyal and bec they always want to be where u r, constant companions.
cats come and go as they pls. when one fails to come back at night, we worry but are they concerned? i don't think so!

these days, bec of restrictions on no. of dogs allowed per household but none on cats, we know we simply can't have any more dogs but hey, no limit on cats!

oh, forgot to add that my aunt absolutely adores cats! she had 3 - strays that came to her apartment in wangsa maju and stayed on to become such beautiful (read: fat!) healthy things.
she lives in a predominantly malay neighbourhood so the cats must have been able to 'smell' her love !!!

she says she loves animals but bec of where she stays, has to remain content with cats.

another aunt has a dog and a cat that live peaceably with each other.
the cat sleeps in my cousin's room - in a pull-out bed next to her!

we are multi-ethnic - indian, chinese, malay and "lain-lain" and we'd love to have more pets but not enough space as condo is small .

the chinese bits of our family don't love the kitties any less although there are accusations that the indian part of the family is the major contributor in "spoiling" the pets and overpampering them.

i think living in harmony with animals - cats, dogs, etc is more an individual thing and passed through the family. if the parents don't treat animals with love and respect chances are kids will treat animals the same way.

race not major contributing factor (personal opinion - no research done, yet ) but culture could affect the way people interact with other species.

so we need to build culture of lurve...animals and humans too.

I think it is just personal preference nothing to do with race or religion when come to choosing the favours pet. I know a few Muslim keep dogs and Chinese who loves cats and hates dogs. Caucasian who loves dogs and wants nothing to do with cats and vice verse. They are many including me who loves both and all other the animals. I agreed with Eli, dogs and cats are so different and they should be treated differently and you cannot expect cats to behave in certain way as dogs do and vice verse.

People who hates or don¡¦t like certain animal may have had bad experience with one or they may never being explored or properly introduced to one or they may have misconception about the animals or they may just have phobic about animals. Even now many people still have misconception about black cat. Some people will never try to get to know animals and have one for company. I think we are very lucky indeed to have them as pets.

Some of the posts here are hilarious. I wonder if Howie is exageratting when he says he cannot find a Chinese girlfriend BECAUSE of the cats.

Oh here is a nice story I read about the Prophet and cats. Once a cat was sleeping on his robe and he was very uncomfortable but did not want to disturb it so he allowed to sleep on it until it got up. Another story is the "M" pattern on tabby's heads. The Prophet loved cats so much and he left an "M" in His name on the head. Come to think of it.... I think that story must have been cooked up by orang putih lah..... it should be in Arabic script mah! I think the phenomenon about Muslims hating dogs is a very Malaysian-centric one as a lot of Arabs keep dogs (Bedouins), especially the women for protection purpose. I find it funny when I see some conservative Malays screaming at the sight of tiny dogs. I also know some Malays who keep and love their dogs as pets as well as guard dogs.

Yeah, like what Rozita has mentioned, some kaypoh people will curse her if she keeps dogs. I think living in TTDI should not be much of a problem but still there are some conservative/narrow-minded people. I like GSDs too my husband used to keep one (died of old age) and I always imagined the dog to be a perfect gentleman with his regal looks and gentle brown eyes, complete with imaginary bow tie.

Cats are very well loved by Chinese culture and are lovingly depicted in paintings. They were also employed in the godowns to guard against rats. The Pekingese was only allowed to be owned by the imperial family so ordinary Chinese would not be allowed to own them. In Malaysia, I know so many Chinese old and young alike who love their kitties. my neighbour even once had a 3-legged cat but her daughter took it to live in a condo as it had a very rare allergy to grass (cost them over RM1000 to treat it) They even have special cushions (supersoft) for the cat to laze in.

The difference between Malay and Chinese cat owners (this is in typical sense) I have observed is that Chinese usually keep the most 3 cats but usually only one and Malays like to keep lots and the Chinese is more likely to neuter their cats. I think Malays don't want to neuter as some say against the religion but recently the Fatwa said its OK.

I like dogs but too much responsibility and they need loving all the time or they'll go psycho. Dogs are wonderful companions and least likely to snub you. Heh heh my kitty is funny, he has a dog personality.

Guadygoddess,

It is an interesting conversation. Yes, most Malay will scream when they see a dog. It usually makes the situation worse, as the dog will be aggravated and it will bark and may even attach. I didn¡¦t know Muslims are allowed to keep dog. Can Muslims touch dog with their bare hands? Is it true that if they touched dog intentionally or accidentally they have to wash their hands with soil?

I know most Malays in Singapore neutered their cats but it is hard to convince Malays here to neuter their cats. That why Malays tense to have many cats because cats are like breeding machines they will breed at least three times a years if not under control. I am a Chinese Vet. Can you please tell me how can I convince Muslims to neuter their cats? Thanks