Reply #13: I'm a masochist who finds being owned preferable....

[politicat]

It's not rational for me necessarily. I've met nice dogs, and I've met cats I want to sell to the closest biodiesel factory (my mother's cat, for example.) I think one of the reasons I prefer cats to dogs is that the cats I have known have been more "introverted" while the dogs I've known have been more "extroverted." Cats don't necessarily want to be your friend from the moment you enter their lives, while a lot of the dogs I've known are positive you do want to share everything with them.

Since I'm a classic introvert (i.e. I do well in group situations, and even enjoy them for short periods, but external events take more emotional energy from me than they return, and the more people I have to deal with, the more drained I get), dogs feel emotionally draining to me, while my cats are emotionally sustaining.

Part of that may be that dogs require a lot more active attention than cats do; my cats, at least, are more than content to provide and receive passive attention (like sitting next to me while I'm reading or sleeping near me while I'm working) than the dogs I've known.

Perhaps I've just known the wrong dogs.