[gambiting]

Absolutely - why wouldn't you? Serious question.

[sillysaurusx]

If you were the cat, I bet you'd feel differently.

That's as serious of an answer as I can give. It's the same reason I never neutered my cats, since it felt like a mutilation.

[gambiting]

Yes, but if I were a cat I wouldn't lick my own anus and yet cats happily do that - my opinion on what I would or wouldn't like as a cat is not really relevant.

My point is - we are not cats, and cats aren't humans. They deserve good treatment, respect and all the love they can get - but at the end of the day they are not humans and should not be treated as such.

[sillysaurusx]

How would you clean your anus if you were a cat?

Suppose a cat had fingers, and basic language ability. Would you still feel the same way?

Suppose we didn't slaughter the other five proto-human species (Neanderthals et al). Would you still feel the same way?

The line gets blurrier the more you think it over.

[Chris2048]

> Suppose a cat had fingers, and basic language ability

It would no longer be a cat.

That's why "If you (a human) were a cat" is a problem, b/c you need to say what level of human/cat this hybrid creature is imagined to be.

It's like that joke: "Behold! The dog with two heads! and two bodies!"

[likeclockwork]

I reject the notion that you can clean anything by licking it.

[throwaway946513]

Friction and liquids? Seems pretty much like the wet wipe used to clean my countertop - only a different friction material, and a different liquid solvent.

[salamandersauce]

My mom thought that way until we ended up with 5 more cats. The prospect of 20 more cats didn't quite appeal to her either.