Apparently, previous editions of D&D...

[El Mahdi]

It isn't the risk. It is the connection. I find I can read a dog much better than a cat...

Believe it or not, this has been scientifically documented as true, so it's not just your own feeling or belief. Dogs have, over the 100,000 years or so of domestication, learned how to read human faces (and vice-versa to a certain extent). It's a genetic thing that's passed along. Wolves do not have this ability, and even wolves that have been domesticated (as much as that is possible) are unable to learn this. Even in tests where foxes were specifically bred for non-agression, which resulted in very dog-like behavior and physical characteristics in just a few short generations - the Foxes didn't automatically gain the ability to read human faces. In dogs (and Humans), it's an ability gained through a 100,000 years of evolution.

Cats definitely do not have that ability. Your housecat (for those who have one), is only domesticated in the loosest definition of the word. They're used to people so are not scared of or aggressive toward them (for the most part). They may even go as far as to consider people (and sometimes other animals) as a part of their community, same as other cats of it's community (if it has/had one). But in most ways, that housecat is no different (other than lack of fear of man and size), than any wild feline - be it a Bobcat, Cougar, or Lion.

I've never been bitten by a dog I've owned (though other people's dogs are a different story), have been bitten or clawed by my own cats before.

I have, though never seriously. Dogs, like wolves, have much of the same "language" - a language that includes different kinds of bites (among many other things). Just as licking starts out as a puppy-communication asking for food, then morphs into asking for and showing affection; Dogs will lightly bite each others snouts to show playfullness and affection (among other things, such as aggression and domination). Sometimes they'll even do this with humans, though our faces aren't built for it and aren't as tough. I've also been bit by dogs I've owned when they were scared, though never hard enough to break the skin. Dogs have a language with which they communicate, but limited ways in which to do so - biting is one of those ways. Though it can be mitigated through training, it's impossible to eliminate entirely.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Hell- cat or dog (I've owned both; been bitten by both)- sometimes you can get bitten just because the animal has gotten too hyped up from playtime. And many other reasons besides.

My buddy's cat switches from lover to biter in seconds (got bitten last night...just like nearly every time I go there...damn cat). My younger Border Collie has nipped me several times trying to snatch a ball or other toy from my hand. My older one nipped the heel of a friend she was trying to herd upstairs (he was going too slowly).

Our second Border Collie (R.I.P., Marybeth) was as gentle a dog as you'd ever meet, and friendly as hell. She'd even play fetch with our neighbor over the fence. But when my cousins Keith and Kerry (then 7 and 4, respectively) were in the yard alone with her, NOBODY could reach over the fence (except us) without facing 50lbs of snarling furry fury. That was her flock.

 

[Umbran]

Cats definitely do not have that ability.

Perhaps not the ability to read facial expressions, specifically, but let us not overstate the case by being too specific. Cats can interpret human emotional states to some degree - but it is based more off body posture and vocal tone than upon facial expression. They aren't as good at it as dogs, and the frequency at which the cat cares about human emotional state is probably less than that you typically see in dogs. They aren't as social a species.

Anedcotal, but demonstrative - One of our cats, for example, can tell with nigh-unerring accuracy when my wife is having a nightmare. He can tell better than I can. And he responds with what, to a cat, is comforting behavior - he curls up next to her, and purrs his little heart out, and kneads. She rarely wakes up at the time, so it isn't like he's getting a payoff in attention. He can simply tell she's distressed, and does something about it.

Domestic house cats are not exactly the same as other cat species, or even feral house cats. There's a socialization step that, if undertaken when the cat is a kitten, allows them to cue into humans in ways that wild species cannot (even when given similar exposure to humans) and ferals that didn't have the exposure when young don't.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Domestic house cats are not exactly the same as other cat species, or even feral house cats. There's a socialization step that, if undertaken when the cat is a kitten, allows them to cue into humans in ways that wild species cannot (even when given similar exposure to humans) and ferals that didn't have the exposure when young don't.

And absent that step, all too often, kitty reads humans as "needing a good ass-whuppin', right about now", as evidenced by the story I stated this thread with...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

And ENWorld agreed with my last post so much, it posted it twice...

 

[Umbran]

And absent that step, all too often

If "all too often" means "once" sure

kitty reads humans as "needing a good ass-whuppin', right about now", as evidenced by the story I stated this thread with...

I note that in the story, rabies had not been ruled out in that story.

As a reader keeping his skeptic eye open - the only folks who know if the cat was provoked are the man, and the cat. And the cat ain't talkin'.

Of course, if the dude was foolish enough to cheese off a 20 lb cat, and then lost the fight when he had a weapon, I wouldn't expect him to admit it publicly.

 

[Mark CMG]

Which raises the question about just what other abuses had been visited upon that cat. It is seemingly not underfed.

 

[Umbran]

Given that the average healthy weight for a housecat is between 9 and 12 lbs, no, we wouldn't expect it to have been underfed.

 

[Janx]

Given that the average healthy weight for a housecat is between 9 and 12 lbs, no, we wouldn't expect it to have been underfed.

According to the Click2 article (remember, I live here, it's a local story), the cat was feral. Feral as in wild. It was a feline of the house cat species that allegedly has NEVER been touched by a human.

Feral cat means house cat that is wild and does not belong to anybody, and likely never has. Old Town Spring has gobs of feral cats. people catch them get them fixed, and re-release them. they keep the rat population down.

As to dogs biting vs. cats. El Mahdi proves my point with science.
Fear biting IS a predictable thing. As in, the dog is stressed, be careful so he doesn't bite you. Perhaps I am a rare dog owner who knows when to expect a bite risk.

What I'm talking about properly trained dog not biting is that you can pet your dog when he is calm and you will probably never get bit. This does not seem to be true of cats. You have a higher chance of getting bit or scratched by a cat in the same scenario. Cats are just wierd that way.

----added note
I grew up on a farm. I've killed animals and held baby pigs so they could be castrated and have hernia protrusions treated with acid. I've dealt with thrashy animals before (much like vet techs) and have held my dog down (because they were worried about her being a Chow, despite her being the nicest chow in the world).

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

What I'm talking about properly trained dog not biting is that you can pet your dog when he is calm and you will probably never get bit. This does not seem to be true of cats. You have a higher chance of getting bit or scratched by a cat in the same scenario. Cats are just wierd that way.

Though I was only bitten once by one of my Maine Coons- which, BTW, can get into the 25-35 pound range (at 15 & 18, ours were "runts")- when I startled him in his sleep, I do share that "WTF, cat?!" experience. I wasn't kidding when I said I get bitten every time I go to my buddy's house. That cat goes from "Scwatch my eaws, pwetty pwease!" to "DIE, Foul Ear-Scratcher!!!" in a fraction of a second.