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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6280131" data-attributes="member: 177">Okay, I talked to my wife the veterinarian about this.&nbsp; Let's clear some things up.Someone yanked the cat's tail, then kicked it.&nbsp; It became aggressive.&nbsp; This is somehow surprising and needs explanation?&nbsp; If someone yanked your hair, and then punched you in the face, might not you become aggressive in reaction?&nbsp; Well, does that mean you were abused in your past, or are &quot;less civilized,&quot; or something?&nbsp; No.&nbsp; It means that you were justifiably pissed off!&nbsp; Someone just hit you!If you bring a raccoon into your home, you might say it is &quot;less domesticated&quot; than your family dog.&nbsp; But, there is no numerical metric for domestication.&nbsp; It isn't like dogs measure 10 on the domestication scale, and cats only 4, or something.&nbsp; Both species have been with humans for thousands of years, so that the difference is not really discernible at this point.&nbsp; Dogs behave differently than cats because they are different animals, not because they are more domesticated.Moreover, while anecdotal in a sense, my wife deals with a lot of animals.&nbsp; In over a decade of practice, my wife has never had to euthanize a cat for aggression issues, but has had to put several dogs to sleep for attacking people.&nbsp; The only animal to attack her without apparent provocation has been a dog.&nbsp; Dogs are not particularly safer than cats, in terms of aggression.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 6280131, member: 177"] Okay, I talked to my wife the veterinarian about this. Let's clear some things up. Someone yanked the cat's tail, then kicked it. It became aggressive. This is somehow surprising and needs explanation? If someone yanked your hair, and then punched you in the face, might not you become aggressive in reaction? Well, does that mean you were abused in your past, or are "less civilized," or something? No. It means that you were justifiably pissed off! Someone just hit you! If you bring a raccoon into your home, you might say it is "less domesticated" than your family dog. But, there is no numerical metric for domestication. It isn't like dogs measure 10 on the domestication scale, and cats only 4, or something. Both species have been with humans for thousands of years, so that the difference is not really discernible at this point. Dogs behave differently than cats because they are different animals, not because they are more domesticated. Moreover, while anecdotal in a sense, my wife deals with a lot of animals. In over a decade of practice, my wife has never had to euthanize a cat for aggression issues, but has had to put several dogs to sleep for attacking people. The only animal to attack her without apparent provocation has been a dog. Dogs are not particularly safer than cats, in terms of aggression. [/QUOTE]

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