Misinformed

One of the things I'm noticing with age is that it's now a regular occurrence for me to feel misinformed.  I guess this is a good thing because it means I'm learning to trust my own experience over word of mouth.  However, I can't help but wonder each time how the storyline has continued to expand over years and generations.  This goes for a variety of scenarios and topics.  Whether it's the quality of a restaurant, price of food or other goods, gossip or any of the many other topics of human conversation.  Opinions are regularly passed.  This is a fact.  The reality, though, is that what is passed is not always fact.

The most recent realization materialized just the other day.  There have been some health issues with my feline companion, Lotus.  Now, I love this cat dearly, but my conclusion after leaving him at the vet for some testing was that cats are not as simple as everyone purports them to be.  I would almost bet money (if I were the betting type) that I could approach any known or unknown person possible, and each and every one of those people, if asked, would give the opinion that cats are easier pets to have then dogs. 

This may be true in some respects.  For instance, there's not a lot to litter training a cat.  You don't have to go stand in the soaking rain with them.  You don't have to change your routine to suit the needs of their bladders.  They're fairly self-sufficient, if you're lucky, in these ways.  They can stay home alone for long periods.  And the list goes on.  However, when the most important stuff crops up, like health issues, a cat is going to be the hardest patient for many, many reasons.  Not least, they're next to impossible to diagnose without spending nearly enough money to put you in financial shape not dissimilar from Greece.  So, treatment is like a shot in the dark, and you must hold your breath for what seems an eternity.  I'm convinced that dogs not only prove easier to diagnose and fix (I'm not arguing that it will end up any cheaper in the end), but they don't get such weird stuff in the first place.  Why do I say this?  Because 3 out of 3 cats, a variety of both male and female, a variety of mix breeds, etc., that I have owned in my short adult lifetime have had crazy health issues.

So, I guess the lesson is that one should never just take the public's word for it.  While this seems like common sense, I'm not sure I ever realized how much of my life functions around raging generalizations.  I'm so grateful to have had each of these kitties in my life, and I would never change a thing, but I have to admit that my young and eager-to-own-a-pet mind only landed on cats due to their popularity for being so simple.  Was I misinformed?  It would seem that way.  Will I be misinformed again?  The trend points to yes.  Am I jumping on the myth-busters train?  Absolutely.