Why cats and computers don't mix

Cats are great pets. They keep you company when you're alone, comfort you when you're hurt or lonely and they are always ready to listen to you. Plus, they are more independent than dogs and a lot less work (no walks!). Reasons enough to make them the number one pet in Holland (and why I have two).

The downside of cats

Cute as they are, there is a downside to having cats (besides having to clean the litterbox, I mean). They always, ALWAYS want to know what you're doing and, if it doesn't involve them, they seem slightly offended and want to BE what you are doing. Doesn't matter if you're reading a book (they just lie on the book) or working on your computer (they lie on your keyboard). The latter can have some serious consequences...

For instance, with just two tiny steps of those cute paws, they can reset all your settings: change your keyboard from English to French settings for example, or make everything on your screen appear so tiny you can't even read the answer to this problem on Google.

Cats  going online

Ozzy taking a nap. On my laptop.

But walking the keyboard and re-setting settings are relatively easy to fix (yes, it may take a while, but it's fixable). Your cat could do a lot more damage. You know the computer mouse? Well, as you may know, they love to play with it (this is actually quite logical. I mean, with that name, it's almost asking for it, isn't it?). Hit it, click it, throw it off of your desk and watch it swing on its cable, hitting it some more. Now, this game could get you into some serious trouble.

A woman was surfing the web and left her computer for a bit. When she came back, she found her cat playing with the mouse. As she looked on the screen, she saw: "Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of 2 tickets to the musical We Will Rock You!" Her cat had, accidentally, purchased tickets online!** Luckily, after she explained what had happened, she didn't have to go through with the purchase, but beware: this could happen to you!

Cats put online

One of the millions of cute kitty-pics online

That's not to say that cats and online don't mix. Because that is just not true. Cats are hugely popular online! Just think of all the cute kitty pictures there are, being shared on Facebook and Pinterest. In fact, the biggest Hyves-group* is a cat-group! Over 80.000 people are in this group, just sharing pics of their cats and saying how they love them all.

And there are loads of cat-clips on Youtube, proving the online popularity of cats. Just look up 'stalking cat', or the popular cartoon 'Simon's cat' (based on a true cat!). People just can't get enough of them!

Conclusion

I think the lesson to be learned from this is that it can be a great idea to put your cat online yourself, but it can be a very bad idea to let your cat go online by itself. The first could make you money, the second could cost you money.


*Hyves is like the Dutch version of Facebook (or MySpace, if you will).
** True story. Check: http://www.poezenweide.nl/nieuws/2358.html