My boyfriend, me and a cat.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

^^^

I'm with Cellar on this point.

I make it clear at the start I love animals, will most likely have a dog or a cat (at very least) as part of my life for the rest of my life.

I also use pets to decide if there is potential for an 'us'. If my dog or cat don't like you, you have been voted off the island.

It was Ebony who opened the door for my last partner, but it was Dog (My cat, yeah I named him Dog) that sealed the deal. Ebony was a rescued animal, rescued from terrible abuse. She had 'issues' with humans (for reason). Her liking anyone immediately was a good sign. Dog was the type of cat that would decide if he liked a person or not on the first meeting. If he didn't like you you were not welcomed. He was a much better judge of character than me.

That relationship lasted 14.5 years - and whilst we are no longer lovers because: reasons - we are still relatively in a good place.

I will accept 'I am allergic to cats', or I fear dogs because I was mauled/bitten by one when I was 6. These are reasonable excuses for not having an animal in ones life.

Just a blanket 'I don't like animals' makes me wonder at the underlying reasons.

I think most animal lovers wonder if a person who doesn't like animals at all is actually capable of loving anything or anyone outside of self.