As a kid growing up I was raised with the idea that cats were hate-worthy or only good for keeping rodents and snakes out of the barn and food supplies. I was not raised on a farm, being the first non-farming generation.
I must have been destined to be a cat person since I was definitely an animal person. I had a great relationship with my dog, and most other animals. My family also regaled me of how as a toddler every time Tom from the Tom and Jerry cartoon got hurt I would cry.
While I never actually hated cats I distrusted them due to my upbringing. Then two of my friends got hitched and were given a retired Persian champion named Dusty. That cat made me a project. I was the only person he would meet at the door (not even the owners got a door greeting), and he insisted on kneading my chest and purring up a storm while standing on my lap when I was at their place. After Dusty showing me cats could be very cool, I have had no problem with cats.
Somehow I have become a magnet for pregnant female cats, stray and household. One morning at work dispatching tugboats in Baltimore harbor, the pier cat surprised me when she lept into my lap and curled up, purring the whole time. I didn't have a cat then so I was clueless as to why a very pregnant cat would risk that with someone she never met before. Years later while visiting a friend with waaayyy too many cats and ferrets, her very preggers cat that she claimed was too shy to let people pet her, did the very same thing as the pier cat having never met me. A month later my neighbor's cat walked into my appartment while he and I talked just inside my doorway, and she gave birth to the first of two kittens right at my feet. That is how I ended up with my second cat. I don't understand it, but I value cat's opinions, so I must be ok.
I guess my point here is that some people come at cats with preconceptions and might be able to learn just how wrong they are. Keep working on those non-cat poeple.
