[justboxing]

My cats love me to death. I never force myself on them and never try to train them to obey me, greet me etc.

We think cats are "unfriendly" because they do their own thing, and don't OBEY people like Dogs. When an animals doesn't obey you and do your biding, you think they are "unfriendly".

Cats are also not "reward" oriented like Dogs, i.e. you can't "train" a cat to obey you and do your biding by giving it rewards like you can with Dogs.

[dspillett]

As the old comparison: Dogs excellent are for people who want to be worshipped as Gods. Cats are for people who want to wake in the night to find a God sat on their chest demanding a sacrifice.

Few people have seen much of my cat, because it takes her a bit of time to get used to new people[†] and will scuttle off when they are around. But she is quite attached to me. She misses me when I'm away for longer than usual and is very fussy when I come back, despite having a full bowl of kibble all morning she'll often wait until I come home at lunch and have me sit near her while she eats, she plays with me like an excited kitten at times, etc. She is happy to order the lodger around too when I'm away[‡], and will let her guard down enough to play while she is there (though usually not enough to actually play with her). There are a few others she will come out and greet, though no others she really relaxes around.

[†] she was a rescue, though I don't think she was abused explicitly in her first six months, just ignored (as she'd have never put up with kids, and her age suggests she was a Christmas kitten) so she didn't learn that a fair number of us humans are pretty decent, but we don't know for sure as she was left outside the RSPCA in a box heavily pregnant.

[‡] apparently when I'm not there, the lodger gets woken up at 0730 sharp, which is the time my alarms normally go off six days a week, and breakfast is demanded, if I am there she usually sits with/on me purring, waiting patiently, perhaps being fussed and/or massaging me, while I snooze the alarm a few times.

[gerbilly]

>you can't "train" a cat to obey you and do your biding by giving it rewards like you can with Dogs.

You totally can shape cat's behaviour by reinforcement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNiL9Hv2V5Q

It may be harder than for dogs, but it can be done.

[edoo]

My cat is awesome and cool and wicked smart. Sometimes he isn't interested in hanging out but otherwise he is incredibly friendly. He programs with me at least a couple hours a day sitting with his rear on my lap and his upper body on the desk in between my typing arms. Our communication is great too, he knows how to ask for food, water, to go outside, for upset tummy rubs, and to play. He has as much character as any well adjusted dog.

[nkrisc]

You can train a cat, but it's much harder than training a dog. Cats will lose all interest occasionally and you just have to end the training until they're ready again. It's very much on their terms. That said, I've found positive reinforcement to work well for my cats. We've been able to train one of them to sit and stand using treats and a clicker. The other has no interest in treats so there's not much we've been able to do.