Somerville has some serious pet issues

Thanks for the hello, but it'd probably be more helpful if you linked to the original post rather than to the wackos who came crawling out of the woodwork.

Oh, the armchair parenting. (Oooh, bad parents! Bad pet owners!) The idea that we somehow let her get away with being mean to the cat hadn't even crossed my mind. I mean, duh, people. We're teaching her not to do that.

The comments about the apparently great quality of the photograph are hilarious -- all the "well, photography is my hobby, and your quick misfocused shots are better than my stuff". I know that's a sidetrack, but it seriously cracked me up.

The poor cat isn't "abused" -- the problem is that he really craves and is used to attention. He's never been one of those independent cats who doesn't need much attention from his parents.

The fact that the toddler gives clumsy, toddler affection isn't helping, but, as someone who actually, y'know, lives here and understands both the cat and the child rather than basing my entire opinion on speculation, that's more a source of cute pictures than the core issue. (If you think otherwise, it's because, well, you're wrong. Sorry.) And long after the girl is old enough to understand, we're still never going to have the time we once did.

Maybe when she's five or six they'd be great pals, but it's really not fair to the cat to make him wait that long.