However cats can be loving, playful and rewarding pets with the right care and attention.
Below, we’ve created a gallery of cats and their owners from years gone by. Perhaps one of these feline friends could help convince even the most stubborn of cat haters to change their ways.
1985 – Aberdeen cat breeder Jan Sharp is delighted with the litter just produced by her tortoise Birman cat.
1984 – Sandra Morrice’s Smokey helps himself to a small snack on the sly
1985 – Donald Mackenzie learning to deal with recently orphaned Hedges
1991 – Maureen Ross with her award-winning cats Angus, left, and Brandy
1993 – Aberdeen vet Andria Cayuin with Tegan, the first local cat to be vaccinated against feline leukaemia
1985 – Best in show at the Caledonian Cat Club’s show, Lucky, with owners Jean and John Nicol
1993 – Karen Burr, rehoming officer for the Cats Protection League, Inverurie, with one of her cats, Tootsie
1989 – Gail Ross with the cat she found in the engine compartment of her car
1978 – Oliver at “The Jint” (Aberdeen Joint Station) could be homeless after station alterations are finished
1990 – Tom is very happy indeed to be snuggled in the lap of his owner, Mr Nigel Moran
1989 – The outstretched left paw tells its own story. Toots is hungry and needs her food
1989 – Elizabeth Burgess with her kittens after fears rat poison killed their parents
1990 – Brian and Carol Dawson reunited with their happy wanderer Zoe
