In this world there are people who like and get along with dogs, and there people who like and get along with cats.

Dog persons. Cat persons. I have always considered myself to be a dog person.

We had dogs when I was growing up. We had a cross between a Collie and a German shepherd and we also had a Boston terrier; the two got along well together, and we all loved them.

When I moved out into a place of my own after being in the Navy, I got a dog; it was a cross between a Labrador Retriever and a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, and that dog loved to swim! She had yellow eyes that were eerie; they made her scary to many people, but she got along great with me.

When I first got married, my wife had a dog of her own, an Irish Setter that was hyper and sometimes frantic, but the company of my dog calmed her down a bit, and when we went camping the two dogs nestled next to our sleeping bags and kept us warm. So, we then had two dogs. We bred her dog to an Afghan hound and then we had sixteen puppies as well and kept two of them. So, we were definitely dog people.

Dogs give instant gratification. You don't have to really work much to get affection from a dog. Just walk into the room. Just get home after work. Just wake up in the morning, and you are greeted with a face looking up to you, kisses all over, and a wagging tail. I think many men would like to have that from their wives.

When I was younger and I tried to get affection from a cat, the thing was standoffish and played hard to get. It wanted what it wanted on its own terms. It was uncooperative. It was finicky. It was aloof and disinterested. Overall, that cat was a pain of a pet. After that I sometimes thought the term "cat" was an oxymoron for "pet". How can you pet something that preens itself just out of reach and then skips away when you try to touch it? Cats tease. I have never been a cat person.

So, how did I end up with two of them? Two cats just moved into our house. We got them from a friend who rescues animals and knew of these two whose owner is leaving the Island. They are brother and sister, and the larger brother takes care of the smaller sister. Two cats!

They came out of the carrier, looked frantically around our bedroom, checked out my wife and myself very briefly, and then scurried under the bed, where they have remained for the last two days. While they were there, another cat came by the house and showed up outside the sliding glass door in my office. I opened the door to say hello, and that cat started acting like a dog. It actually came up to me and wanted my attention. What is the world coming to?

Last night our own two cats came out from under the bed and jumped up on top of it, nestling against our feet. They actually let us pet them. Dogs. Dog-like cats. Dogs that purr.

I feel myself changing. Like the man standing in front of the mirror who begins to grow hair all over his face and long teeth when the moon comes out, I am becoming a cat person. Oh no! Is there a cure for this? Isn't there some kind of pill for it? Surely there is a statin, a benzodiazepine, or an SSRI that could change my brain patterns and keep me from acting like an idiot, shaking jiggling things at an animal just to see it leap at them. What is it inside that makes you happy to have a cat jump on your foot as it moves across the bed under the covers? Isn't that a sign of dementia? I'm losing it.

Pets can be important additions to a person's life. According to Amy Tyberg and William Frishman, contributing to a book on integrative medicine in pain management, the household pet plays such a large role in people's lives that 99 percent of pet owners consider their pets to be part of the their families. Pets are present in 60 percent of households, and a survey of 500 former pet owners who found themselves in a hospital setting showed that the "thing" they missed most was their pets

Chinese researchers established that people owning pets exercised more frequently, slept better, had higher self-reported fitness and health, took fewer days off sick from work and were generally seen less by doctors. A dog can be a fabulous workout partner, and they are companions, but according to Jane Wilkes, in her recently published book, 'The Role of Companion Animals in Counseling and Psychology: Discovering Their Use in the Therapeutic Process', pets (not just dogs) are even used in psychotherapy to enhance the therapeutic relationship, revive a therapeutic environment, improve professional practice, and even create a feeling of sacredness. Therapy animals often provide the sense of trust for clients to work in what is called "transitional space" because the animals may serve as transitional objects for some clients. Traumatised people are especially supported by having an animal in therapy with them.

So, here I am, a psychotherapist, a doctoral psychologist, and I'm up in the middle of the night and willing to lose sleep so that I can help a couple cats adjust to a new home. I know it's good for me. It sort of feels like having children living with me again. I'm willing to give up my sleep to care for them. But. They are cats, not dogs, and I'm a dog person. Aren't I?