
Ask HN: Startups that allow cats? - MyDumbQuestions
Many tech companies allow employees to bring dogs to work, but are there any that allow cats?
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percept
All these years, and we're finally getting around to the important questions.

I don't have a cat (or a workplace), but cat cafes seem to be purring right
along.

Digging a bit, it seems that one in seven kids has cat allergies, which is
twice as much as the rate with kids and dogs. Either way, that's a fair number
of people, so if there's any sort of discrimination involved, I'm sure cat
lawyers will pounce.

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grkvlt
Anecdotally, yes, at least one; Cloudsoft, in Edinburgh in the UK! I brought
my cat Biggles to work once, but it was underwhelming. He ignored me
completely, and went to sleep under a colleague's desk.

2/5 would not bring cat to work again. Also, the building has since put down
rat-poison to sort out a rodent problem, so it probably wouldn't be safe for
him, sadly.

If you _really_ want to work with your cat, may I suggest remote working from
home as the way to go?

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mmagin
I think this is usually not "a thing" because cats don't cope with sudden
changes of surroundings well, nor do they tend to coexist well with other cats
that they didn't grow up around. The only case where I've seen cats in a
workplace, it was a cat that lived at a small bookstore.

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x1798DE
How would that even work? Cats don't follow you around and obey your commands,
they just kinda wander about. In my experience, they also _hate_ being
transported. Maybe you have an unusual cat, but my guess is that there are not
many startups who have an explicit "cat" policy because it would be such an
uncommon request.

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twunde
Additionally, a significant portion of the population has cat allergies

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AdamJacobMuller
This is true. My allergies to cats are so severe that it would literally be a
deal-breaker for me. I couldn't accept a job in an office with cats and I
would have to quit if someone started bringing one to work. Obviously
proximity is a factor, but, my (cat) allergies are pretty bad and basically
completely debilitating when triggered.

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chuckhoupt
MacPaw is one tech company that has cats and a special cat room:

[http://blog.macpaw.com/post/109471340953/welcome-to-the-
drea...](http://blog.macpaw.com/post/109471340953/welcome-to-the-dream-office)

[http://officefetish.co/core/macpaw/](http://officefetish.co/core/macpaw/)

~~~
wingerlang
Off topic, but MacPaw has got really nice software. Amazing design. It is nice
to see that their office also looks as "sleek" as their apps.

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atomical
They sell a "Mac cleaner" product? Aren't those scams?

~~~
wingerlang
Honestly, that was my impression at first. But the difference (in hindsight
I've never really looked into other apps) is that they actually list ALL files
they flag for removal (In Gemini 2 as well) so you do have the option to
double check what the app does. You could even let it run in trial (500MB
deletion limit) and then plainly look at the list and go delete it manually.

The apps are also not "mass produced", they have really nice animations and
you can definitely feel that there has been a lot of effort put into them.

They also make some music player and encryption apps so they're not all
cleaning apps.

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freestockoption
Why do some companies allow dogs? Some people are allergic to them, don't want
to get licked by them, bitten, or want to step on dog poo. I've seen all that
happen to other people in the company.

Don't get me wrong, I love animals and I have my own. But where do we draw the
line between personal and professional? How do we tell John that his dog is
OK, but Bob that his dog needs to stay home?

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shaftway
At Google there's a one-strike policy. If your dog defecates indoors, bites
someone, is overly friendly, or any number of things like that, you can (and
generally are) asked to not bring them back. It's also considered common
courtesy to ask people that you will be in close proximity to before you bring
a dog in, in case of allergies.

Cat-related allergies are much more common than dog ones. Generally dogs are
also better trained than cats and behave more predictably.

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yoloswagins
I've never heard of any company allow cats in the San Francisco bay area. Why
would you want to subject your cat to being moved around so much?

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drakonka
My partner's startup in game dev allows dogs and cats. Though nobody has
brought a cat in yet, he does look forward to the day I show up with our cat
in his cat stroller...

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gadders
All of the big offices I have worked in for Investment Banks in London have
had a mouse problem. Bringing cats to work should be encouraged.

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jonobird1
No, because cats < dogs.

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jonobird1
Guess sassy humour doesn't go far here.

~~~
J_Darnley
No. This place hates humour, hates fun, and hates anything that distracts from
the _serious discussion_ that happens. I'm sorry you had to find out the hard
way.

~~~
justratsinacoat
As much as I cheerfully upvote snarky jabs at HN's pretension to
highfallutin', superior-quality commentry, consistently downvoting effortless
one-liner comments is a great way to ensure that they generally don't happen.

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camhenlin
I work 100% remote and hang out with my cat (and dog!) all day. As do my other
coworkers. Why not try that out?

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rotemyakir
[https://i.guggy.com/dGCaMn.gif](https://i.guggy.com/dGCaMn.gif)

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romaster
Works just fine at bodegas in New York, often with more than one. Just don't
expect them to come over when your colleagues want to see them.

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vskarine
robinhood.io is so obsessed with cats that they have a huge cat mural:
[https://vimeo.com/115955748](https://vimeo.com/115955748)

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danm07
Such a strange job criteria :D

