Whew...I finally got to the end of this thread! Good points made all around. I also spend a lot of time posting in Cat General as cats are my passion, and I spend countless hours on the streets rescuing abandoned cats and kittens.(At my time and expense). I also don't hesitate to rescue other animals in need such as sea gulls, dogs, escaped pet birds etc. I also check the New Posts or Todays Active Threads and will read what catches my eye. I enjoy going to see Who's Online and check out what others are reading. I've made the silly mistake of not noting the date a thread was started and end up responding to threads from several years back. Now I check the post date. I usually check out many different forums, but don't often have the time to do more than a quick skimming of topics. If I find a human interest story involving pets, or other topics, I'll often post them in the catagory most suitable to the story line. I was rather taken aback (aka insulted) when I was PMd by another poster asking "why I'm always posting news stories, people read newspapers". I for one don't, and many of the posted stories are from other countries! If people don't want to read or respond to them that's fine with me. If this person had stopped and done a search of the over thousand posts I've posted, 95% are about my rescues, my special needs cats etc. I have posted about my dogs as well, and don't feel insulted by the number of responses, as Karen said, look at the number of views. I accept that many of us are too busy in our lives to respond to each and every post. I know I am! Jan P.S I found this thread by seeing Who's Online, not from the Cat General link.