I don't hate cats, but I don't like them, either.
Love dogs, though.

Dogs and cats have done plenty of damage to my house over the years. Ruined carpets, furniture, etc. Was always a dog lover, but when the X brought her cats in, I grew to like them. We fostered cats for the local shelter at the time, and one cat had to stay with me. Annie was the best dog/cat one could find. One picture below is Annie with Maceo, my yellow lab. The new wife and I currently have two cats that are easy to deal with. All of my animal friends in the pictures below have passed on. Miss them all.

Dogs, Cats, Kids, Unruly Family members, drunk friends.

They all can manage to tear shit up from time to time. And (for the most part) they can all be trained not to do it again. Spray bottle works pretty good for most of them. Regular nail clipping and some scratching posts scattered throughout the house work well for cats.