mrsjones5-darling! I did say from my OWN trial and error, perhaps it was just me picking toads. I'd like to think that your hubby's hatred of cats, is solely because his immune system freaks out when they are around him. NOT because he secretly thinks up ways to torture the fuzzy dears.
If I had known the cat question worked so well for me, I could've spared myself a hellacious first marriage.
I did pop the cat question to hubby number 2, and he actually had his very own kitty. So I knew that he was a good guy. 20 years later, it still is really good.
Seriously however, the SPCA magazine I used to get, had an article focusing on people who abused animals, cats are a big target of abusers, and they have found that people who abuse animals move on to human targets a large portion of the time. Think Jeffery Dahmer, the cannibal serial killer, he started with animals.