Meow!

The news this week that Monopoly had chosen to replace its iconic iron with a new cat piece left some readers delighted, while others mourned the march of change.

Of the more than 196,000 people who took our poll, 58 percent lamented the loss of the good old iron. Still, the remaining 42 percent were happy to welcome the cat to the world of pretend real estate.

Monopoly may be the ultimate game of capitalism, but the process of choosing the cat was an exercise in democracy. The game makers hosted a Facebook poll in which readers were able to choose which piece to save and which piece to, err, boot. (It was tough going for the boot for a while there.)

Then, the public also got a choice in which new piece should replace the old one. The cat beat out a robot, guitar, ring and helicopter.

While some seemed seriously sad to see a beloved piece go, others had a more of tongue-in-cheek reaction.

“I can't believe that they are changing a piece in the Monopoly game. (N)ext thing you will be telling me they will allow gays in the Boy Scouts and women in combat,” one reader wrote.