Dogs vs. Cats
In the interest of not derailing another thread even further, here's a thread to debate one of the oldest questions: dogs or cats?
I prefer dogs. I think they're cuter, and in my experience they're more emotive, affectionate, and energetic than cats.
I prefer dogs. I think they're cuter, and in my experience they're more emotive, affectionate, and energetic than cats.
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They also tend to drool, which kinda disgusts me. And a lot of them smell bad, which I can see isn't their fault but isn't as much as a problem with cats, since they clean themselves. Also, their claws aren't retractable so they keep scratching your legs.
In short, cats are better suited to me. They're nice in more gentle and tender ways, not as energetic, as Guru stated, so I've never in my life been hurt by a cat that I can think of, while I've never met a dog that didn't hurt me. Also they're always so affectionate and snuggly, without interrupting you. I'm often typing with a cat on my chest or my lap, while dogs seem to want all of your attention, barking, jumping, running around until you stop whatever you were doing.
And I guess I just understand cats better. Which probably comes from growing up around them. I can tell what a cat wants easily, I'm at a complete loss with a dog.
It also helps that you don't need to walk a cat. I think dogs are awesome but just like they're not a good match for me, I'd be terrible for them. I barely ever leave my apartment. Walking a dog several times a day isn't really an option.
EDIT: Incidentally, we had a REALLY mean cat once. It would literally hide under one of the chairs, waiting to claw the next person that sat there, and tried to claw out my sister's eyes on more than one occasion.
My family, including my siblings and myself, have owned more than 20 different cats in my lifetime, and I have yet to encounter one that was mean in the slightest.
Then you have been lucky. I have seen some MEAN cats.
Hey that is not true for my dog.
She can think of many worse things than tearing stuff up(she actualy found a couple 20 toys lying around the house and is now forcing me to find them for her every night every toy, especialy her silly little kangaroo doll)
Cats are jerks.
Dogs are pack animals, so they are genetically programmed to be submissive to the pack leader, i.e. you. They treat you as their master, and are more likely to love you and be loyal even if you don't treat them very well.
Cats are much more independent, and can take care of themselves to a greater degree. They are more likely to treat you as an equal partner, and will only love you if you actually deserve it. I'm not looking for a submissive servant or slave when I'm looking for a pet.
See? I'm not biased at all, I'm completely logical and rational in my arguments, my preference for cats has nothing to do with the fact that my family had a cat when I grew up. Oh, and dogs are dumb.
Cats are trained to groom themselves and use the litterbox by their mom very early on. I trained my current female cat because I got her so young, but otherwise they're already trained.
But you shouldn't think that because they're more independent animals you can leave them alone all day or anything. They're still social animals who need contact with humans. How many humans they'll tolerate can vary. Sissi, that I got very young, mostly tolerates me. After 4 years, she's starting to tolerate Ian a little bit, but she won't let him pick her up of anything like that and doesn't snuggle him very often. Anyone else, she'll just run away from at first, then later she'll hang around them and let them pet her a bit, but she won't stick around for long.
Lumpy, on the other hand, just comes to snuggle every humans he can see.
Actually, in a way, Sissi is very much like me and Lumpy like Ian.
I do think the kind of relationship between pets and humans is different for a cat or a dog. Dogs have masters, cats have human pets that do stuff for them, such as feed them, brush them and change their litterbox. Doesn't mean they won't love you for doing all of that, but they won't worship you for it either.
I'm sure there are some mean cats out there. Every cat I've known had their own personality. I do think though that a lot of it is misunderstandings. Often, people really don't know how to deal with cats, and act in ways that seem aggressive to a cat, so they get defensive. Of course there are aggressive cats too I've sure. But I know people sometimes think Sissi is mean or something, but she's a very sweet cat, she's just scared of her shadow.
And this is one major reason I prefer dogs. I don't need a pet that thinks it's better than me.
Anyway, it's only absolutely necessary to walk a dog if you live in an apartment or something. My dogs go to the bathroom in the back yard, usually right in the same couple of spots, and they're very good about asking to be let outside. In summer we usually don't even have to worry about that, except that we got a new back door and our old doggy door doesn't fit in it. And I don't see raking the yard as being much harder than cleaning a litterbox, except you don't have to do it as often and you don't have to buy kitty litter.
As for the drooling and smelly thing... Well, neither of my dogs drool at all, though my sister's dog loves to lick any bit of exposed skin in front of her face. And neither of them really smell either, except for Max's inexplicable breath and Lexi after she's been in the sun for a long while.
And I admit, the claw thing can be a disadvantage, but I can also say that light scratches are the biggest injury I've ever received from my dogs. However, it may help that Max weighs maybe 12 pounds. They're miniature pinschers, and Max was the runt.
And yeah, they can be needy at times, but at least I feel like I'm being acknowledged.
Also, cats creep me the hell out.
Now, now, cats may consider you their equal
I think that's really what it often boils down to. I really don't want a pet who looks up to me and that I have to watch after, establish rules for and so on. That's too much work. I prefer a pet who's more like a roommate: we spend time together when we feel like it, we spend time apart when we don't and we don't get in each other's way.
In a way, it's less of a responsibility, I can sleep when I want, wake up when I want, live where I want (as in, an apartment, not a house), and not have to get up and go out because the pet needs it. I can stay home for days at a time without a problem, and since I'm a homey type of person that suits me better.
Since we're also talking about pets in general, I've also had a guinea pig. She was awesome. And they make a purr-like sound, which gives them points
I don't know, I think the purring is the one reason cats will always win for me. It's like they're saying "I love you". It's so relaxing and warm and nice. And the way they snuggle against you and roll themselves into a ball on/against you. And they're not trained to do any of that, so you know they're not doing it because they're forced to, but because they want to.
Cats don't think they're better than you, they just don't worship you like you're the greatest thing that has ever walked the earth, which is why I hate dogs. I don't crave attention, especially not from something that gives it out like a common hooker.
Why would a cat creep you out? By being cuter than you could possibly imagine? Or by having affection that is worth receiving because they don't just give it out to anyone who wanders by?
Kittens are cute. Cats are not cute. And meowing is an unnatural and disturbing sound.
And dogs do not whore out attention. Sometimes my dog totally ignores me. Sometimes he'll get up and go somewhere else if I'm bothering him. Hell, he spends most of his time behind my chair, laying on my bed, totally leaving me alone. On the other hand, he's excited to see me when I come home, and that's a nice feeling. And anyone who thinks that dogs are incapable of gentle displays of affection is crazy.
I just love my dogs more than I can properly express, so it's hard for me to comprehend how anyone could despise them. I'm sure you're feeling something similar. Well, except Power46. Seriously, who doesn't like pets whatsoever?
I don't think people like Sam because of his pet-like qualities anyway :P
How does everyone feel about rabbits?
But I think it would be nice to have a dog too. My personal favourite is the golden retriever.
But anyway, even if rats were on this list I prefer dogs over all of them.
Can cats herd cattle, do what a service dog does, pull a sled across a snowy tundra, help you hunt, or fetch me a beer? I'm just saying.
Yes
Oooh! How cute!
I've never had a rabbit, but one of my best friend rescued one who was abandoned in the park where she works. From this one example, I'd say rabbits are very close to cats, except they're much more fragile, don't purr and eat different food.
She also has rats and I've always loved rats and found them awesome, but having cats I'm a bit scared of what could happen to them. It wasn't a problem with my guinea pig, but I suspect it's because the one cat was too old, and the other one joined the house after the guinea pig and seemed to consider her his mom (and oh god did he love her. Kept licking her clean, we joked that he was trying to get a taste of her).
I think kittens are adorable, but to be honest I prefer adult cats. It seems to me by that time they have a more established personality and are more interesting individuals. You do tend to have closer bounds if you've known them since they were kittens, though.
I think a lot of it is misunderstanding (I said that before, I thing). I just don't understand how dogs work. I realise the have a very established hierarchy and stuff like that, but I couldn't have a pet who's trained so much, because I'd never know if they do things because they want to, or because they think I want them to, because they're trained to, or because they don't even know they have a choice. I'm always confident that whatever my cats do, they do it because they feel like it, so I don't have to worry about that kind of stuff.
I know that finding cats creepy isn't that rare. They're more quiet and silent, so you might turn around and there is a cat there, just sitting and watching you. Some people are freaked out by that, but as far as I'm concerned (with my own cats) it's such a loving stare with a big smile, to me it's more of a nice surprise to see one of my cats was watching me lovingly, making sure not to disturb whatever I was doing. But there again, if you don't know body language, they might as well be saying "I'm watching youuuu..." menacingly for all you know, so I can understand finding that creepy.
I also like how they come close to you and put their paw on you gently, kinda like they're saying "heya, what's up?" although I wish Lumpy wouldn't do it in my sleep quite that often
My cats always come and greet me when I come home, and they usually come when I call them. Just not if they don't feel like it. So these things aren't unique to dogs, I guess the difference would be a dog would be more likely to put its front paws on you and try to lick you, and a cat would be more likely to rub against your legs and purr, but in the end I'd say the message ("I'm glad you're back, I missed you") is just the same.
Well this should be the case for most threads. Some take it too far and others will make joking remarks that get taken out of context. It's just a friendly discussion and lets try to keep it as such
I though it could be nice to talk about stuff specifics to your favoured pet. I'll start with purring.
The way my vet explained it to me, purr are pretty much the cat equivalent of hugs. When you hug someone, most of the time it means you love them and are happy. But sometimes it means you're scared or in pain and want comfort. Sometimes it means you want to comfort them with a hug.
Cats purr for all of the same reasons.
About rubbing against things and people. Cats mark their territory by rubbing and depositing their smell, from glands they have on the sides of their head, on their lips, on their chins, on the base of their tail and so on. When rubbing against items, it means they're marking them as theirs. When it's against people though, it's a bit more complex. Just as they put their smell on you, they gets yours on them in turn. So it's a way of marking that you belong to each other, that you have a relationship.
Why do cats lick themselves? Well mostly, they do it to clean themselves. But there are other things. Adult cats who are bored, usually because they live in an apartment with humans who don't play much with them anymore, spend more time licking themselves and sleeping, simply because they're bored. Also, licking themselves gives them a way do be doing something, giving themselves countenance. For instance, if a cat trips and falls off a chair, they're likely to start cleaning themselves right away, in a "oh, yeah, I totally did that on purpose" kind of way.
I find that adorable, incidentally.
Something that people often wonder is why cats seem to "bother" you when you're on the phone. Some people have told me that they believe the cat is jealous that they're not getting attention so they're demanding it. Actually, it's almost the opposite: when you're on the phone, your cat can hear you talk but not see anyone you might be talking to. So they assume you're having a conversation with them and give you their attention in return.
If you're speaking on speaker phone, it might be different, though. Then it's usually more curiosity as to where this voice comes from (and they'll probably be giving their attention to the phone where the voice comes from, rather than to you).
That's all I can think of right now. Feel free to share dog facts, as I'm very curious to learn about them.
It's never snowy enough for me to need to be pulled in a sled, I don't eat meat so I don't require a hunting animal and if I want beer (which I don't) I'll get it myself. I can't, however, play piano.
Trust me, that cat would attack no matter what you did. It was no misunderstanding. You would walk by that cat and she would try to pounce on you. It was one AGGRESSIVE cat. I never did like pets, and that cat helped solidify that for me.
What can I say? I really am the odd one out in many ways.
Perhaps you're confusing playful with aggressive?
Fully extended claws? The cat running the moment after clawing my dad's legs? Trying to claw out my sister's eyes while screeching? I don't think that is playful, but aggressive.
That cat sounds friendly compared to mine! Nah, my Tiggy is a sweetie, sure she'll leap on you and try and take your limbs off for no reason, but she changes mood quickly and just wants to play or be hugged. And she's cute. Very, very cute. I choose her over a dog any day.
I've never once seen a cat that was attempting to kill humans. The worst any cat I've ever seen has done is accidentally draw blood while playing, I've never seen one actually trying to hurt someone, unless it was horrified or being harrassed.