Dogs Versus Cats

[Bluebeard]

I realized the matter had not yet been debated about, neither had it been actually posted as a thread, so my searches proved. I know this debate can get out of hand, but if we keep things nice and calm, then hopefully we can get some good answers out of this.

Personally, for me, dogs win. And no, that's not just because I'm a dog owner.

When debating about this kind of things, there are many factors to take into account. There's maintenance, appearance, productivity, and so on. Maintenance seems to win over a couple of gents and ladies, because they'd rather not have to at occassion walk dogs, scoop up their waste in the garden, and be restricted from going out anywhere for dangerously long times. As with cats, they can easily survive for a good weekend, perhaps even longer, due to the different habits the two animals develop.

Appearance is what I tend to be all about, really. The fact is, whilst cats are pretty cute, especially the expensive Persians that I have two of, they just can't beat dogs. Whether their hairs are smooth and gray, faces screwed up into an adorable puff, or have an unresistable tail, they just can't beat dogs. Dogs are known for their ridiculously large eyes, and that triggers a sensor which is called 'The Cute Sensor'. No, seriously. Though dogs aren't particularly all cute, that can depend between each breed, when they are, you can't get enough of those puppy dog faces.

And the last thing I'm going to talk about is productivity. Certain dog breeds are a lot calmer than others, and like to nap from time to time. Cats, however, seem to do this all the time. They just lay themselves around on sofas, carpets, floorboards, you name it. Dogs, on the other hand, can get very playful and are fun to have a laugh with. Most cats can't actually go outside, and when they do, you can't exactly play with them. Going back to dogs, you can. Playing catch seems to be a favourite, as well as just running around like crazy chickens.

Anyway, those are my beliefs and thoughts on it, so there we go. Anything you guys'd like to add on?

 

[Lea]

You mean other than the fact that dogs are good or bad depending on the owner while cats are devious little annoyances regardless? Cats cause lesser trouble on a daily basis in comparison to dogs but when they do, the little furry brats think they can outsmart me. And dogs and cats are equal in looks I'm afraid. It all just comes down to preference and breed really. Dogs have those adorable morning faces while cats have that Puss in Boots ability to expand their eyes to somehow prevent owners for taking action against their evil crimes.

 

[Bluebeard]

You mean other than the fact that dogs are good or bad depending on the owner while cats are devious little annoyances regardless? Cats cause lesser trouble on a daily basis in comparison to dogs but when they do, the little furry brats think they can outsmart me. And dogs and cats are equal in looks I'm afraid. It all just comes down to preference and breed really. Dogs have those adorable morning faces while cats have that Puss in Boots ability to expand their eyes to somehow prevent owners for taking action against their evil crimes.

Haha, I guess you make some valid points. I never implied cats were annoying, though. I guess they do cause less trouble due to their lack of productivity, but that also means they're practically boring and a waste of money if ignored for the whole day. Though this doesn't mean I think every owner decides to leave cats unnoticed, but that can come.

You might be right with the whole 'cuteness' thing, but I guess that was an own opinion of mine, which is kind of biased. Should have probably not stated that, but y'know whatever.

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

You have obviously never owned a cat. o.o

I have two cats that I consider mine in my house, and yes, they do lay around and sleep most of the time, but they do much more than my dogs do.

My older dog is getting on in years. We have had him for eight years, and he will be 10 in a few months. Now before when he was younger he was playful, and tended to want to interact with everyone, but now when you call him he's content to lay where he is and wag his tail at you. I love him, don't get me wrong, but right now all he does is eat and sleep. In his younger years that wasn't the case, and he has saved my daughter's life quite a few times. The first was by barking when she climbed out the window during a power outage (We live in a one floor house, so she didn't get hurt, but she could have easily run out into the middle of a very busy main road while my husband and I were asleep if he hadn't barked.) The other time he scared off a snake from her while she was playing out in the backyard. He's a great dog, and I love him to death, but since he's older he's lost all of the cuteness and become a grumpy old man.

My other dog, well, he is....well, he's just plain dumb. lol

Someone dropped him off near our house, and my daughter happened to see him in the wooded area in our backyard. I managed to keep him from running out in the street, and immediately took him to the Humane Society to see if he was chipped, or if anyone had come in looking for him. I took him around to all the shelters I knew of before finally going to Animal Services. After learning that no one had reported him missing, the lady asked me if I wanted to drop him off there. After I refused, she told me that his owner, if he had one, had two weeks to claim him and after those two weeks were up he was considered my responsibility. Needless to say two weeks came and went and I found myself with this bundle of fur that has driven me insane ever since. No matter how many chew toys I have gotten him, he still digs in my trashcan and tears apart every single empty box and container I throw away. When my husband comes home for a visit, he will jump up on the bed and lay on my hubby's pillow. We tell him to get off, even pick him up and put him on the floor. Five seconds later, he's back on the bed, laying on the pillow. He barks at his own shadow, and I can't tell you how many times he's crashed into the sliding glass door trying to get at the lizards and bugs that climb up the screen. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed...hell, I don't even think he knows how to lick. (Seriously, he does not like anyone or anything but himself.) But, he's our unsharpened tool, and we love him all the same.


My cats however, they are a different story. My cat, who my husband found on the side of the road when she was just three weeks old is the queen bitch of the house. If she doesn't like you, she lets you know it, and heaven forbid you try to touch her if she doesn't like you. She's smart as hell, which is why the cat food is hidden away behind two childproof locks, and even then she still manages to get through. But, if she sees you crying, she will rub her face against you and purr until you stop, and when you're sick, she curls up with you the entire time. If I call her, she comes running, and she follows me wherever I go in the house. Honestly, she listens better than my kids and husband combined.

My other cat isn't as smart, but he is the biggest sweetheart you will ever meet. I cannot lay down on my bed unless I intend to sleep because he curls up on my back to snuggle. He gives kisses and hugs constantly, and no matter he is always happy to see me. He talks to me while I'm doing laundry, and while I'm in the tub, and he's great at catching flies. My only real complaint about him is that his fur makes me itchy for some reason, but that's not something that he can control.

I've had cats and dogs all my life, but I've always been more of a cat person. Maybe it's because the cats that I've had aren't assholes the way that some cats are, and none of my dogs have quite lived up to the standards set by my first dog when I was a kid.

 

[Bluebeard]

Honestly, I don't really like cats because they tend to scratch around. But I guess not all of them do.

 

[Lea]

Haha, I guess you make some valid points. I never implied cats were annoying, though. I guess they do cause less trouble due to their lack of productivity, but that also means they're practically boring and a waste of money if ignored for the whole day. Though this doesn't mean I think every owner decides to leave cats unnoticed, but that can come.

You might be right with the whole 'cuteness' thing, but I guess that was an own opinion of mine, which is kind of biased. Should have probably not stated that, but y'know whatever.

Never said you did, I'm just adding what I felt you missed XD Cats are extremely active pets when they are younger and I consider them way more problematic than dogs since they think that they can get away with causing havoc. Young dogs just tear up your shiz and come over to you as if it was all natural but cats know what they do. The second something drops, they bust out because they know damn well it was their doing.

And of course I'm right but being biased can't really be helped in cases like these. You'll have to remove your own opinions and bring cold hard impossible to be disproven facts as well as never bonding with dogs or cats in order for it to not be biased based. Of course they're other ways excluding this one out there if you search deep enough.

 

[Dusk]

This should have a poll.

 

[Koschei]

Caaaaaaats, always cats.

I grew up with both, so I think of them as equals, but I'd rather have a cat for the sake of size. Small dogs usually get on my nerves, so maybe I'm being unfair or something.

But really. My two cats were ice-brains who snored like a gang of hairy lumberjacks, always yelled about food, got kitty litter all over the floor and terrorized the neighborhood dogs. But there's still something very very moving about a cat that adores you.

In comparison, my mother got a dog, a whippet to be precise, and while she was very sweet, it was too much. The walks, the exercise, her skittish nature, she couldn't be left alone or she'd trash the place. And you can't really bond with a dog the same way you'd bond with a cat. Dogs just seem to like you no matter what, while cats are more like "yes you may pet me this day".

That's just my personal opinion, though.

 

[Bluebeard]

This should have a poll.

You're right, I've added one now. Thanks. ^^'

 

[Unsun]

Dogs. Much more friendlier than cats. Willing to play, loves to spend quality time with their 'master' so to speak. I have a fabulous rottweiler named Venus. She is the most adorable thing on the planet Earth.

 

[Dervish]

Cats just see you as another cat.

Dogs see you as their pack leader.

I like both, but I've grown up with dogs and most of the cats I've known are kind of assholes, although two months ago there was a stray that was freezing outside that was the friendliest thing imaginable when I got him inside. I would have kept him if I wasn't allergic to him.

 

[Cpt Toellner]

 

[dragonesper]

To me cats are the uncontested winners.

I'm not comfortable around dogs, several breeds are disconcertingly large, their tails when wagging are like whips (seriously, ouch) and while the friendly and happy disposition of a well-raised dog is nice they still don't click for me.

When it comes to cats their independence is interesting, how loving they can be depending on their mood and personality and their antics in general. No cat sleeps all day, they do like to play, the like the attention they want and can be damned good hunters. (Natasha can catch both squirrels and weasels even!)
They're also beautiful (except persians, I can't stand that breed), they grow from clumsy to elegant, easily develops their unique personality and are funny.
It also helps that it was partially because of Natasha (my cat) that I didn't give up. They give a silent support when you don't even realize it.

 

[nyther]

I love all animals. It's more on what type of animal you want. Do you want a hands on excited to see you sometimes needy animal that you can roughhouse with? Do you want a low maintenance animal that you can leave by itself for awhile and it's still fine and will show you affection on occasion?

I chose cats because I used to be in sales so I would be gone most of the day and just wanted an animal that would greet me at the door, let me pet it, then we'd part ways for the rest of the day.

 

[Bluebeard]

Well it looks like Dogs has 8, whereas Cats have 6 for the moment. Let's see how this continues.

 

[Jorick]

Cats because they're capable of independence and doing their own thing for extended periods of time. I don't really care for having pets at all, but if I had to pick one it'd be a cat because they're less of a bother.

 

[Rainjay]

Dogs and cats are wonderful for their own reasons but I still vote cats.

If you judge by appearance: Cat's are usually going to be small and cuddly and furry (except the naked kitties but they're still cuddly). Dogs can be large and small, which gives them a point. But they aren't furry and soft- cat's get that all the way. I think cats generally look cuter but with dogs I don't think it really matters.

But maintenance; I'd say cats are less maintenance. You clean their litter box, feed and water them, and sometimes you have to groom them and sometimes trim their claws. Dogs you have to feed and water them and handle claws, sometimes groom them, but you have to walk them. Ugh, walking. It's exercise for you too which is great but cats require less effort- at least indoor cats. Outdoor cats are a bit different, but if they're outdoor cats you've less litter to handle too so hmm.

That said cats are rather independent compared to dogs. Cats don't need as much training but can be trained the way dogs can. I've had a cat that played fetch, and nobody had to train the cat to do it. My cats have always amused themselves instead of needing me to play with them. They're small and fit in the small house spaces my dad and I have lived in.

Basically I favor cats because they're fluffy/fuzzy, small, independent, low maintenance, and they are rather smart. Dogs can be intelligent as heck too, but cats seem to generally be smarter.

But I don't think dogs suck or anything. I'd like to have one one day; although I'd need a husky or a fluffy dog to make up for my love of cuddly cats xD

 

[Brovo]

Dogs, because one saved my life. Twice. Cats can't, and won't, do that. As for intelligence, my dogs always seemed to know when I was feeling sorrow, even when my family couldn't see it. My dogs recognized sorrow in a human more often than other humans did. That's pretty impressive. They were also capable of problem solving, like how to open cabinet doors to get at what they wanted, we just trained them not to and they trusted us.

As for the argument of low maintenance, alright, I can get that. Also if you live in an apartment, cats are the better pet, because it's just unkind to stick a dog in a place without a backyard unless you're willing to regularly walk him twice a day, which most simply can't.

However, dogs are one of the only animals I know where, if they love you, they will give their lives protecting you without a second thought, and will seemingly empathize with you when you're suffering. That'll always have a special place in my heart above that of cats. Heck, dogs are the only animal I know I'd struggle with against ferrets over which animal I'd pick as my favourite and I crazy love ferrets.

 

[Dervish]

Dogs and cats are wonderful for their own reasons but I still vote cats.

If you judge by appearance: Cat's are usually going to be small and cuddly and furry (except the naked kitties but they're still cuddly). Dogs can be large and small, which gives them a point. But they aren't furry and soft- cat's get that all the way. I think cats generally look cuter but with dogs I don't think it really matters.

But maintenance; I'd say cats are less maintenance. You clean their litter box, feed and water them, and sometimes you have to groom them and sometimes trim their claws. Dogs you have to feed and water them and handle claws, sometimes groom them, but you have to walk them. Ugh, walking. It's exercise for you too which is great but cats require less effort- at least indoor cats. Outdoor cats are a bit different, but if they're outdoor cats you've less litter to handle too so hmm.

That said cats are rather independent compared to dogs. Cats don't need as much training but can be trained the way dogs can. I've had a cat that played fetch, and nobody had to train the cat to do it. My cats have always amused themselves instead of needing me to play with them. They're small and fit in the small house spaces my dad and I have lived in.

Basically I favor cats because they're fluffy/fuzzy, small, independent, low maintenance, and they are rather smart. Dogs can be intelligent as heck too, but cats seem to generally be smarter.

But I don't think dogs suck or anything. I'd like to have one one day; although I'd need a husky or a fluffy dog to make up for my love of cuddly cats xD

If you don't like the idea of exercising a dog, do not get a husky. They require a lot of exercise to keep healthy.

 

[nyther]

Cats can't, and won't, do that

There are tons of stories of cats saving their owner's lives. There was that viral video of a cat chasing off a dog that was attacking a child. The cat attacking an alligator.