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Truth about Cats and Dogs

Which is the better pet?

Spencer barks and dances in circles to greet you and wags his tail so hard you are afraid it will fall off. He barks when you come home and also when he's home alone. He frightens off burglars, but brings in neighbors' complaints. Sybil, on the other hand, purrs when you sit down for her to snuggle on your lap. The neighbors never complain about her meows, but they do complain when she goes and digs up their gardens. So which of them wins hands down as a pet?

Dogs rule

Dogs mostly scratch themselves. Cats often scratch other people, sometimes leading to stitches, bandages and hospital time. If dogs don’t like you, they let you know early on, cats wait till you are within striking distance, and come at you without warning. Dogs scare away burglars with their barking and territorial behavior, cats think burglars are another person to serve and pet them.
 The fire department has rarely been called to fetch a dog out of a tree. You see dogs coming, and can take cover and run, but cats sneak up or stalk you. Dogs love long walks on leashes, most cats will send you to the hospital for even considering such a thing. Most dogs will respond and come in when you call them, cats wait till you lose your voice and go find them. At home, dogs will guard your home, bring you your slippers and newspaper, and worship you. They will mostly eat whatever you put in front of them without fuss and then some. Many dogs interact well with children and are patient enough to allow ear-pulling, stuffing hands in the mouth or even dragging by the tail and various other painful kid antics. A cat often will not let a child near, and needs to be closely supervised. Have you ever seen a movie or a television show about a courageous cat saving a boy from a well? The case rests.

The case for cats

Cats purr. Dogs drool. Cats rub your leg when only when they want affection. Cats use a litter box. Dogs use your leg. Cats will wait until you've read your morning paper before tearing it to shreds. Cats appreciate and love their humans only when appreciation and love are earned. Don't expect cats to worship you, though. They'll still boss you around. Cats are independent and not at your heels all the time. You can leave them alone for longer periods of time without their chewing the furniture or howling for hours. You don't need to take them for walks. Cats look cute sleeping on the TV. Dogs just crash right in front of the screen. No one has ever had to "Beware of the Cat". Cats are scrupulously clean and will seldom return home drenched in mud, and usually do not have breath problems. Pit an Odie against a Garfield and we have our answer.

And so the arguments go on, and there is even a hugely popular movie, “Cats & Dogs” that outlines the supposed bitterly fought war between the canines and the felines on their rights over humans! Rarely will you find a genuine dog-lover who is also a cat-lover at the same time. Dog owners champion their pets, which wag their tails every time they are glanced at, and do not like cats, which only give you attention if they want to. But there are standoffish breeds of dogs, for example a Tibetan mastiff, which would be as aloof as any cat. And then there are cats like the Japanese bobtail, which will follow you around everywhere, and even allow itself to be leashed.

Judging the relative intelligence of cats and dogs is like deciding which is better looking: there are just not many bases for comparison. Psychologists have a tough enough time coming up with a culture-blind IQ test for humans, who all belong to the same species; designing a species-blind test for dogs and cats is almost impossible. What people take to be signs of intelligence in their pets usually are just specialised survival skills that say nothing about innate brainpower. A cat, for instance, is much more skilful with its paws than a dog. This dexterity fascinates cat lovers, who also cite the cat's legendary standoffishness as proof of its mental superiority. The dog, on the other hand, is much more of a social animal; dog advocates claim this proves the dog is more civilized, and thus more intelligent.

Animal experts do not attach any significance to such arguments. Cats are loners because they have always hunted alone, small prey will not feed more than one cat. Without its nimble paws, a cat couldn't corner, catch, and eat its prey. Very few felines, other than lions, hunt in groups. But dogs hunted in packs because they picked on game bigger than they were. They used their teeth to kill their prey and dismember the carcass. Thus, it is preferable not to compare one breed against another, within the same species, according to ethologists. If a bloodhound is able to catch scents better, or a greyhound sees better, they do so because that is how they were respectively bred for in the first place.

Different breeds of dogs show different temperaments and so do different breeds of cats. It might be a mistake to generalise them, though it is true that cats show more individual behavior than dogs in one particular breed. The bottom line is when looking for a pet, self evaluation is as important as choosing the animal you want. You need to evaluate your temperament, emotional needs, and lifestyle and figure out if you want the one or the other. In the case of an entire family making the choice, whether you want both. In this case you might do well to remember that the way most dogs play insults the dignity of many cats, and some will simply be afraid. In most cases, they need to be socialized together at a young age to achieve compatibility or even peaceful coexistence.

Instances are too many to count where an unloved stray dog has made its way into the hearts of ardent cat lovers and vice versa. If you have an outdoor life, you might want to enjoy it with your dog, whereas an apartment dweller may prefer a cat. But then, there are a whole host of apartment dogs to choose from as well. But surely, you cry, there must be some way to compare cats and dogs. Maybe, but it hasn't turned up yet. Obedience and trainability aren't considered reliable measures of intelligence. Newborn cats open their eyes a week or so sooner than dogs do, but the puppy gets into consuming solid foods sooner than the kitten. Overall, puppies and kittens grow into adulthood at  similar rates. Mama cats toilet-train their young, and dogs don't, but that doesn't prove anything. There would be arguments and counter-arguments for as long as there are cats and dogs in our lives.

But the good news is, there is always a clear winner, and that is the pet owner himself or herself. If you have chosen to share your life with a household canine or feline it is already the source of many joys and unforeseen rewards, and as with all other things in life, a few unwanted trials, quite much the same as when you plan on having children. So be it a cat or a dog, if your pet and you are content with each other, you have won the war, and can now find something else to argue about.

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