Dogs vs cats

[an anarchist]

New day new thread.

Dogs? Or cats? Which animal is your preferred pet? Make your case.

I'm a cat person myself.

(Racked my brain this morning to try to create a good debate thread. This is as deep my brain is going right now lol)

 

[an anarchist]

I could be swayed to the dog camp if I ever had a chance to fully train a dog and it be my personal guard animal. Can't really do that with a cat. But my cats seem hyperaware of my emotions at times. Well the one. that passed anyway my favorite one. My last remaining cat is sometimes rather indifferent towards me, sorta making me want a dog instead lol. I considered my previous cat my emotional support animal but this one still alive... Eh.

 

[Stevicus]

Need to have a third choice for us fence-sitters who can't make up our minds.

 

[Valjean]

Better varies with individual criteria. Better for what?
Me, I prefer cats. They're low maintenance, amusing, can be left to their own devices for long periods, friendly but not obsequious toadys.

 

[ChristineM]

We've had cats and dogs, both are adorable but i think cats have the edge for many reasons. Here are a few...

Cats are not as reliant on humans as dogs.

Cats are independent. (If a cat had opposable thumbs and could work the tin opener then it would have no need for humans at all)

They like/enjoy human interaction but don't really need it.

And the biggy, cats used to be worshipped as gods, they have never forgotten this.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

New day new thread.

Dogs? Or cats? Which animal is your preferred pet? Make your case.

I'm a cat person myself.

(Racked my brain this morning to try to create a good debate thread. This is as deep my brain is going right now lol)

Cats. Absolutely cats.

Dogs require too much maintenance.

Also, I feel like the notion of "man's best friend" for dogs is not correct. The way I see it, dogs are rather "man's most obedient / loyal slave".
I feel like cats are actually more "friends" with humans then dogs are.

The relationship you have with a cat is very different as opposed to with a dog.
I remember seeing this experiment once which tested how that relationship worked.

It involved a stranger with food in a corner of a room with the "owner" without food at the other corner of the room.
Dogs would obey their "master" and go sit with them, eyeing the food.
Cats would not care about obeying at all and simply go for the food, but afterwards, would willingly and on their own initiative return to their "owner".

There were a couple more such experiments.
The general conclusion was that cats and their owners have a relationship that is far more the equivalent of "friends" then dogs and their owners.
In the sense that, at least from the perspective of the cats, both the cat and the owner are equals and there is no real hierarchy.
Your "friends" don't obey you either when you throw commandments at them, do they? Or at least... that's usually not the type of relationship you have with your friends. Instead, you care for eachother and you are considered equals.

Although I always felt back when I had cats that, especially one of them, behaved more like I lived with him instead of the other way round LOL, as if HE owned the house and I got to sleep there hahaha.


I love cats. Self-sustainable/sufficient when necessary, playful and an overall "I don't care" attitude and yet... they come to hug and play with you when they feel like it's a good time.

 

[Father Heathen]

I'm not aware of any cats trained for search and rescue or to guide the blind.

Also, most of the 'pluses' for cats in this thread could be said of goldfish as well.

 

[ChristineM]

I'm not aware of any cats trained for search and rescue or to guide the blind.

Also, most of the 'pluses' for cats in this thread could be said of goldfish as well.

Goldfish tend to die when i lay them in my arms for a snuggle

 

[Valjean]

I'm not aware of any cats trained for search and rescue or to guide the blind.

Also, most of the 'pluses' for cats in this thread could be said of goldfish as well.

Yes, dogs are useful and loyal. But they have slave mentalities. They're toadies. Translate a dog's needy personality to a person and you wouldn't care to have him as a friend.

 

[Father Heathen]

Yes, dogs are useful and loyal. But they have slave mentalities. They're toadies. Translate a dog's needy personality to a person and you wouldn't care to have him as a friend.

If cats were people, they would be sociopaths.
We don't keep people as pets, though.

 

[ChristineM]

If cats were people, they would be sociopaths.
We don't keep people as pets, though.

We have 5 cats in our family and they are very social (most of the time)

 

[VoidCat]

I like both but i think it's obvious which i prefer. I even worship a cat goddess

 

[VoidCat]

Goldfish tend to die when i lay them in my arms for a snuggle

You dont need to snuggle them but I've had fish come close to the surface(while still mostly being underwater) to be petted.

 

[VoidCat]

I'm not aware of any cats trained for search and rescue or to guide the blind.

Also, most of the 'pluses' for cats in this thread could be said of goldfish as well.

I've seen service cats. Very few states recognize them tho.

Cats are trainable. Folk just dont train them for some reason

 

[ChristineM]

You dont need to snuggle them but I've had fish come close to the surface(while still mostly being underwater) to be petted.

I know, we've had fish. I'm sure they can recognise people and like interaction with people.

BTW, i was trying to be funny

 

[VoidCat]

I know, we've had fish. I'm sure they can recognise people and like interaction with people.

BTW, i was trying to be funny

I know. I just figured I'd let folk know you can pet fish. Not a lot of folk know that surprisingly

 

[VoidCat]

@Father Heathen. Here's an article on search and rescue cats

Search And Rescue Cats May Be Better At Sniffing Out Clues Than Dogs - CatTime

Some experts believe cats may actually be better at sniffing out bombs or drugs, detecting diseases, or tracking down missing persons than dogs.

cattime.com

As for helping the blind dont know much about that. But i do know of cats that are trained to alert owners for seizures, to help with diabetes, cats for ptsd, and ones for autism, and even some that have helped with reminding owners to take meds

It's just only a few states in the US recognize them as service animals. And only a handful of countries

 

[Koldo]

New day new thread.

Dogs? Or cats? Which animal is your preferred pet? Make your case.

I'm a cat person myself.

(Racked my brain this morning to try to create a good debate thread. This is as deep my brain is going right now lol)

I have never had a cat and never really wanted to. The few times I had first hand experience with cats together with their owners I felt like the cat was actually an wild animal since they had to be careful when picking up their cats or else they would be scratched into nothingness. I don't know if this is the norm but I am not interested in going through that.

 

[Father Heathen]

I have never had a cat and never really wanted to. The few times I had first hand experience with cats together with their owners I felt like the cat was actually an wild animal since they had to be careful when picking up their cats or else they would be scratched into nothingness. I don't know if this is the norm but I am not interested in going through that.

There's also the pooping, peeing, and puking all over the place and destroying furniture while leaving litter boxes and scratching posts untouched.

 

[Debater Slayer]

I prefer cats. They have far better hygiene than dogs, and I find them cuter.

That said, I still feed both hungry stray cats and dogs when I can. I view both as deserving of kindness regardless of which I would prefer as pets.