Our neighbor has a cat — actually I’ve mentioned his cat a few times on this blog site (check the archives for “Pippin” if you’re interested.) Anyhow, our neighbor kept his brother’s dog for a few weeks a couple of months ago and he said that while he likes dogs, he will never have one of his own because they require too much attention.
That’s true — I’ve often said that having a dog is like having a two year-old child that never grows up. But that said, I’m still more of a dog person than a cat person. I don’t dislike cats — they just have a lot of annoying characteristics that I don’t care for. Since I’m still waiting for the grass to get green and need mowing, I thought I’d examine some of the differences in dogs and cats, at least as I see them. (I also did a little extensive research on the subject.)
Dogs were probably domesticated maybe 40,000 years ago — to help early humans to hunt. Cats were only domesticated about 12,000 years ago when agriculture evolved, and cats were used for pest control. But even though dogs evolved from species that would have been able to hunt in packs, they haven’t retained their hunting behavior like cats have. I read something that said that cats need to be able to express their natural hunting behavior because it releases “happy hormones” in their brains. So it’s important for indoor cats to have the opportunity to stalk and pounce on toys and things like that.
Provided they have a nutritionally balanced diet, dogs do not necessarily need to eat meat. Cats must have meat in their diet in order to get all the nutrients they need to keep them healthy.
According to one web site I looked at, it is a common misconception that cats cannot be trained like dogs can. The site insists that with positive reinforcement, cats can be taught all sorts of things, like responding to their name and to sitting on command. I’ll just leave that here… no cat I know does these things.
I do have to admit that on rainy nights, cats go up a notch or two on my list — cats using a little box is a lot better than taking dogs outside and they always seem very picky about the exact piece of grass to “go” on.
I’m not trying to convince anyone one way or the other — if you prefer cats, fine and if you prefer dogs, that’s fine too. But — I should point out that dogs are mentioned 44 times in the Bible — 35 times in the Old Testament and 9 times in the New Testament… cats are never mentioned.
So I guess this all boils down to attitude — not your attitude — your pet’s attitude. Dogs believe they are human. Cats believe they are God.
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