Best pet: Cats or Dogs

[Buddha]

I don't expect anyone to make a serious case for cats being the best pet, and so this thread will probably only consist of this single post. Therefor I will make it concise and just state the known facts:

Dogs:
- Awesome
- Do not kill things for fun.
- Can be taught tricks, such as rescuing people

Cats:
- Not awesome.
- Kill things for fun
- Cannot be taught anything

Thank you for listening. Oh, and on the off-chance that any cat-lovers want to make a case for cats: try to make an argument that consist of more than just emoticons.

[MoneyJungle]

Undecided.

[Starjots]

Just to be contrary, it depends on the cat or dog.

Worst Traits in Some Dogs:
Vicious/Dangerous
Barking Barking Barking Barking Barking
Destroy your yard
Can't leave them home for any length of time compared to a cat

Worst Traits in Some Cats:
If they pee on something you might as well throw it out
Completely aloof and/or crazy
Cat pans

I'd rather have a good cat than a bad dog any day. But if I had to pick one, I'd go with a good dog.

[Buddha]

Worst Traits in Some Dogs:
Vicious/Dangerous
Barking Barking Barking Barking Barking
Destroy your yard
Can't leave them home for any length of time compared to a cat

Aside from dogs, like all intelligent beings, needing to have intellectual stimulation (and I think the absence of that need speaks against cats more than it does against dogs) - none of those arguments hold up. Those are all traits of bad owners, not bad dogs.

[pensive_pilgrim]

You have to teach dogs everything and they require a lot of attention. Cats mostly take care of themselves. I've had dogs before and they were great but at this point in my life it wouldn't work for me, I don't have the time and energy (or space) for a dependent. Especially with school, moving frequently, probably going to be working a lot. My cat is pretty cool, he likes to hang out and is always down to cuddle. I can set him up with food and water for a few days and take off and he'll be fine. He's pretty outgoing and affectionate and playful without being obnoxious usually too, I don't know if I just got lucky or raised him well but everybody says he's a great cat.

[Sistamatic]

I'm drinking. I'll take the bait, sort of. Problem is, I can't decide if I'm a cat person or a dog person. I mean I want to argue, but I just can't do it without overgeneralizing.

My greyhound was awesome. He's been dead of old age for a long time now and I still get choked up remembering him. I loved that dog so much.

My husky/Samoyed mix was the worst dog ever...and I raised her together with the greyhound. She was a constant 24/7 problem that had to be dealt with. Nothing worked. Every single unsupervised moment, even if it was just for a minute or two, she would find the worst possible thing to do (short of biting someone). If she'd been my first dog, I'd have hated dogs forever. You pretty much had to have her either in a crate or on a leash every minute of the day or there was hell to pay. I suspect the neighbor shot her the 4 millionth time she escaped from my latest surefire way to keep her from escaping and ran into his horse barn and started barking at the horses. Or maybe one of the horses kicked her. Who knows. I wanted to miss her, but my life was so much easier without her that I just couldn't.

I got bit in the face by a dog when I was 3. Still have scars.

My cat is awesome. He runs to the car to meet me when I come home, sleeps on me at night, and comes running if I make eye contact with him. I don't have to fence him or tell him to stay off the counters, or anything. He just knows what is OK and what isn't. He plays rough, but keeps his claws in so he doesn't ever leave scratches, and he needs to be played with and chased around every day to be happy. He trusts me to give him medicine and doesn't fight or get mad. Only uses the litterboxes if it is raining outside. Best. Cat. Ever.

When I was 20 years old, I got a cat from the pound. Beautiful officially papered and pedigreed long haired something or other...can't remember what anymore. Shoulda known there was a reason such an expensive cat was at the pound. Fucking cat peed on everything, peed on me at night while I was sleeping, hid under stuff, hissed and scratched if you made sudden moves, etc. I brought him back to the pound after 2 weeks. I cried when I did it, because we had some moments of love and it felt like an awful betrayal, but he couldn't go outside and I couldn't have an animal in my house that pissed on everything all day every day. I just couldn't.

[Starjots]

Aside from dogs, like all intelligent beings, needing to have intellectual stimulation (and I think the absence of that need speaks against cats more than it does against dogs) - none of those arguments hold up. Those are all traits of bad owners, not bad dogs.

Yea yea, that's what people always say. I've owned one dog that was dumber than a box of rocks and it barked all the time. There was nobody home inside that dog's head. My in-laws owned a dog that was vicious as hell despite everything they did for it.

On the other hand I've owned... hmm... 4 great dogs and had 3 good dogs as a kid, the in-laws mentioned have had many dogs that were just fine. That's why I qualified it with *some*, perhaps *few* would have been better. Animals, like people, vary.

[Hephaestus]

There are dogs that kill things for fun. They clearly enjoy it. I have no idea where that conception of dogs came from, but I've owned too many dogs to believe it, and seen too many dogs with a strong prey drive at play... killing things.

[Fitz]

Dogs are way too needy. It's like having a really hairy retarded toddler. I'll pass.

[jigglypuff]

i get the impression that people with a preference for cats sorta just look at them and appreciate them like beautiful decorations sometimes. like, i've never had a cat, but i like the way their bodies move and generally how cats look.

for a pet, though, i definitely prefer a more affectionate animal, and it doesn't matter if it's a cat or a dog. i'm affectionate with pets and it's cool if they're cool with that.