<p>An interesting article about our favorite furry friends published in the New Scientist.</p>
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<p>Want to see the final score? Read the full article here:</p>
<p>[Dogs</a> vs cats: The great pet showdown - life - 09 December 2009 - New Scientist](<a href=“Dogs vs cats: The great pet showdown | New Scientist”>Dogs vs cats: The great pet showdown | New Scientist)</p>
<p>You know the saying, right: “People have dogs but cats have staff.”</p>
<p>Some of us have both and are quite happy to enjoy the differences between the two. I don’t expect my dogs to behave like a cat and vice versa. It works for us.</p>
<p>I will say that cats are less work at the outset in terms of training and housebreaking, and you never have to walk a cat or take it out in a snowstorm to do its business.</p>
<p>Cats were dogs once. Then they forgot that nobility put them in our good graces, and shrunk to being mere aristocats-- I mean crats!</p>
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<p>I would rather do that than clean a litterbox.</p>
<p>To each his (her) own.</p>
<p>LOL! Truly to each his/her own. “you never have to walk a cat or take it out in a snowstorm to do its business.”
Last night, H asked if he could clean the litterboxes. Nope. I had first dibs on that business. H got to take the pooch out for a walk - the temperature hit a balmy 15 degrees :eek:</p>
<p>It was 10 degrees and windy last night. </p>
<p>Cleaning out the cat litter = putting large black plastic bag over the box, dumping out the contents. Pour clean litter into box.</p>
<p>Taking dogs for a walk = putting on lined windbreaker pants over jeans, finding hat, finding both mittens and gloves because I have cold hands, getting into boots, wrapping scarf and neck gaiter around exposed flesh, taking off glasses so they don’t steam up. </p>
<p>The walk was a lot more effort. Then again, I enjoyed it more.</p>
<p>Cleaning out the litter box is a breeze for me. I say to DD, “Sweetie, time to clean out the litter box!”</p>
<p>and in a lot of places it is a law that you have to “scoop the poop” of dogs</p>
<p>I actually enjoy walking in all kinds of weather, and “picking up” doesn’t really bother me.</p>
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<p>I can get my kids to walk the dog, but I don’t think I could get them to clean a litter box.</p>
<p>Dogs? They look up to you.</p>
<p>Cats? They look down on you.</p>
<p>But pigs . . . they treat you as an equal.</p>
<p>Kei</p>
<p>Pfft. An obviously biased test. Had the categories included “Cuddliness”, “Dignity”, “Aroma of Fur”, “Facility at Assuming Decorative Poses” and “Ability to Defy Laws of Physics by Squeezing into Spaces Smaller Than One’s Circumference”, the kitties would have triumphed. (Disclosure: am owned by both species.)</p>
<p>I will add that our rather dense (but sweet) Lab will sit at he glass patio door forever waiting to be let in, never thinking to bark, until one of the cats happens to notice her, sits down at the door, and alerts us of the situation with a distinctive “meep meep” (a very clear and unique sound not used at any other time). We always wonder if that sound means “Dear God, let the poor creature in, you heartless humans,” or “Your dimwitted canine has gotten herself trapped outside again.”</p>
<p>Heck, I love both species. <3</p>
<p>I will say that the two cats I have now are not independent at ALL. They always have to follow me from room to room and keep tabs on me. One of them likes to purr madly in my lap while kneading painfully with his claws, the other rolls around on the floor in ridiculously cute poses, mewing until I give in and rub his soft, furry belly. <3</p>
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<p>Ditto. Everywhere I go I am followed by two dogs and a cat. My husband just shakes his head at the back and forth parade.</p>
<p>My cat also likes to sit on my lap - she always does this when I am sitting in my armchair with my laptop. Maybe she likes to be by the warm computer, but I find myself accomodating her, reaching my arms over her to get to the keyboard. So silly, but I do it without thinking sometimes. Wouldn’t want to disturb a purring furball, would I?</p>
<p>I have both. The dog is the male and the cat is a female. They have a love/hate relationship. It gets very interesting when they both attempt to sleep in the bed with me. No wonder H sleeps on the couch. </p>
<p>The funny thing is the cat loves to join the walks with the dog. She will walk side by side with us only obviously she is not on a lease but the dog is. I often see people in the cars passing by us making comments about the cat. Once in a while she will take off, and then when she has a good sprint going she rejoins us and body slams the dog. He is on a lease and therefore pretty immobile - so he can’t respond to this attack. She must be annoyed at him when she does this.</p>
<p>Guinea pigs FTW!</p>
<p>DD read this thread with me. Her response to cats winning the brains contest was a faintly sardonic, “Well, yeah. Which one drools?!” </p>
<p>I am a cat person because of their independence. We tried owning a dog (Jack Russell puppy), but he was too much for me. It wasn’t the pup’s fault - he was smart and cute - but purely my flaw as a human pet owner. DD swears she’s getting a German Shepherd when she gets her own apartment. I will happily be a doggy grandma - visit, spoil, and return to my DD for walking! :)</p>
<p>I have cats now, have had dogs for over 20 years up until a few years ago, and had many years of overlap of cats and dogs. I have no idea how or why to compare them. They are so different. I can’t imagine saying to one of my cats, go get the ball. I can just see the blank stare. And I cannot imagine my old lab having to make a go of it out in the wild on her own, but I know my cats could do it tomorrow. But they all got along, slept in the big dog bed together, walked every day with me to the beach, one yellow lab on a leash and two cats behind, a parade.</p>
<p>I have had both. I think I am more of a “dog” person, all things considered, but agreed, cats are easier. Thank heavens for fenced yards though, and trained dogs.</p>
<p>Whats that old country western song-- “My wife ran off with my dog and I miss him…”</p>
<p>My dog can fetch his soccer ball, but my cat can play fetch, too - with a piece of crumpled newspaper. She brings it back and drops it into my lap so she can chase it again. This is an amazingly smart feline. We never taught her to play fetch. Sometimes she leaps into the air to intercept the ball of newspaper midflight. Someday, she will be a YouTube star 
My other cat… sigh… she has three basic instincts: eat, sleep, poop (repeat).</p>