Straight man (cis) here. I prefer cats because having a dog is like having a stupid, stubborn kid that shits everywhere and screams constantly. Doesn’t even come with the benefit of being able to witness their beautiful, growing mind. They’re just dumb and annoying forever.
I expect this to be my most disliked comment lol
So you prefer cats because you’re wrong on your assessment of dogs…?
I’ve never had a dog that shit everywhere or barked constantly. I have a 3-month-old puppy now and while we’re still working on it, he only poops inside once in awhile. Cats are WAY more stubborn than dogs which usually aim to please. And they’re definitely not less intelligent than cats…but like all animals, it varies. Some of my favorite cats are complete idiots.
The biggest difference between the two is how much more work dogs require. No judgement if you don’t want to commit to that but you’re just wrong about most of what you said, of course you’re gonna get downvoted lol
I have a 4-year-old Corgi that my girlfriend brought into our house so I think I have some means to judge here.
Dogs shit everywhere… outside. Not everyone cleans it all the way up, nor get it all out of the patches of grass where I happen to step. I have a dedicated shit brush specifically for this issue. They’re just nasty as fuck for that honestly, the dogs and the owners. They don’t shit in the house if you’re a competent owner.
They bark at noise disturbances which scares the shit out of me every time. Some people also just leave their mutts outside to harass neighbors walking by as they bark at about 500 decibels. Again, owner and animal issue both.
Cats are way more stubborn but you don’t rely on them to follow commands. Dogs will violently try to pull you over if they want to go do something while on a walk, and training that out of them is unbelievably difficult and won’t always stick. They are also implicitly aggressive animals, and need that to be trained out of them as well. Basically, we as humans are trying to cover up the violent nature of a stupid animal by telling it “good boy” when it doesn’t maul Timmy’s face off. Again, that doesn’t always stick either.
Dogs require WAY more work and are not rewarding at all to me. I hate the things that fundamentally make them dogs.
It really sounds like your problems are with dog owners and not the animal itself. It also sounds like your dog sucks or you’re a bad owner yourself…The majority of them are VERY easy to train as millenias of domestication has made them people-pleasers.
This puppy is the first dog I’ve had that I’ve been fully responsible for training and he learned to not do all those things in the first two weeks with minimal effort. He shits in the same spot outside, doesn’t pull on the leash, and only barks when he can’t get to me (like if he falls asleep in the hallway and I close the door). The biggest struggle has been getting him to stop chewing on the rugs. Meanwhile, you’ll never train a cat to not rip up your furniture, chew wires, or knock stuff off shelves - you just have to take steps to mitigate and live with it.
That’s an insane take on their nature, too. Cats are equally “implicitly aggressive” (they famously kill birds just for fun). Do you live somewhere with only junkyards and drug dealers or something? Dogs are inherently friendly animals. Mine has met 5 cats now (introducing him early so he’ll be excited when I adopt one next year) and 100% of the aggression came from the cats.
Dogs require WAY more work and are not rewarding at all to me. I hate the things that fundamentally make them dogs.
I won’t try to convince anyone to get a dog - they’re not for everyone - but as someone with a ton of experience with both and who loves both equally, you’re wrong about what “fundamentally make[s] them dogs”.
Since we’re throwing shade, I should let you know that no matter how often you change the litter box, your house smells. You might not notice it but your guests do
They are also implicitly aggressive animals
You’re not wrong, and I prefer cats as well…but cats are violent, homicidal monsters and if they were big enough they would absolutely murder the fuck out of you (as soon as they were done toying with you).
Second CIS, cat loving man here.
Dogs are cool, too; I like dogs. But I prefer cats. Pound for pound, cats are twice as bad-ass as a dog, which is why dogs can only really compete by forming into packs. Which, when they do, is a huge force multiplier, but still. I’m not having a pack of dogs in my house, so to maximize local bad-ass-ness in my house, I have cats.
I like how your choice of pet is purely based on how powerful the aura of the animal is lol.
Third. Cat person from a family of mostly dog people. Dogs just seem too pushy, like the annoying kids in the playground who won’t leave you alone, or the vapid extroverts talking cocaine-infused bullshit at parties.
Also, they (like most animals) stink; as far as cats go, there’s something to be said for domesticating solitary ambush predators that spent their entire evolutionary history hunting by stealth and subsisting off prey with a strong sense of smell.
A dog is much closer to a child than a cat. A cat is closer to a goldfish than a child.
They don’t really compete in my opinion, they are totally different class of animal when it comes to maintenance and effort needed to keep them happy.
I’d also argue than the bond you can develop with a dog is far greater and deeper than a cat, but that’s more subjective.
As a cat person I agree. That’s why I have cats, they’re simply simpler. I let them outside when they want to go out, then they may come back a few minutes later or a few days later (adopted a former stray cat and she still loves longer walks when the weather is nice). I feed them and clean their litter box.
When I’m not at home for a weekend and it’s not winter I put a lot of food there and they’re fine (usually outside since they prefer that). When I’m away for longer, or in the winter, I ask one of my neighbours to look after them every other day. When they are gone and I’m at home I do that for them too of course.
In return I get to see how happy they are and get to cuddle them. In the evening they come in my bed, loudly purring of course. When it’s cold in the winter they jump on my lap.
Comparatively low effort for a high reward :)
This strikes me as a common misconception. A cat’s affections are more difficult to earn than a dog’s and they regularly have only a few people they legitimately attach to. Cats must be approached on their own terms, to connect with one you must adapt your behaviours to it. Dogs however have pack instinct and adapt to what norms humans set. They want affection as one of their primary needs and they will compromise their own behaviours to learn and assimilate. Dogs basically are much harder to fail attaching to.
It doesn’t surprise me that most groups whose needs are not often centered in society that favors the comfort of cis, straight men and require understanding on their own terms to flourish because they often comprise on their own needs to assimilate to get by… Enjoy the company of critters whom must be approached on their own terms to flourish and refuse to compromise because they have no need.
You only really understand cats once you become part of one’s true inner circle. They become incredibly attached, loyal and work to understand you back. Like if your cat keeps bothering you at your computer and messing with your keyboard one solve is to give them their own keyboard because what they really want is to mirror your behaviour and do what you are doing even if they don’t quite get the appeal.
I like both but it took me awhile to understand the appeal of cats because when they are around outsiders they avoid PDAs with their owners and some owner and cat combos just never unlock that affection at all.
I think it depends on your stance towards authoritarianism. Dogs follow commands, cats do not.
Toxoplasmosis
I prefer Cats