Dogs or Cats...Who Rules Your Roost?

[Jill NYC]

All the cat talk going on in the Vapcap thread got me curious. I am somewhat surprised by how many cat lovers there are out there.
Personally, cats have never liked me (been scratched and hissed at and aggressively jumped on by several), but so many people have such great experiences with them, I would consider getting one some day. For now, I am a very happy dog owner and could not imagine my life without him!
What about you guys? What’s your favorite pet? Feel free to add stories, pics, etc.

 

[ginolicious]

My frenchie named Cosmo haha

 

[Other Side]

Dog Family here. Had two Pugs. Had to put one down last summer after 16 years of love. Her sister is eight and is a bit lonely now. We may have to get a puppy to harass her like she did to her sister!

Not a Cat person at all. I just don't get it!?!? Lol

 

[howie105]

Cats contest the house with the rest of the residents and the horses rule when they need to.

 

[Squiby]

I've been a dog lover my whole life. From the age of two there have been dogs in my life. Throughout my adult life I always loved with two dogs. My last dog, Max, a beautiful black Chow Chow passed away 4 years ago at the file old age of 19 years 7 months and 1 week. We wasn't sick a day of his life until he suffered a stroke. I've also had the privledge of living with Poodles, Spaniels, German Shepherds and Terriers.

I never had cats because I was severely allergic to them. I was hospitalized several times during my childhood and adult life from contact with cats.

Anyway, when Max died, I didn't immediately get another dog because I was in the process of building a new house in the country and renovating my city place. With all the compressors going and hammering and random contractors, it was not a great environment to raise a puppy. While completing my country retirement home, I realized that mice are an issue. I heard that there were hypoallergenic cat breeds and so I looked into it. I discovered that Bengal cats lack the protein in their saliva that creates the allergen people react to. I found a breeder and yes, I have absolutely no allergic reaction to them. Now I have my lovely Bengal, Caleb.

I have also taken on a stray, now named pickles. I am allergic to him but the allergy is many times less severe now. To limit the allergic reaction, I give both Caleb and Pickles a "bath" every day or every other day. I wipe them down with a wet wash cloth then I rub them down and brush them with a silicone nubbed mitt.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01N9KSITZ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A360QVEXSH727K&psc=1

They love this so much that they will nag me till I get the scrub mitts on. It keeps the hair shedding down and really limits any allergic reaction. And they are both luxuriously clean.

Here's my lovely Pickles.

 

[lazylathe]

I have always been a dog guy!
Parents have always had dogs, so I grew up with them. Big and small!

I have 2 dogs at the moment, one 10 months and the other 10 years old.
They get on so well together and the pup has brought the old girl back to life!

Our old girl is a Shepherd X Husky X Lab SPCA rescue and is so gentle and loving! Great for lying on and sleeping in the sun! Her name is Cleo, short for Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile, swear she is part cat!
She was raised with our previous Border Collie, named Marcus, short for Marc Anthony, Cleopatra's lover!
My pup is a pure bred border Collie! 10 months old, poor guy was neutered today and is spaced out!
Cannot wait for him to recover and continue training! he is so much fun!!
Border Collie is Samson, wife wants a girl so she will be Delilah!

EDIT:
I have also has 2 Sun Conures that bred as well as 2 Ferrets! I would love a Ferret again but my wife does not like their smell...So no Ferret for me!

Samson and Cleo first meeting. Sam is 8 weeks old.

Samson 9 weeks old

Best buds!

Love my dogs! Best companions ever!

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

"If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve man but deteriorate the cat." - Mark Twain
Cats all the way, they are so good looking and independent just how i like my women.Their emotional intelligence is sometimes higher than ours.True zenmasters of our world.
"I put down my book, The Meaning of Zen, and see the cat smiling into her fur
as she delicately combs it with her rough pink tongue.
Cat, I would lend you this book to study but it appears you have already read it.
She looks up and gives me her full gaze.
Don't be ridiculous, she purrs, I wrote it.
- from "Miao" by Dilys Laing
I really love their ninja moves and yoga practices. They are moody and playful but generally prefer to be quiet until they dont .
"The smallest feline is a masterpiece." - Leonardo da Vinci
"To respect the cat is the beginning of the aesthetic sense." - Erasmus Darwin
Best of all is their symmetry ,they are just perfect. I can watch them all they.

"Cats are a mysterious kind of folk. There is more passing in their minds than we are aware of."
- Sir Walter Scott
Do you know that cats have psychedelic vision ? They can see chemical reactions and the wind.
https://www.seeker.com/cats-have-super-psychedelic-vision-1768314912.html

To me dogs are like little children,they are just like black holes for attention. I dont like their constant neediness and their value system . Also i prefer hissing and loud meows to dog bites/scratches and barking.
"To err is human, to purr is feline." - Robert Byrne
IMO most people that dont like them didnt had the chance to have a good relationship with one. It is just like saying women are shit because u had a relationship with a bitchy cuntessa.
I had one cat for three years behaving like an angel and then a pissy gf decides do hit her without a reason. The cat broke her laptop and expensive nikon and also pissed on her pillow and all that happened till the end of that day.
After that it began to lead war with the gf and never forgave her,probably because she didnt atoned for her sins hard enough.. You should never fight with your cat and punish it other than skip a ration or give them their least favorite food, you should never hit or harass you cat on purpose,they will make a revenge.

"Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this." - Terry Pratchett

Cats have a very good memory and they have pride and dignity far greater than dogs,who behave like needy acolytes . You should pay tribute and respect to your cats and have in mind,they can be influenced by things invisible to you and also they might be wiser than you in their behavior.Аlways look first into yourself and you will mostly find that it is you that threw the first stone if thing went south.

Here are some quotes about the cats (apologies if i spammed too many)

"When you come upon your cat, deep in meditation, staring thoughtfully at something that you can't see, just remember that your cat is, in fact, running the universe." - Bonni Elizabeth Hall & Missycat

"There are many intelligent species in the universe. They are all owned by cats." - Anonymous

"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats." - Albert Schweitzer

"Cats know how to obtain food without labor, shelter without confinement and love without penalties."
- W. L. George


"As anyone who has ever been around a cat for any length of time well knows, cats have enormous patience with the limitations of the human mind." - Cleveland Amory

"A cat is there when you call her - if she doesn't have anything better to do." - Bill Adler

"Ignorant people think it's the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain't so; it's the sickening grammar they use." - Mark Twain

"A dog, I have always said, is prose; a cat is a poem." - Jean Burde


"I believe cats to be spirits come to earth. A cat, I am sure, could walk on a cloud without coming through." - Jules Verne


"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow." - Jeff Valdez

 

[His_Highness]

Personal preferences rule on this one but I have had both cats and dogs and prefer dogs. I have had cats that crave human contact and others that could take it or leave it....till dinner time.

I have never had a dog that didn't crave human companionship and that the relationship with their human was the most important thing in their life. I've never had a cat "check with me" before doing something by looking into my eyes and checking for body language for my opinion the way my dogs do.

I forget who said it but someone once said....when my cat looks at me sometimes I can't tell whether he is thinking he loves me or would love to eat me

Don't get me wrong....I love cats and many times I've had cats get a read on me immediately and I could tell they knew I would enjoy their company so they "allowed" me to make contact. I also had a cat so affectionate that whenever I laid on the couch he would mold himself to me, hug my arms and rest his head on my arms. He'd stay that was as long as he could which used to piss my wife off.

As far as which is smarter....depends on which aspect of intelligence your looking at. Dogs have more emotional intelligence than cats but cats are "sly". I kept the littler box in a hall closet with the door shut but not locked. That cat would pull the door open from the bottom, get in the closet, shut the door by grabbing the bottom again and do his business. If you pulled the door open while he was in there he would step out of the box and close the door again. He liked his privacy which is why my wife used to enjoy fucking with him and that door.

 

[lazylathe]

@His_Highness loved that post!!

Quick story....
I had food poisoning a few weeks back and had to get up in the middle of the night and do the mad dash to the washroom... I get up very quietly and can walk without any noise so my wife sleeps.
My 10 month old Border Collie woke my wife up and brought her downstairs to find me!
Not sure if a cat would give a damn until feeding time!!

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

From my point of view serving someone aint sign of intelligence, i've seen dogs who are treated like shit even beaten and they still worship their master,i dont see that as an emotional intelligence.. For me it is wrong to like that someone needs you and is depending on you,that is why i cannot put up with dog longterm,but that is just me.
I dont currently own a cat and probably wont soon.If one day i get a house with a yard or a ranch,i would get a few though,but i would never torture a animal between 4 walls and deprive it of connecting with nature and socializing with other of its kind .
For sure dogs have their upsides ,like they can be everywhere with you without freaking out too much,also they have instinct to protect their master. But i really hate tortured dogs,which dont get walked and get neglected therefore bark all day,also hate the ones that jump on strangers and making them dirty and licking them.
Choosing dogs over cats or the other way is probably based on the psychological experiences that people had with them. I see that you have had positive experiences and love your dogs .
I've been attacked by a 50 kg Pitbul while jogging in the park and i am telling it is no fun time,thankfully there was some Rambo guy around who gutted it with his military knife before it chewed off my face cause i kind of was loosing the grip i managed to do around its neck .I know it is their owners fault ,but still the possibility of becoming a murderous beast is the biggest negative on some dog breeds..
I know cats can be aggressive too but,even in their worst fury you can easily defend yourself .

 

[lazylathe]

From my point of view serving someone aint sign of intelligence, i've seen dogs who are treated like shit even beaten and they still worship their master,i dont see that as an emotional intelligence.. For me it is wrong to like that someone needs you and is depending on you,that is why i cannot put up with dog longterm,but that is just me.
I dont currently own a cat and probably wont soon.If one day i get a house with a yard or a ranch,i would get a few though,but i would never torture a animal between 4 walls and deprive it of connecting with nature and socializing with other of its kind .
For sure dogs have their upsides ,like they can be everywhere with you without freaking out too much,also they have instinct to protect their master. But i really hate tortured dogs,which dont get walked and get neglected therefore bark all day,also hate the ones that jump on strangers and making them dirty and licking them.
Choosing dogs over cats or the other way is probably based on the psychological experiences that people had with them. I see that you have had positive experiences and love your dogs .
I've been attacked by a 50 kg Pitbul while jogging in the park and i am telling it is no fun time,thankfully there was some Rambo guy around who gutted it with his military knife before it chewed off my face cause i kind of was loosing the grip i managed to do around its neck .I know it is their owners fault ,but still the possibility of becoming a murderous beast is the biggest negative on some dog breeds..
I know cats can be aggressive too but,even in their worst fury you can easily defend yourself .

I can say the same about cats though... Most are stuck inside 4 walls their whole life and the ones that get out, fight and injure each other. And others that really only know one room in a house...Too many stray cats out in the world, same as dogs but I think cats are more prevalent as strays.
My dogs have a huge backyard to play in and they have 2 walks a day of over an hour each time.

In my opinion, if you are a good dog owner and train your dog to be well socialized with people and other animals, you will have an amazing companion for life. I also spay and neuter all my dogs, quite a few cat owners never do this and that is not good ownership in my opinion, especially if they are let outside.

The people who fight dogs should be thrown in with a bunch of lions to see how they do!
Same for people who abuse animals, let them feel what it is like.
Don't blame the breed either, it's all the owners responsibility for training and behavior.

I do not tolerate animal abuse in any way! No matter what type of creature it is.
Unfortunately man screwed this all up for a bit of what some people call "fun"...

The dog/cat debate is very divided everywhere!! LOL!
They both have their loyal followers!

I am not a cat fan because they are too independent most of the time!
For me there is nothing better than when my dog comes and just lays his head in my lap for scratches, or brings me toys to play with them or just wants to sit or sleep next to me.
I do enjoy my friends cats but I cannot get on the ground and rough house with their cats without being bitten, ,scratched and attacked!! LOL!!

And a last thought... How could you not love this little guy!!

 

[Marlon Rando]

Hey I love em all, growing up in our household we had all kinds of pets, birds, turtles, ferrets, cats, dogs.
Allergies will not allow cats into my house, however outside cats can come by the house and mooch a leg to rub on anytime, however currently in my life wiggle-butt, aka poop-factory, aka Mooch, aka knucklehead

aka Gene Simmons

 

[clukx]

I love my baby beagle man so much, dogs over cats!!

 

[little maggie]

i grew up in a cat phobic family and when around cats they always seemed disinterested- as opposed to dogs. that was until i rescued one on its way to the pound, for qute a while i had cats instead of dogs. i think that i expected them to act like dogs since i knew nothing about cats and they did. one would fetch and they were all super sweet and affectionate but in private. i'd probably have a cat now but i can't deal wth litter boxes for health reasons.
so i'm a dog person. or more specifcally a pitbull person.

 

[Marlon Rando]

@little maggie I like the bully breeds they get a bad rap here in NY state, particularly if one is renting landlords get nervous when they hear that owner's have PB's my old neighbor skirted the issue with saying they were mixed breeds to get around the stigma. Curious have you owned other breeds as well? whenever I go to my local sanctuary their are always too many of them left behind from careless owners who don't exercise responsible neutering or they are leftovers bait dogs for fighting dogs.

 

[invertedisdead]

 

[little maggie]

@little maggie I like the bully breeds they get a bad rap here in NY state, particularly if one is renting landlords get nervous when they hear that owner's have PB's my old neighbor skirted the issue with saying they were mixed breeds to get around the stigma. Curious have you owned other breeds as well? whenever I go to my local sanctuary their are always too many of them left behind from careless owners who don't exercise responsible neutering or they are leftovers bait dogs for fighting dogs.

i had several other breeds and didn't, initially, plan on getting a pit. a friend found my pit lucy at a rest stop on the way to seattle and without telling me she was a pit said she was cat-like. this was during my cat period. i took her in and fell in love. poor girl must have grown up in kennel because she was a few years old and had never lived in a house nor been toilet trained. that was when i had cats and the previosly mentioned feral cat hated dogs. he'd run into the street and attack dogs on leashes on their way to the park. so i had to keep him separate from lucy to protect lucy. it was not a good set up to keep cats separate from the dog and somehow spend time with both.

 

[little maggie]

delete

 

[little maggie]

why can't i post a pic from imgur

 

[His_Highness]

I've had personal experience with both the good and bad side of pits.

My grand-dog is a pit-lab mix. Love that dog and baby-sitting him is a pleasure. If you're looking at him from the side he looks mostly like a lab. When you look at him from the front the wide muscular jaws and beady eyes are unmistakable. My grand-dog is a gentleman, intuitively brilliant and completely trustworthy in every way including leaving food out within reach. He's 16 now and has never been aggressive. Right from the start he was raised with a soft-mouth (trained not to put his teeth on anything other than his toys and food) and was conditioned by taking his toys and food away while he was eating or playing with them because of what he is capable of. If we're playing with the tug-of-war rope toy it's impossible to get it from him once his jaws latch on and he naturally shakes his head side to side when playing with it. OMG! .... The power that dog has. There's no mistaking how much more damage he could do versus a pure lab. I've seen the emotional reaction people have when they approach him from the side thinking "lab" and how it all changes when he turns his head toward them and they can see the pit in him. It took my wife awhile before she became comfortable with him. Even though he never showed the slightest hint of aggression she was scared of him because "he had that look".

A friend of mine's sister had a blue nose pit who was absolutely gorgeous. She got him as a puppy from a breeder. The first time I saw him I marveled at how powerful that dog was and it was quite the contrast to see this "baby" growing up and filling out and rippling with muscle while still acting like a puppy. They rescued another pit and after years of no issues the rescued pit got set off by something (they still don't know what it was) and it attacked the owner. The original pit got worked up as well and seemed to direct it's aggression at the rescue pit but when the owner and her husband tried to break it up the blue nose latched on to the wife's arm too. It was all over in seconds and the wife had to have several surgeries to her arm. She almost lost that arm. The rescue was put down.

I used a dog trainer for a Brittany spaniel I rescued and when I asked him if he was ever scared of a dog and he said....Mastiff's and Pit's are the two breeds I keep a special eye on. He owned both a mastiff and a pit and said they are particularly family oriented and can be overly protective. He told me the story of how his two year old son had been playing with the pit and had managed to place his knee on the pit's testicles when lying on his side. The pit howled in pain, the baby didn't remove his knee right away but the pit never did anything other than cry out.

Not to leave cats out....we had an outside cat who came home every day to be fed. He didn't like staying in the house long but when he was in his favorite chair and you tried to sit in that chair or get him to move....he'd turn into a tornado of fury. Nails would come out, he'd make that low guttural sound and it would be on. Didn't matter who it was - he'd fuck you up good.

 

[little maggie]

all my pits-3-have been rescues and all girls. my current one, gretchen, was in bad shape when they found her on a street corner covered with mange. from the report she would curl into a ball and not let the vet or anyone touch her. no idea what her hstory was. for her first year she'd howl when i left the apartment for even a mnute to walk down the hall. neighbors were not happy. it's like one day after a year or so she woke up and became a normal, dog that loves people and can be left alone quietly. she used to love playing with rocks- digging them up outside and inside burying them under pillows and digging them out. but a trainer told me to take them away because she was too focused on them- probably had nothing to play with her first several years except rocks.

 

[Bologna]

Rocky last Fall:

We rescued him a few years ago when he was a little over a year old we think... He’s a “work in progress” and a “handful”... and we all love him dearly.

 

[little maggie]

He's adorable and has a lovely smile. Does he have ears or did someone chop them off when he was young. My lucy was absolutely beautiful. People would stop me on the street and ask to breed her-although I had spayed her. But someone chopped her ears off before I got her.

Rocky last Fall:

We rescued him a few years ago when he was a little over a year old we think... He’s a “work in progress” and a “handful”... and we all love him dearly.

 

[Bologna]

He's adorable and has a lovely smile. Does he have ears or did someone chop them off when he was young. My lucy was absolutely beautiful. People would stop me on the street and ask to breed her-although I had spayed her. But someone chopped her ears off before I got her.

Thank you! He definitely smiles bigger and wider than our last 3 APBTs (2 were rescues), and is certainly the most appreciative... he’s alway engaged and soaks it all in, whatever “it” may be.

All we know about his past is that he was supposedly found “wrapped up in wire fencing” and dropped off at a shelter with deep gashes in his face (probably a “bait” dog)... and then spent the next six full months in a cage under quarantine with absolutely no love at all. When his sentence was up PittieLove Rescue picked him up and he happened to be visiting another shelter closer to us that Black Friday when we (wife, 10yo girl & 8yo boy) decided the guinea pig wasn’t enough and should start looking to adopt another dog... It was kismet.

Here he is again (with only his ears and tail still “intact”... ) last fall scanning the treetops for his arch enemies, squirrels:

Your Gretchen looks lovely, too! (our last 2 were female, Sadie and Jet...yes, we like Beatles refs for names... ) I’m so glad she settled down nicely for you. I’m not sure Rocky will ever completely settle down, it can be challenging sometimes but he's still way worth it.

 

[jackmormon]

Here is the world's most evil puppy. A Malineskie.