It’s a debate that’s been going on for centuries. OK, so maybe it hasn’t been quite that long, but dog owners and cat owners are always battling it out to see who has the best pet.
I try hard not to take sides on this argument as I’ve had both dogs and cats, and I have friends who adore their dogs and others who adore their cats. But if I had to choose, if my life depended on saying which pet is better, then I’d have to go with cats.
I know a lot of dog lovers out there are crying foul, but here are 12 reasons why cats are infinitely better than dogs.
1. Environment
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Think of all the plastic bags dog owners have to use when cleaning up after their pooches. Plus, dogs have a huge carbon footprint according to The Seattle Times. No bags required for your cat, and its carbon footprint is much smaller.
2. Purr
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Think your cat’s purr is just sweet to listen to on a quiet afternoon when it’s curled up on your lap? Think again. According to an article in Scientific American, a cat’s purr might actually have healing qualities.
3. Sleep
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Anyone who’s ever owned a cat has observed that those little buggers seem to sleep a lot. In fact, cats do sleep more than dogs, which makes them a much calmer influence in a house, at least in my opinion. There’s nothing that sets me on edge quite like a loud barking dog.
4. Hunt
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There’s no doubt about it, cats are much better hunters than dogs are. Left to their own devices (and plenty of rodents to hunt), most cats could feed themselves if they had to. Dogs have been known to hunt, but they have to do it in groups, while cats can hunt all on their own.
5. Small
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Some might argue this point as there are a lot of small dogs out there, but when comparing cats to medium-size or large dogs, there’s no contest. Cats are tiny in comparison to, say, a German shepherd and, therefore, require a much smaller living space.
6. Self-sufficient
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I used to live next door to a dog owner whose pup would bark whenever he went off to work. The poor little guy just hated to be left alone, and I always felt a little sorry for him, even when his barking was driving me nuts. Cats, on the other hand, are usually content being alone and don’t suffer from separation anxiety like many dogs do.
7. Healthy
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This may sound far-fetched, considering how many people suffer from allergies to cats, but did you know that owning a cat may prevent asthma? A study done by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health showed that being in a home with a cat may help protect children from developing asthma.
8. Climb
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Though it may sometimes drive us nuts, cats are proven climbers and much better at scaling trees (or curtains or walls or whatever) than dogs. I had a kitten once that could climb all the way up to my shoulder from the ground. It was cute when he tried it while I was wearing jeans, but if I had shorts on, the attempt wasn’t nearly as adorable.
9. Potty
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Need I really say more? Cats come out of the womb already potty trained and only need a box of litter to do their business. Dogs require hours of training and countless accidents before they figure out that your closet is not the right place to relieve themselves. No contest.
10. Bathing
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Again, there’s really no contest here. Cats come equipped with their own cleaning system and will spend hours making sure their bodies are clean. Dogs, however, seem to take great pleasure in rolling in anything and everything that smells disgusting and then showing up on your doorstep and expecting you to clean it up.
11. Memory
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Banfield Pet Hospital posted some facts about cats, and one of them was a bit of a surprise to me. I always thought that cats and dogs were fairly even when it came to memory, but it turns out that cats have much longer memories than dogs. While dogs typically only remember something for five minutes, a cat can retain memories for up to 16 hours.
12. Longevity
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It’s not by much, but cats do have a slightly longer lifespan than dogs. Cats generally live around 13 to 14 years, while dogs usually only live to about 11 years on average.
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