Owning a dog is the intersection between thinking dogs are the best, and actually having the time, energy and headspace to look after one.
If dogs looked after themselves like cats do, I'd be inclined. But then they wouldn't be dogs, I suppose.
Dogs are so loving and in my case have always been obedient, but the first two years they behave like a dinosaur on meth. And then cats are so calm but they just ignore me except for when they want food.
Do you try to play with your cats? If you don't try to need any of their needs other than food, water, and litter, why would they care about you beyond that? I have 3 cats and a rescue kitten I'm fostering, and all 4 of them seek me and my wife out for attention every single day. Play with your cats and respect their boundaries, and they will come to you for their emotional needs as well.
Oh man, the first dog I ever got for myself was a rescue at around 2 years old so we didn't get much of a puppy phase. I was thinking "I remember my parents' dogs chewing things up for years before they settled down, I guess it just seemed that way because I was young."
Then we got a six month old rescue and holy shit, he's a menace. A very cute and sweet one, luckily for him, but also smart, stubborn, and playful, which is dangerous combo. Thankfully he's improved a lot over the past year or so and we've learned how to not give him attention when he's being bad. It's really satisfying to see him learn and grow and start to chill out, but by God I don't know if I'll ever get another puppy. Still love him to bits, though. Great napping buddy.
This exactly! Cats don’t need to go for walks or be let out at regular intervals. You can even leave them home without a sitter for a week or so if you have automatic litter box and feed set up. (I have cameras and a neighbor who is available for emergencies). Cats are so low maintenance, but also I don’t do well with dogs smothering tendencies.
Cats are awesome. I love dogs too but I travel for work and have a very small house so I can't really have a dog. But the range of cat personalities is so wide, I've had four girls in my life so far that are deceased and currently have four boys. Every single one is so different, I love it.
Fair enough!
Dogs are still awesome!
I like my dog's energy because she motivates me to move at least a little bit each day. Of course I'm not gonna get a husky because no amount of motivation would let me keep up with them, but a good energy match in a dog is heaven to me.
I like cats too, but I feel like I just don't "get" them as intuitively.
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Toxoplasmosis
You get it's not automatic right?
What's going on here?
Stereotyping and overgeneralisation!
Hush now, I'm busy psychoanalysing people for their choice in pets.
Oh, right. My mum has a budgie and I keep an ant colony?
Guess I'm not a straight man.... Hey honey....
I thought I was a straight male, but clearly the science has spoken. Hey honey...
Hi
7 made up facts is going on
Facts? On 4chan?
Centipedes in my vagina?
It's more likely than you think
CATS! 😻
I'm queer AF and I prefer dogs.
I think everybody guessed that bro.
Straight white Guy here who prefers cats.
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
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.
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.
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.
I think it depends on your stance towards authoritarianism. Dogs follow commands, cats do not.
Cats follow rules. Your mistake is believing you are in charge.
Cats can absolutely follow commands. Tell your cat "watch out" as you sit near them for a week. Then just say it one day and watch as they get up.
It's just a different learning and motivation system than dogs.
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Instructions unclear (13 cats).
You are all the queers.
Super Gay
we all just like animals, and none of us have the real estate for dogs anymore
If I like both cats and dogs, what does that make me?
u/Harvey656
I am offended and would like to file a complaint.
What if you're a guy that prefers dogs but somehow ended up with a plethora of cats since your last dog died a few years back from cancer?
Am I gay or a closeted straight guy now?
I think you might be traumatized
You've got the big sad and don't want to go through the pain again
That's probably not far from the truth... I still have her favorite toys on a shelf in my living room.
Anon is an odiot.
I think its called toxoplasmosis
We have 2 snakes. But i call my ( cornsnake ) sometimes my puppy. My partner his snake ( hognose ) we lovingly call the kitten.
So from now on i am a male and he is female. Got it. Good to find these kind off rules. Otherwise we would suffer in unknowing and make mistakes against statistics. ;)
I know it stresses them out but god damn do I love seeing hognoses playing dead. They're so dramatic!
I prefer neither and don't like pets at all.. Straight white guy.
I love cats butndigs are cool too.
Going to love me some butndigs.
Who knows. I'm straight and I don't care for a dog's energy at all, which is unfortunate because nearly every dog I meet really loves me. They're just not my thing. They're stiff, they're clacky, they're clumsy, and they stink. They climb up and try with all their strength to get their mouths/noses right up in my face, and I hate it.
I am nice to them, though. Don't get me wrong. They don't know that I don't like them.
The inability to know the difference between "one" and "on".
Lesbians famously have several dogs, what?
The cats are taking over, obviously
I prefer Cats
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.
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.
Found a dog person
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 :)
Yep totally fair. Both animals have their pros and cons, I just don't like people pitting them against each other.
Cats are not a monolith. They have a wide range of personalities and emotions. I have a cat that is very emotionally needy, not very unlike many dogs. He needs attention and pets and lap time.
What happened to white women fuckin' their dogs?
That used to be a thing among that list, so you'd think they end up on the "prefers dogs" part.
