Indeed all sorts of things are off... I have to assume that ferrets are at least as much fun as cats... And then to claim the cats and dogs (and most other animals) are on the same line of effort vs fun?
Cats are waay less effort than dogs, do you have to walk your cat every day? No.
You feed cats, let them in and out to poop, what else is there to do?
Dogs, dogs are great, but they're needy, they want constant attention, know how to whine, bark, beg, eat lots more. Dogs are waay more effort than cats.
This chart should be titled "Chart with multiple things wrong with it"... Then to claim it's official on top of all this.
Right? Cats are very low effort. They can basically live on their own and have a good habit of staying clean and only pooping in the litterbox. Chances are they'll either be sleeping or lazing around the house. Putting them next to dogs which need WAY more attention is off.
Wait until you pay the credit card bill it all went on! Ongoing maintenance is not too costly, but the initial set up is easily $1000+. And that does not include the fish, live rock, invertebrate, etc. I have no regrets starting a saltwater aquarium (I started it in 2010), but I needed to be at a place in my life/career where that was feasible.
Goldfish require a ton of effort. They need huge tanks, water filtration systems, chemical balancing (nitrate buildup can kill them pretty quickly), and regularly scheduled feeding times. Dogs on the other hand just need to be taken outside every few hours and fed two or three times a day on top of the occasional vet visit.
Imho dogs are easier than cats. Cats vomit all over the place in weird spots so it's a constant cleaning struggle. Dogs, once trained, are pretty straightforward
Depends on the cat. We could probably leave our cat completely alone for two weeks straight if the food pail was left open, not that he'd be happy about it.
I'm gonna go ahead and say the scale is logarithmic, because the jumps from cat to dog to baby/horse to dragon are all depicted about the same and are definitely not
I had a girlfriend who had a snake, It didn't really bother me in and of itself, but I just found the whole food situation to be disgusting. It was either eating live grasshoppers (those things are creepy as hell) or dead mice.
I was quite happy to hold it though, at least once I was assured that it wasn't going to constrict my arm off.
I have a friend who’s gotten into hermit crab rescue with his wife, and if you’re only expending the effort shown on this chart, congratulations you’re an abusive pet owner.
But not really less effort than a cat unless you just keep them in a cage, which you shouldn't do. We had a house rabbit, and I really loved it, but rabbits like to (need to) chew, and bunny-proofing your home is a huge pain. But otherwise they're kind of similar: easy to litter train, very individual personalities, etc.