We've all heard this debate before. Why cats are better than dogs and vice versa.

Some people say the world is divided by two kinds of people: the cat people and the dog people. Which is pretty stereotypical. What about the bunny people? Hamster people? Aquatic-animal people? Exotic animal loving people? Or crazy exotic people who loves tarantulas and all scary shit?

Speaking of which, I know someone who loves keeping geckos, iguanas, scorpions and tarantulas as pets. Creepy and gives me the heebie-jeebies but to each their own. I must conclude that not all people like furry things. Just like how I don't like things with eight legs, or slimy creatures like fish or frogs.

Anyways, I have both a cat and a dog, but because this is MY BLOG, I will tell you why I prefer cats over dogs.



CATS ARE INDEPENDENT
One of the main reasons why cats are more suited for me, they don't need attention all the time. When I got my dog Russell in 2002 as a puppy, he would never ever leave me alone. He was always constantly shadowing me and the only time he's not is when he's shadowing someone else in the house. He can't stand to be left alone, and always needs to be entertained.

Cats are perfect for me because they only need attention 3 out of 10 times in a day. That means feeding time and a bit of petting or cuddling. I feed Bailey, give him a massage and sometimes a tummy rub and lots of petting until he decides he has enough, usually in about 30 minutes. He then goes into his dark corner in our spare room, or my brother's room and will not need anything from you until later on when he has slept enough. I can even leave food out for him (dry food) and he will help himself to it when he feels like it. Russell just gobbles everything and anything up on his plate, so he needs to be fed his portions at the right time. Otherwise he'll just overeat and get sick.





CATS DO NOT SLOBBER
The one thing I detest most is slobber. And because dogs need constant attention, every time after you wash your hands, they'll slobber on you again and you'll have to keep doing it. Worst part is, when Russell used to be let into the house, he'll slobber on the furniture, the floor, my hands.. just everywhere he goes. It's disgusting.

Cats' tongues are dry and prickly, so they technically can't slobber. Their tongues are not very nice to the touch when they lick you, but cats hardly ever lick to show affection anyways. They prefer to headbutt you and rub their furry little heads around you or your legs, which is a lot better than having a slobbery tongue and wet nose stain your clothing and slime on your fingers.






CATS DO NOT REQUIRE MUCH ENERGY TO ENTERTAIN
As a pup, Russell barks for attention, nips your ankles for attention, licks and bites for attention and even jumps on you for attention. It's not that we didn't give him any attention. He was our first and only dog, and we spoilt him with toys and play time. He prefers not to play with his toys, but instead, prefers our hands as chew toys. The one thing all dogs love are sweaty runs around the park and dashing across roads and peeing/pooping everywhere. It's all a lot of work(out) and you'll need to bathe them practically everyday if you bring them out, because roads and parks are not clean. Dogs are a ball of energy, but it's a little bit too much energy to drain from me.

With Bailey, I just need to drag or swish a long piece of string, usually a measuring tape because the sound it makes dragged across the floor excites him for some reason, and he'll be entertained for hours. Cats like things that move, that are slinky and smaller than they are and makes peculiar scraping noises. Which means I can read my book or surf the net with one hand and blindly swish a string in my other hand. My brother made a cheap & ingenious toy with some string and a shuttlecock. You can sling it over a door, or chair and just pull & release the string to make the shuttlecock move up and down. Your cat will go crazy jumping and swatting for HOURS.




THEY LOVE TO CUDDLE
Depending on your dog or cat's personality, preference for cuddling differs. However, cats are very much known for their cuddlebility (if that's even a word). Bailey allows you to pick him up and cuddle with him on the couch, on your lap as you curl up over a big and comfy couch pillow. He's so soft and he smells really nice all the time, so you can just pet him softly and slowly while you watch TV or something. It's very soothing and therapeutic.

Russell however, is a mixed Rottweiler breed and he is not one for cuddling. Too huge for my lap as well. Plus he smells of his dog odor all the time, so it's not very pleasant to cuddle with. This is an exception for those who owns smaller dogs like chihuahuas or terriers. Maybe they'd be more prone to liking cuddles.


CATS ARE CLEAN BY NATURE
Three words: wet dog smell. Ugh, that is the worst thing ever. No matter how much I bathe Russell, that doggie odor never seems to fade away. Even when he's dry, he smells. Despite the great smelling dog shampoos I've used, the smell stays. It's so intolerable, I can't even..

Cats are easy. They lick themselves clean. I would bathe Bailey once a week, but sometimes he can stay clean for two weeks without a bath. The best thing is that after a shower, the apple-scented shampoo I use on him would stick with him for the longest time. He will smell like green apples, and makes cuddling such a joy. :)





CATS DON'T CHEW ON THINGS
We generally know that puppies like to chew on household items during their teething stage. Sometimes it carries on into their adulthood. With Russell, he chews everything that he can set his jowls upon and that didn't stop until he was at least 8 human years old (that's 56 in dog years!). Have you seen that movie Marley & Me? The actual dog Marley, in the book the movie was based on once chewed up and ate a fax machine! And he's always been chewing and chewing on stuff (even plaster walls, wtf) up until his senile age before he retired from chewing.

Cats don't chew on anything but their food, and maybe some small household grass plants. The only things they do destroy are furniture and curtains via scratching, but that can be easily remedied by cutting their nails and buying them a scratching post. Fortunately for me, Bailey is not the scratching type at all. He doesn't scratch carpets, or curtains, or sofas, NOT even his own scratching post. He likes my yoga mat though, but that's about the only thing he would actually dig his claws into.


CATS ARE QUIETER THAN DOGS
I'm not saying cats aren't noisy at times. But they aren't noisy all the time. However, some dogs can be quieter too, just that in general, cats aren't as vocal as dogs. When dogs get vocal, it's so annoying because you can't watch TV in peace, you can't sleep in peace, you can hear them through your earphones even with the volume up to the max, your neighbors hate you and you don't know if it's a break-in robber he's barking at, or a shadow. That's Russell. He barks at everything.

A falling leaf. Bark. A passing motorcyclist. Bark bark bark. Thunder. Bark. Rain. Bark. Another passing motorcyclist. Bark bark bark. Shadows. Bark. You get the gist.

Cats don't meow unless they want something or if they're in heat and they want to attract other cats. In that case, just have your cat spayed or neutered. But rarely do cats have any obsessed meowing disorders. Bailey is pretty quiet most of the time and only meows when it's feeding time, or when he needs to pee. Not to mention, if you're staying in an apartment, a cat is much more welcomed than dogs.


CATS CAN GO POTTY WITHOUT SUPERVISION
Litter box-trained cats don't need to tell you every time they need to output. Whereas most dogs, would need to be let out into a garden, or walked in a park (public places for kids and adults alike that are to be used as a dog's toilet. Ew!) before they can go. Some dogs are trained to use the home toilet bowl, but most dogs are trained to 'go' outside. I don't blame the dogs, it's mostly irresponsible owners who let their dogs pee and poo everywhere and not bothering to clean up after most of the time.

Cat's can walk themselves in your home, or outside if they're allowed to go out. Indoors they have a proper pan to 'go' in. Even if they're out in the wild, they'll still dig a hole somewhere out there, poo and cover it up again. They're clean like that.






Okay, so these are my reasons, but that doesn't mean dogs aren't cool. Most people I know have dogs. Dogs are very popular all over the world. But cats rule an almost equal amount of the world's population.. and the INTERNET. (icanhascheezeburger.com, like hello?) So there.

But just to even out the scale just a little bit (because my boyfriend thinks I'm being very bias), I will also list down some of the downsides of having a cat.


CAT'S PEE & POO STINKS WAY MORE THAN A DOG'S
They really do. I blame it all on the seafood/fish diet cats take. Cats naturally like the fishy, stinky stuff. So it's natural that their poo will stink too. Sometimes, it's so bad that the smell haunts me in my sleep. I can smell it even though I'm not near it. It's affected me very badly. Cleaning the litter box is hell. Scraping clumps of cat pee litter that is stuck to the bottom of the pan is torture. I don't know how those cat ladies with 20 cats can stand the stench of 20 cats' excrements. UGH.


CAT'S FUR CAUSE ALLERGIES IN PEOPLE
Not to say some people aren't allergic to dog's fur as well, but cat's fur is much more fine, which triggers the allergies much more easily in people. Like my sister for example. She needs to wash her hands every time after touching Bailey, otherwise if she touches her face by accident, she'll start having sneezing fits and her skin will turn red and blotchy.


CATS DON'T COME WHEN THEY'RE CALLED
Except during meal times. Otherwise, you can forget about it. Dogs will run to you almost every single time you call them. Cats just don't bother to please you, and sometimes it's a pain in the ass when you're looking for them around the entire house.


BATHING A CAT IS LIKE WRESTLING WITH A SCORPION
Most cats don't like water. Therefore, they do not like baths. And hence, a bloodbath of arm scratches commences while trying to bathe a cat.


I can't think of any other reason why cats are a pain. You just can't help loving them. Oh but dogs too, but cats rule! :p