Cats vs Dogs - nail your colors to the mast.

[lorin]

Would it be stretching it too far to say that this might be where the division lies - ie the more rational minded people (materialist minded perhaps) lean toward dogs where cats are favoured by the idealistic ?

What about the rational idealists? (typical gemini statement)

[aliantha]

Cats. Much less trouble.

I don't have amnesia. I remember when you complained about the kitty.

Oh, pfft. I complain about 'em, yeah. But a cat won't drag you out of bed in your jammies to go out in the cold and wet; a cat doesn't have to be crated when you leave for the day; if you need to go away for the weekend, you can leave a gravity feeder and waterer, instead of paying for the kennel and/or bribing a neighbor to stop by; and on and on. Much less trouble.

[Vader]

From my experience dogs are for families with kids and cats for single persons.

[lorin]

Cats. Much less trouble.

I don't have amnesia. I remember when you complained about the kitty.

Oh, pfft. I complain about 'em, yeah. But a cat won't drag you out of bed in your jammies to go out in the cold and wet; a cat doesn't have to be crated when you leave for the day; if you need to go away for the weekend, you can leave a gravity feeder and waterer, instead of paying for the kennel and/or bribing a neighbor to stop by; and on and on. Much less trouble.

Dogs don't leave their 'special' scent all over the house, dogs don't claw a whole into your box spring, crawl inside and scream in heat all night long, you don't have to share your bathroom with the gift filled litterbox, your dog won't turn your couch into an expensive scrapcloth, and when johnnystickyfingers breaks into your home, kittie wont bite him(or her) in the ankle.

From my experience dogs are for families with kids and cats for single persons.

Am single......have dog. Maybe those desiring singularity have cats.

[Obi-Wan Nihilo]

There's this 'mystical' thing with cats that you don't get with dogs. The egyptians believed they were the souls of the dead returned to earth, they are the typical 'witches familiar' etc. They say all cats have 3 names, their given name, their cat to cat name and their personal secret name. I read of a cat in an old peoples home who would without fail comfort the dying and when I was in Hagia Sophia in Istanbul the 'Omphalos' was cordened off so that we could not reach it - but the Hagia Sophia cat used to sit on it casting a superior eye on all the visitors around him.

Would it be stretching it too far to say that this might be where the division lies - ie the more rational minded people (materialist minded perhaps) lean toward dogs where cats are favoured by the idealistic ?

(What - all the time Don or just on the one specific occasion [your names not Meow by chance is it ])

No, it's John. He was making some sort of yowling noise at me (he had been following me around for days appearing to demand attention), I was watching TV or reading a book or something not paying much attention, and then clear as day a cat version of "John" came out of him. It was a bit of a shock, and I looked over at him in surprise. He was staring right at me and looking like he was trying to tell me something. The part that sucks is that he died not long afterwards, a coyote got him we think. Interestingly enough, my dad had a similar experience with a dog of his, although the dog didn't say his name or anything, but it let him know that something was amiss in a definite way and she was gone due to cancer within two weeks of that happening.

[Holsety]

A cat I had once said my name.

Reminds me of
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXo3NFqkaRM

There are some other videos of that dog talking...I like how it takes about 10 seconds before the dog completely surrenders its dignity and starts talking.

I read of a cat in an old peoples home who would without fail comfort the dying and when I was in Hagia Sophia in Istanbul the 'Omphalos' was cordened off so that we could not reach it - but the Hagia Sophia cat used to sit on it casting a superior eye on all the visitors around him.

I don't know a lot about the religious aspect, or how it might have influenced people - or cats, for that matter. But I have seen that dogs and cats can both sense differences, and often bad differences. I've heard a story, I think about a hospital ward with very ill people, about a dog that could sense when people were doing poorly...and would often or always be in their room when they died...something like that. And I remember someone who owned two or three cats, telling me that when one of them died, the other two were by the body when they found it, and were crying terribly.

[peter]

No doubt cats and dogs can sense things way above our level. The subtle changes of the body in preparation for dying are clearly sensible to them - there are many accounts of cats behaving in odd ways around people prior to their death.

By the way peeps, perhaps I should clear one thing. I am not a dog hater - I just think dogs lend themselves to a working environment far better than a domestic one. Someone above said they had the good fortune to work with sled dogs. This reminds me - a dog in the Iditarod will run 100 miles a day for 17 days pulling, as part of a team, a 400 pound sled. A welsh collie working on the boarders is estimated to run 70 miles a day every day of it's working life. This is the capacity of dogs for work. I have seen so many of these beautiful creatures living in two bedroom bungalows for twenty three and a half hours a day and given a half mile walk around the block once a day before bedtime. Fat and neurotic through lack of stimulus, people wonder why they attack the postman when he delivers the mail.

[deer of the dawn]

I think I'm the only person I've ever known who likes both equally (and finds both equally annoying). I grew up with lots of cats and begged for years to get a dog, when we finally did he became a huge part of the family.

My husband and I had a great cat right after we married, and soon added several huskies for dogsledding. Then we went through school and renting and years of no furry pets; fish and birds only. Now we have two dogs and one cat, who is obsessed with me and a fine ratter.

[hue of fuzzpaws]

Cat

[aliantha]

I didn't grow up with animals. We had a dog when I was a toddler -- an Irish setter named Prince -- but my parents gave him away because the neighbors complained about his barking. Or that's the story I got from them, anyhow. Not having a dog did make it more convenient for us to take trips. And my mother was *not* a cat person.

I never had another pet until we adopted a cat from the shelter when the girls were little. Since then, I've always had at least one cat -- except for those brief, shining months last year, between when Magickmaker moved out and Batty broke up with her girlfriend.

And I have to tell you that as much as I enjoy having Mr. Wommy back, I'm looking forward to April, when everybody moves out.

[Vader]

No doubt cats and dogs can sense things way above our level. The subtle changes of the body in preparation for dying are clearly sensible to them - there are many accounts of cats behaving in odd ways around people prior to their death.

It my sound harsh, but both species are predators - and to some extent scavengers - so they know pretty well when flesh turns to meat.

[Shaun das Schaf]

Cats.

I'm single, but a dyke as well, so I'm not sure which stereotype my cat (x2) ownership fulfills!

Seriously though, 'tis far too binary a topic, huge differences of personality, behaviour, temperament etc within each category to make pet blanket statements. But the poll's terrifically close and exciting, so let's keep going!

[Cameraman Jenn]

I'm not voting until you guys add in a both option.

[Iolanthe]

Cats.

I'm single, but a dyke as well, so I'm not sure which stereotype my cat (x2) ownership fulfills!

Seriously though, 'tis far too binary a topic, huge differences of personality, behaviour, temperament etc within each category to make pet blanket statements. But the poll's terrifically close and exciting, so let's keep going!

So my vocabulary is once again expanded! Around here a dyke is a ditch built for drainage. I hadn't heard of the other usage!

[peter]

Sorry Jenn - what we got here is a 'nail your colors to the mast' thread not a 'sit me down on the fence' thread (plus I can't work out how to add another option) so in the immortal words of Hughie Green (only UK residents over 50 will know him. Thats me and er.....well, I'm far to polite to mention a ladys name {cough..Iolanthe..cough}) "It's make your mind up time!"

(Actually it's a good point as lots of the comments above demonstrate. I wish I'd done it now)

[Iolanthe]

Ha ha! Oh yes. But do you remember Double your Money and Monica Rose?

[Shaun das Schaf]

Cats.

I'm single, but a dyke as well, so I'm not sure which stereotype my cat (x2) ownership fulfills!

Seriously though, 'tis far too binary a topic, huge differences of personality, behaviour, temperament etc within each category to make pet blanket statements. But the poll's terrifically close and exciting, so let's keep going!

So my vocabulary is once again expanded! Around here a dyke is a ditch built for drainage. I hadn't heard of the other usage!

Oh no, I meant the drainage ditch. Around here, many a cat lover gathers water for their feline friends from their neighbourhood dyke. But seriously, my vocabulary, like yours, grows with every visit to the Watch. As does, like yours, my reading list! 'Tis one of the many things I love about this virtual land.

And the poll is back to a dead heat. This is almost as exciting as the WotY vote.
Come on cat people, get your butts into the polling booth!

[Sorus]

I think all the cats must be napping.

[Vader]

[Shaun das Schaf]