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For some families, that means that one person
“owns” the cat and someone else “owns” the dog.
But where does this idea come from? What makes someone a cat-person
or a dog-person?
In the interest of full disclosure, my girlfriend and
I have two dogs (Minerva and Brutus) and a cat (Lilith).
They are absolutely part of the same pack, so to
speak. When we met, I did not like cats, and she did not like dogs.
But I cannot imagine the three of them not being together now. All
it took was some learning and patience on our parts.
People typically gravitate towards one pet or the other based on
personal experiences. A person who grew up with a dog will likely
hold the attitude that dogs are better pets. The same is true with
cat owners.
In a similar fashion, people who have had negative experiences with
an animal will likely continue to avoid them. This can be
incidental, such as a pet allergy or a frightening, such as a bad
encounter with a feral animal. Either way, such a negative event can
cause one to favor dogs over cats, or vice versa.
To complicate matters, there are stereotypes surrounding dogs, cats,
and their owners.
For example, dogs are stereotypically thought of as loyal to a fault
and sometimes a little too happy to see their owners when they come
home.
Dogs are frequently diagnosed with separation anxiety, and are
assumed to be destructive if left unchecked for too long. Dogs are
often labeled as noisy, especially when something moves outside and
they can see it through a window.
Dogs are also unhygienic compared to cats, and people often object
to a dog’s smell (especially their breath).
Dogs also have to be let outside or walked often to use the
bathroom, which is seen as inconvenient at best, or a chore at
worst.
Finally, dogs are often depicted as not being terribly bright.
Dog owners have their own stereotypes to deal with, usually based on
breeds. People with smaller or pedigreed dogs are thought of as
being full of themselves, with their dog functioning as a status
symbol. People with “aggressive” dog breeds are thought of as
criminals (as are their companions). Dog ownership is also
associated more with men than women.
But dogs are not necessarily defined by those stereotypes. Dogs are
loyal and want to be near people because of their relation to wolves
as pack animals. A pack functions as a family unit, and in their
eyes, everyone in the pack has to be close. Dogs are much louder
with their emotions, which can make them seem less intelligent.
But dogs can absolutely pick up on patterns like any human or cat,
and they get excited when they realize it. It’s why dogs worry so
much when people are gone; they really do not know when people will
come back, which means the pack could fall apart. As a result, they
become scared, which is why they might destroy something if left
unchecked.
It is true, then, that all dogs have a degree of separation anxiety.
But can we really blame them for that? Does that mean they are a bad
animal?
On the topic of a dog’s hygiene and need to go outside, that can be
annoying, especially when you don’t have a yard. But that doesn’t
mean a cat is a better pet because it uses a litterbox.
When you think about it, you have to clean up after both animals
eventually. The only real difference is a cat’s litter box is
cleaned a little less often, but that doesn’t make it any less of a
chore, or any less smelly.
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Cats are not without their own stereotypes. Cats are
often thought of as being destructive even when someone else is in
the room. They are thought of as lazy creatures that sleep more
often than not. They are not thought of as loyal when they don’t
respond to calls, and they do not seem as eager to be near you
(until they decide to walk on your keyboard).
Cats are thought of as being smarter than dogs, as if
they were secretly waiting to attack when the time is right.
Frankly, cats are often depicted as unemotional creatures that don’t
care at all whether someone is in the house or not.
Cat owners are depicted in similar ways. Cat owners are thought of
as shut-ins, especially when more than one cat is involved. Cat
people are also viewed as strangely neurotic, as if the presence of
a cat means a person is weird. Cat owners are viewed as being
somehow less caring of others (and yet secretly lonely at the same
time). Cats are also more typically associated with women than men.
Much like dogs, cats have a certain logic to their actions. Cats are
only destructive because of boredom. A cat that “wants to destroy”
is usually bored by their environment. Knocking over things is their
way of trying to get attention. It’s frustrating, but it’s not evil.
Touching things is how cats explore their environment. A dog learns
through smell; it’s why they love to sit on the furniture, because
it smells like the pack. A cat learns through two things - touch and
body language.
A cat does not respond to calls as often (although they can) because
people are just loud cats in their eyes. Think of it like this - we
don’t like if someone walks up to us and starts immediately shouting
in our face. To a cat, that’s what humans are doing when we call for
them. We’re shouting when we really don’t need to. When we do that,
we come across as one predator to another, and that means a
challenge.
Cats are not like dogs when it comes to packs. Cats are solitary
creatures by nature. They can live with people, other cats, and even
dogs just fine, but they prefer to be alone from time to time. This
does not mean a cat is not attached to people around it. A cat will
absolutely snuggle on the couch, and it will run to you when you
come home. It just takes a bit more time than it does for dogs.
Basically, cats need time to trust.
Remember, other animals are competition for resources to a cat, and
that includes humans. This is different from dogs, who are descended
from animals that typically share with other members of their
family.
Some of these stereotypes have a grain of truth to them. However,
they are massively overblown. If dog and cat people are patient, and
actually take the time to learn about the other and understand why
these animals are the way they are, everything starts to click in
place.
Ultimately, the two are not the same species, and it helps to not
try to treat them as such. We just have to set aside these
preconceived notions and actually work to understand our pets.
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