Dogs and Cats

Going to discuss some differences between cats and dogs based on my experiences. As a caveat, we’ve had multiple dogs but Tigger is our first cat so my cat experience is limited. Plus, I’m acting like I can read their minds which, of course, can’t be done. Except when they want food because then they are very much alike. So let’s just have a little fun.

Dogs look up to you and you can see it in their eyes. It could be because we control the food and access to the outside. Plus, we have the magic vehicle that transports them to places of wonder (and sometimes to the vet which they never really forgive us for). If you mess with a dog, you might get the side eye like they are telling you that they know what you are doing and are putting up with it for now but don’t push it. Still, they seem to be happy with their place.

The cat doesn’t always seem so happy. Oh, he’ll give you the contented eyes from time to time when he is really happy. But I swear there is more going on behind the scenes. It just seems like he’s always calculating something. Like he figures that someday he’ll solve the riddle of how to get food out of the closet and then we’ll bow down to him as that is the natural order of things.

For the most part, the dogs wanted to make us happy. Didn’t stop them from doing things they shouldn’t do but at least they would show a little shame if you scolded them. They clearly knew they had screwed up and would promise to never do it again – or at least until they forgot what the shaming felt like.

As for the cat, my wife says he lives by the rule “I don’t tell you what to do, you don’t tell me what to do”. So if he wants to be on the table because it is sunny, he gets to be on the table even if it means lying on the puzzle we are trying to put together. He does understand when I tell him to get down. And he usually does but I can just see the wheels spinning in his little cat brain. Like he knows this is not the hill to die on. Besides, we aren’t home all the time so there will be many opportunities to get on the table. Makes me feel like I’m in control even though he knows he is.

With the dogs there only question about things they found on the floor was “Is it food?”. Sometimes, a single sniff would be enough to tell them. If it was food, it was gone before we could do anything about it. If they weren’t sure (like with certain insects), it might require a tasting or two to find out. Toys weren’t actually edible but they could certainly be chewed so they were almost like food. Now some things weren’t really food and they found out the hard way later on leaving us to clean up and never really learning the lesson.

As much as the cat loves his food, stuff he finds falls into two categories: Toys or things that can be sat on. Sometimes a thing fits both categories. Like the rugs in our bathroom. Good for sitting on but the tags on the other side make a great toy so we flip the rugs to get to the toy side. We have a plastic tray where we put our shoes so we don’t track stuff inside. He kicked out one of my shoes so he could sit in the tray. Why? Who knows? Cat logic is not real logic. And if a thing is a toy and not on the floor, well then it is fair game to see if you can drag it down from where it is to play with it.

Because of their claws and the tags on their collars, we could hear the dogs as they moved around so it was easier to keep track of them. If there was silence for a long period of time, it was either because they were asleep or into something they shouldn’t be. But the dogs were bigger and pretty much confined to the ground so it was easier to find them to make sure they weren’t causing trouble.

The cat is silent – except when he’s running to the kitchen for food. So he can just randomly show up at your feet when you aren’t expecting him to. He’s startled me more than once. Plus, he has the run of the house and has no problem being on a different level then we are. And there are endless places to hide so there are times when we don’t know where he is. 

It makes me understand why there are dog people and cat people. I still think I prefer dogs but the cat is certainly growing on me. One thing they both do have in common is that they can be very entertaining. Plus, there is something special about having something in the house that is generally happy to see you. The dogs always got more excited but the cat purrs so they both have ways of telling you that they like you. (Even though I’m still convinced the cat is plotting something)