Cats and dogs are unique and have several differences that make them better for some pet owners in each case. Before deciding on which pet to adopt, people should carefully consider the differences so that they and their new family member will be happy with their choice.
In the wild, cats are somewhat solitary, with loosely connected family units and social groups based on territory. They usually hunt alone and don’t commonly share food with one another. Cats will allow others into a group only if the territory will support that many animals.
Dogs, on the other hand, are pack animals. They live and hunt in close knit groups, and they have a pecking within the group to establish dominance. This is important as it establishes how much food and opportunity to mate that the pack members receive.
Since cats are more solitary, they won’t put up with being treated badly. If it’s an outside cat, they may just run away and let a stranger “adopt” them. If it’s an inside cat, they will avoid or ignore the person in the household who has treated them unkindly.
Conversely, dogs are strongly connected to a group. They realize there will always be a battle within the group for control, so they accept mistreatment as part of their social makeup. Dogs will try to identify a leader, or if there is none, try to become the leader. There might be problems if the owner does not establish themselves as the leader, as the dog will try to be the boss.
Cat’s have different physical skills than dogs; they must first see and hear their prey, then stalk it, catch it, and kill it. They have excellent eyesight and hearing, are very agile, and can creep very low to the ground when trying to sneak up on something. They are built sleekly to spring forward, or launch themselves upward since their best chance of catching a small animal is to get it quickly before it gets away. They can snatch birds out of midair, and perform other athletic maneuvers in an effort to catch their food. If a cat was a car, it might be a Ferrari.
In contrast, dogs are most suited to smelling their prey. They can track animals for long distances. Once they find a victim, dogs will surround the animal and take turns chasing it. In this way the dogs don’t tire out first, the prey does. When the animal is exhausted enough, the dogs attack as a group, and can easily kill the tired animal since they are many pairs of powerful jaws and even a larger animal can’t hold off a group of dogs. Dogs don’t need to be very athletic, since they hunt in groups. If a dog were a car, it would probably be a truck.
Cats have been bred by humans for particular traits, such as large ears, color of coat, short tails, and other physical characteristics. Some breeds are known to be more playful or friendly than others.
While dogs have also been bred for desired traits, these have usually been for their owner’s direct benefit, such as for hunting, racing, tracking, rescue, sled pulling, guard, and sadly, even fighting for sport.
In review; both cats and dogs have been domesticated by people for several hundred years. Both can make good pets, but there a significant differences between the two; cats are more solitary by nature which makes them more self-sufficient. They don’t need much attention which makes them an ideal pet for busy people. They can even hunt and take care of themselves if needed. Dogs are more social; most need a lot of human contact, to be walked every day, and will not do well on their own. Wild dogs, unless they have a pack, will usually eat garbage or starve. However, dogs can be trained to be very useful to people for a wide variety of tasks. The choice of which pet will depend on the owners needs and what they are looking for in a furry friend.