An Age Old Debate: Cats Or Dogs?

A topic debated for a long time now has been whether cats or dogs make better pets. As a person who never owned a cat or a dog, While I am not emotionally biased on this debate, I have come to form an opinion solely based on research: if I were to pick between a cat or dog to take care as a pet, I would choose a cat.

According to Animal Planet, cats have pristine personal hygiene as they spend one-third of their time self-grooming. They prefer to stay indoors, lay around and keep clean while dogs love being in the outdoors and rolling around in mud. Dogs have a distinct odor that never seems to go away no matter how many baths they are given or how many sprays they receive. Maintaining a cat is also far cheaper than a dog! ASPCA estimates that an individual can save up to 2100RMB to 5600RMB a year as they don’t require as many supplies such as leashes/collars or pet food.

Furthermore, cats have a smaller carbon footprint than dogs. In 2009, The New Scientist reported on a new book “Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living” by Robert and Brenda Vale where they estimated carbon footprints of a multiple popular household pets. They found that a ‘medium sized-dog has a carbon footprint twice of a standard SUV, based on the amount the dog would consume in an average year.’ Cats, however, have a carbon footprint equal to a small Volkswagen, which is still a great amount, but much lower than that of a dog.

Last but not least, cats create less mess than dogs. A study conducted by researchers at Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that cats are more efficient than dogs when it comes to drinking water. They found that dogs smash their tongues into the water’s surface up to eight times of gravity whereas cats dip their tongues and do not create that much of an impact. Thus, owners have less mess to clean up if they owned a cat.

At the end of the day, people who choose to have pets do not base their choices on research, but rather which animal makes them happier.

Source: Animal Planet/ The New Scientist