Dear dog person,

This one goes out to all the dog people out there. There is this ridiculous dispute between us, and I want to clear the air. While cats are superior to dogs, dogs are not lesser animals. The reasons why cats are superior will be addressed, and why you should not dismiss them so quickly.

Don’t be so quick to judge a cat just from one bad experience. There are grumpy cats, lazy cats, active cats, sweet cats, silly cats, and many, many more. The types of cats are endless, and it just so happened that you met a bad one. Not all cats are like that. In the book A Street Cat Named Bob, Bob the cat helps recovering drug addict James Bowen get better by comforting him, making him work harder to feed them both, and take control of his life once again.

Kerrie Clark, main office attendant, says, “I like that cats are calming, and I think what makes them calming is their purring.” She’s not the only one. Cats purring can help, says Scientific American. “Various investigators have shown that sound frequencies in [the 25 to 150 Hertz] range can improve bone density and promote healing.” Any cat owner can testify to this. For example, my cat, Nala, is an angel. Sure, there are moments when she wants to play and acts restless until we give her attention, meows when she’s hungry, and jumps up on the table even though she’s not supposed to, but that is not always the case. She also sits with me when I’m home alone, attacks bugs she finds around the house, and sleeps next to me.

Cats are good companions. They aren’t high maintenance, needy, or dependent. They clean themselves, have a balance between rest and play, and are content with being alone. All these factors and more is what makes them great pets. So the next time you want to diss cats, think again. They may be calm, lazy creatures, but they fight back, and it doesn’t take much to agitate a cat—take it from a loving cat owner.  

From,

Viri Alfonso, a cat person

Dear cat person,

I know, you think your cat is fluffy and cute. That is probably true. But when you
compare a cat to a dog, I hope that you see how dogs are superior pets in every way. When faced
with a choice between having a cat or a dog as a pet, the choice is obvious: you would choose the
dog. They love you, obey you, and are great companions. My life, as well as millions of other
Americans’ lives, have greatly improved by choosing to have a dog as a pet.

It doesn’t matter if you get a dog when it’s six weeks old or six years old: they will learn
to love you no matter what (I have done both). According to an experiment done by Dr. Paul
Zak, a neuroscientist, to find out if dogs or cats love us more: dogs love us much more. The
study found that dogs’ oxytocin levels increase by 40-60% when interacting with their owners, in
contrast to increases of only 12% on average for cats. Saydie Christofferson, a proud dog and cat
owner, said, “Dogs are a friend who you can always have that will never let you down, and they
are always there for you.” Christofferson said that her dogs are always there and always want to
be around her, but her cat is “just somewhere else”.

The emotional connection between dogs and humans is unparalleled by any other animal.
Bingham dog owners: Ashlyn Jeffs, Tyson Palmer, and Saydie Christofferson, along with
virtually every other dog owner, agree that their dogs can always tell what they are feeling. Jeffs
said if she is sad her dogs gets stressed out and does everything that she can to cheer her up. This
awareness of emotions is why dogs are often chosen for emotional support animals. My own
dogs get ecstatic when I am happy, but they always try to comfort me when I am feeling down.

Dogs’ ability to learn from their owners is incredible. Dogs are trained to do everything
from hunt, to surf, to roll over. A quick search on Youtube can show you hundreds of examples of dogs who perfectly obey their masters. Christoffersen said that training her dogs took lots of effort and patience, but it wasn’t too difficult. The best part is that anyone, with enough patience, can train their dogs to obey them the same way.

As you can see, dogs are just better pets than cats, but if you like having a seemingly
indifferent animal stalking around your house, that is your choice. Dogs, on the other hand, are
excellent for their owners, and they truly love them.

From,

J.P. Wilson, a dog person