Writer's Block: Meow vs. Arf - Which do you prefer, cats or dogs?

[shipperx]

Contrary to myth, it's perfectly possible to love both. 

I've loved my kittes over the years.  Each of them was dear to my heart.  Sweet, loving and wonderful.  People who don't like cats, have never had a cat actually love them.  Because they are wonderfully loving pets, they just tend to love who they love... and not give a shit about anyone else.  They are also easier to care for than dogs.

I've also loved each and every one of the dogs I have had and the one I do have.  They are open hearted little joyful creatures who crave affection and return it in  kind.  They're somewhat more demanding  (and perhaps a bit more... childlike?)  than cats, but it's all love.

The only pet I've had (and I've had everything from cats, dogs, horses, gerbils, to rabbits) that I really would never have again is a rabbit.  (Maybe the gerbils, but honestly, the gerbils were easy pets, only real problem being their tendency to devour some of their babies).  The rabbit, however, was neither easy, nor affectionate, nor all that up on the idea of being a pet in the first place.

I always agreed with the rule my sister gave about pets to her children.  She told them that the only pets they were allowed to have were pets that want to be your pet, that caring for other kinds of animals is a different sort of thing and not one she was signing up for.  Dogs and cats want to be with you and to be your pet.  If you don't adopt them, they're just as likely to adopt you. 

There's a reason they've both been domestic pets for thousands of years.  They've evolved to live with us.

Comments

[nmissi.livejournal.com]

I had a wild rabbit as a pet and it was wonderfully affectionate- but it was a bottlefed runt (survivor of a lawnmowing accident that took out its warren and family) so it was v . different than a petshop rabbit. Baby had the run of the house and used a litterbox. Very smart animal, and very responsive to human interaction. Not like a dog, more like a cat- sometimes he didn't want anything to do with you, but if you were paying attention to something else (board game, tv, other people) he was all over you for attention. The only bad thing was the regular vet bills- you have to keep their teeth filed and it gets hella spensive.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I have an adorable little wild rabbit that lives in a burrow under one of my boxwoods on the hill.

But Pampers (the name of my pet rabbit when I was a kid) was HUGE! And unfriendly, and would squeal like a stuck pig if you tried to pick him up (until him, I never knew that rabbits could make sounds.) :)