In your experience, which makes a better pet - a dog or cat?

Both are great pets for different reasons. Ideal is to have one ior two of each.

Dogs and cats both make great pets even though they are not the same. They need different things and they behave differently from each other. Both pets have a special place in our hearts and home and they do make such good companions. Cats can sense when people are upset, and tend to snuggle up and give comfort. Dogs will try to cheer you up, rouse you from your seat and encourage activity. Both dogs and cats can entertain. With antics and acrobatics cats can give hours of pleasure, while dogs can do tricks and play games. Both pets are beneficial to your mental, emotional, and physical life. Pets encourage physical activity. Pets give unconditional love. They don't care what you wear or how much money you make. There presence offers comfort when life is stressful. In the end Dogs and cats are both great in their own ways.

It depends on the people, the animals and the circumstances.

The best pet I ever had (so far) was a dog. She was way, way, more than just a pet. The worst pet I ever had was also a dog (not the same dog, obviously). I used to consider myself a paws-down definitely dog person until I adopted a kitten who tore the strings out of my heart and wrapped them around his perfect little claws. His successor has performed the same trick with infinite ease.

If you want a pet that will get you out of doors and moving every day, give lots of hail-fellow-well-met kind of light-hearted fun companionship, won't mind doing as he's told to a certain extent, maybe even provide a certain amount of protection, get a dog. If you want a pet that will demand little by way of daily walks and training, delight you with crazy antics performed with a deadpan face, cuddle up when you need a cuddle, make you want to please her in the hopes that you may be granted the honour of being allowed to hear and feel that tractor-like purring issuing from her chest, get a cat. If you want a pet that makes no demands at all on you, your time, your wallet or your emotions, get a rock.

Cats use humans for their needs and generally treat us with bemused disdain.

Or as Terry Pratchett reminds us, In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.

Another quote from Pratchett -

"What is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?" Death thought about it. CATS, he said eventually. CATS ARE NICE.

Which is a clear pointer that Death has no idea, because Pratchett also says, If cats looked like frogs we'd realize what nasty, cruel little bastards they are. Style. That's what people remember.

"cats are supercilious"

What about that cat that saved that boy from an attack by a dog twice its size last week?

I grew up as a dog guy, love'm.................but currently along with my Dachs we have 3 cats all rescues, the 3rd we just picked up last Oct in front of an NH Hotel that was hanging out because smokers outside feed it junk food & the hotel staff was going to take her down to the local gas chamber, so she ended up in my car.

The new is incredibly smart even though was month-two old she took no crap from the other two who are around 7yrs old, took a while but now everyone gets along & are best buds, they all think the dog is their mother!

So the key to cats is to trick them into thinking they are actually dogs LOL!!

Way to much action in my place but never boring

Dogs are servile

You haven't met my shiba.

cats are supercilious

..or my calico.

both require frequent feeds

...don't we all?

A tamagotchi isn't a pet. Get yourself a rock and save on batteries.

About 9 years ago I was out in front of my apartment and saw the maintenance man carrying a black and tan skinny little German hunt terrier...I felt sorry for it and ask him to give it to me rather than call animal control. I later found out the dog went two weeks without food or water, the owner was arrested and put in rehab, and the dog was forgotten about . Well, She never claimed it back and Mick "Jagger" has been with us ever since ... I love that dog...

The dog wins paws down. It is little wonder that cats were once worshiped by the Egyptians. Cats use humans for their needs and generally treat us with bemused disdain. No bond, no love - just feed me, stroke me and keep the place warm. Although remarkably easy to train. Last cat I had was able to hear the fridge door open from 100 meters or more.

Both make great pets if treated with respect and with care, and by that I don't mean ridiculous clothes, ribbons and baby buggies. My old tom was a snooty, ill-tempered, miserable sod but the best mouser in the business and commanded the respect of our family including the Jack Russells. He looked far too uppity to regard himself as a member of the family but more than earned his keep. Treat a dog like a dog and a cat like a cat.

'Dogs are servile, cats are supercilious'

As for dogs, it depends on the individual dog and breed. My family kept many breeds of dog and English Bulldogs and Jack Russells are certainly not servile in my experience. My parents stopped keeping hyperactive, easily-bored and mischievous Jack Russells now they are in their seventies. The English Bulldog they keep now generally lies on his mat breaking wind and letting them know when he fancies a walk at his pace - a good companion and guard for my elderly parents who've got used to his gas. As for cats, the one we kept was outrageously arrogant but as I mentioned before, a great house cat. Serrano mentioned the cat in the news recently which fought off a much larger dog biting a family member and then went back to try to give the fleeing dog a hiding after charging into it. A fine animal.

Depends on the cat/dog itself.

I have had great cats; but the cat I have now is an a$$hole.

I grew up with cats, so cats I my case. Rescued my share of discards in Japan.

Dogs don't belong in cities

Not everyone lives in cities. Large parts of Japan are (gasp!) rural. Roughly a third of the population live in rural areas, add in small towns and it's probably near the half-way mark.

cats are causing a slaughter of other species.

Indoor cats don't kill anything bar the odd invading cockroach. They should not be allowed to roam free outside both for the reason you mention and because they are at risk from traffic and cat-hating neighbours.

As for the 'throw away' aspect of pet ownership, I couldn't agree with you more. An animal is for life, not until it becomes inconvenient or less cute than a younger model.

Dogs tend to smell and never you leave you alone. Taking care of their dung is a nuisance wherever you live, but often every single poo, you have to be there to clean it up. And we always hear stories of dogs attacking people, especially kids, in a serious way.

Cats might have bad breath, but they don't generally smell. They will leave you alone if you want left alone. If they attack a person, the person generally deserved it. I got scratched pretty bad when I was a kid, but I learned a lesson. The lesson was not, cats are to be hated, as so many foolish humans think it is. The lesson is, treat cats gently, because they are not very big and you can seriously hurt them and they will defend themselves as is their right.

I prefer cats as a pet. But dogs do have their uses.

Neither in Japan! I have 2 kids and they are enough.

A dog. Better than a burglar alarm!

Cat, paws up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43TJoQROpaE

I like dogs.... a lot, in fact if I was able I would get another dog (I already have one)

And cats.. well I don't like them... but I do pet them when they come. And they are cute none the less... is just I don't like them as pets....for me...

@Tessa

Agree, 100 per cent.

Now, if only they could come up with a Tamagotchi wife.... ; )

Dogs. Intelligent and affectionate. Cats on the other hand... Yeah, I've seen first hand what they do to wildlife when their owners let them roam at night...

Like peole . . . .depends on the character of the animal

What about parrots? And goldfish? Plenty of other great pets.

That's like asking: which color is better: green or blue!

I think you give the best answer ... if you must have a pet, chose a rescued one from an animal shelter or municipal "aigo" stray pet killing centre.

I like both dogs and cats and grew up with multiple.

Living in Tokyo I prefer cats at the moment, easier. Said that I also learned to love pet rabbits.

In Tokyo, cats are much better for an apartment. I feel sorry for people with dogs, and sorrier for the animals, especially dogs bred to roam vast distances. Dalmations, Irish Setters, and the Irish Wolf Hound that bosses the oba-san that tries to convince it to get up off the sidewalk and continue. Meanwhile, my cat is doing fine inside and enjoying her sovereign life.

@Patricia Yarrow Spot on. There are people who do little or no research into the breed they've taken a liking to and keep it in an unsuitable environment. I've seen and most definitely heard a frustrated Border Collie in my neighbourhood which looks and sounds psychotic. Anyone with a passing knowledge of dog breeds will know that a Border Collie in a small, enclosed area is both cruel and potentially dangerous. Unfortunately, this stupidity isn't confined to Tokyo or Japan.

Yeah, I've seen first hand what they do to wildlife when their owners let them roam at night...

I've just watched a vid about a woman who attached a camera to her pet cat's collar. What she discovered was truly horrifying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC179QpCS3I&feature=youtu.be

Give me a pet rock any day.

For most of Japan ... neither. Pets are not a good idea. Dogs don't belong in cities and cats are causing a slaughter of other species.

Ridiculously, cats have now become the greatest predators no just of bird species but also of marine species!

It's not a culture we should promote any more ... and as the 300,000 + callously put to death each year on Japan not one the nation is managing very well.

Dogs are immeasurably superior pets. Cats are bastards.

Neither. Dogs are servile, cats are supercilious, and both require frequent feeds. I'd rather have an electronic pet, like a Tamagotchi, that I could delete whenever I got tired of it.