Cats vs. Dogs? Which is easier for you to have as a pet?

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#61
I think it really depends on the individual animal - but it general, I would say cats are (slightly) easier.

You don't have to worry about leaving a cat home alone too long - they have litterboxes! There were days that Sassy would be home alone for over 12 hours, and she was perfectly fine, and I didn't really feel guilty. I can't leave the dogs for more than 8-9 hours, and I feel guilty if it's over 6 hours.

Cats are easier to exercise - a couple quick sessions of playing with the laser light or the feather pole and she's good. The dogs need a lot more exercise, much of it outside, in the heat or the cold or the rain or whatever.

Cats are cheaper - cat toys cost less than dog toys, cat treats cost less that dog treats, cat food costs less than dog food (since she eats significantly less than the two dogs), etc.

My cat is easier, behavior-wise - but again, this is going to depend on the individual dog and the individual cat. Sassy has really no behavioral problems - she doesn't scratch inappropriately, she uses her litterbox, she's fine with strangers handling her, etc.

HOWEVER...

My cat is a picky, picky eater. She'll eat a select few kinds of canned food, and a few kinds of dry food - and she highly prefers the dry food. She won't eat supplements/medications disguised in the food. And this frustrates me to no end. Missy will eat anything that's given to her, and Jack, at the very least, likes things that are good for him (raw, canned, meat, cheese, fruit, veggies) even if he won't eat dry kibble or hard biscuits. And he'll eat any supplements/medications if you mix them in canned food. The cat looks at you like you're trying to poison her if you try to feed her most things. This is the only way that my cat is harder to deal with than the dogs.
 

PWCorgi

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#64
I don't find cleaning the litterbox to be gross at all, tbh. I clean it at least once a day, use good quality litter and a Litter-Lifter (best sifter EVAR) and yeah...easy peazy.

My old housemate would let it go for way too long, with one litterbox for three cats. When I would clean that I would gag, it was gross. It reeked of ammonia and nasty, yick. It's REALLY not that difficult to complete once a day...REALLY. It takes like 30 seconds, and that includes walking it to the garbage chute.

Plus, I like knowing if Whiskey went #1 and #2 and how many times, because if something changes with that, I can immediately get attention for him if something is wrong.
 
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#65
I kinda feel that pooping in a toilet where it is automatically disposed of a little different than having a box of sand with poop in it sitting around in a room.
Babies poop in the house and they don't flush.



(I just think the I DON'T LIKE ANIMALS WHO POOP IN THE HOUSE is a hilarious argument coming from animals who... poop in the house. Like it's a filthy disgusting habit that we don't do every single day.)
 

yoko

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#66
Babies poop in the house and they don't flush.



(I just think the I DON'T LIKE ANIMALS WHO POOP IN THE HOUSE is a hilarious argument coming from animals who... poop in the house. Like it's a filthy disgusting habit that we don't do every single day.)
I'm not really a fan of babies so not having them in my house wouldn't really bug me either.

It's not just that they poop in the house it's that they poop in a box of sand and you have to shovel it out daily. And I don't really notice a difference between my friends who use good litter and ones who don't. To me both rooms/areas smell like waste rooms and to me that's gross. I get if you like cats but don't see an issue with people not liking the idea of having a pet who poops in a box that you shovel out daily.
 

Romy

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#67
Babies poop in the house and they don't flush.



(I just think the I DON'T LIKE ANIMALS WHO POOP IN THE HOUSE is a hilarious argument coming from animals who... poop in the house. Like it's a filthy disgusting habit that we don't do every single day.)
This is why my dogs give each other scandalized looks when someone goes into the bathroom, vs. trying to follow them in.

I don't mind some animal poo. Chinchilla poo is hard, tiny, and virtually odorless (like tic tacs?) and they wee in one corner so it's not like they're running through it or anything. Plus their used bedding makes fantastic compost for the garden.

Cat waste? Revolting. The smell of cat urine? Revolting. Poo? To me it smells powerfully of rancid canned dog food mixed with dead fish mixed with fermented refried beans mixed with the crap they spray on the fields at the silage farm. *barf*
 

Fran101

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#68
I kinda feel that pooping in a toilet where it is automatically disposed of a little different than having a box of sand with poop in it sitting around in a room.
this.

Even if cleaned once a day..while the feces/cat pee is in there..in a box, and it's going to have a smell. lol there is no arguing this fact. I'm not saying its unsanitary or that its disgusting or over powering. I'm saying there is a smell.. now, how bad the smell is depends on how often it's cleaned, litter etc..

Picking up dog poop is OUTSIDE. You pick it up, you throw it out in an outdoor trashcan... I'm not coming home to the smell of dog poo in my home and then cleaning it up lol both tasks may be equally gross but at least one of them doesn't involve that smell in my house.
That said, I'm really sensitive to smells in my living environment.
I'd rather pick up 100 gross dog poos outside then have my living space smell even slightly like anything animaly.

Babies poop in diapers, which are kept on them, and then changed every time they are used..and put in a diaper genie or otherwise disposed out outside. Ever noticed that a baby room usually smells like powder and baby goodness? That's because babies are CONSTANTLY TENDED TO. They don't poop all over their cribs and then have it all cleaned out once a day.
Different issue.
They also do eventually get toilet trained.
Now if people waited around for their cats to go in their enclosed litter boxes and then immediately changed the whole box and cleaned the cat and cleaned the box EVERY SINGLE TIME THE CAT WENT... maybe it would be relative but umm lol cats =/= babies.
Plus.. the smell of cat pee and poo is pretty putrid. I have been around some gross babies but nothing compares. Cat pee is a FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH.

I just think comparing litter box use to toilet use is hilarious. Poop in a bathroom, flush..wait 30 minutes and then take a whiff of the room ....and then poop in a box filled with litter, wait 30 minutes and see how that smells. Then compare flushing to scooping it out of said litter. That's the difference. Simple enough.

I don't consider using the toilet to really be "going inside the house" because while you do technically go inside, the actual waste is flushed away. Totally different issue. We don't have port-o-potties in the house.. if we did, then you could go ahead and be angry about double standards lol
and even then. There are a lot of things I will take from people and not from my PETS. I don't really like pet animals that are very loud in the morning (like loud parrots)..doesn't mean that it's not fair for ME to be loud in the morning. I'm a person lol
 

PWCorgi

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#70
I smell the litter, but I honestly do not smell his feces. I smell his urine because he has not been neutered yet, but it's not overpowering and I doubt I will smell it once he loses the boys.

So does it have an odor? Yes, it smells like clay, lol. But it doesn't smell like poop. The rats are a hundred times worse than the cat.
 
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#72
Depends was it in a toilet or a box of sand? :p
I'LL NEVER TELL.

But I'm with PW. I honestly never notice the litter boxes stinking, and I have 4 cats. My nose is much more offended by a stinky used bathroom (of the "you DO NOT want to go in there!" variety) than the litterboxes. Apparently my cats poop roses. :p
 
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#73
I smell the litter, but I honestly do not smell his feces. I smell his urine because he has not been neutered yet, but it's not overpowering and I doubt I will smell it once he loses the boys.

So does it have an odor? Yes, it smells like clay, lol. But it doesn't smell like poop. The rats are a hundred times worse than the cat.
This.

I am constantly talking to customers at work about why their litterbox smells so bad, and I've narrowed it down to a couple factors.

1. The litterbox. You should have multiple litterboxes if you have multiple cats (one cat per litterbox at the very least). The litterbox should be cleaned/scooped every single day. Do a complete litter change once a month or so, and bleach/clean the box.

2. The litter. Use a good, quality, scoopable litter (I really like Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat). Some control odor much better than others!

3. The cat. Unneutered cat pee reeks. So neuter your cat. Feeding a high quality, moisture-rich diet will help immensely. The urine will be more diluted, so it will smell less. The poop will be smaller, less frequent, and less smelly. We all talk about how our dogs poop is so much smaller on raw than on kibble - its the same for cats!

I understand that for some people, the thought of a litterbox grosses them out, and that's fine. There are many (some unreasonable) things that gross me out too. But, if you do things right, the litterbox doesn't have to be this gross, smelly, stinky thing.

*stepping off soapbox now*
 

PWCorgi

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#74
Another is that a lot of times people don't put enough litter in the boxes. I empty 18 pounds of litter into the box. There is probably 3-4 inches of litter at least. That way he has more than enough to cover it up and he never gets to the bottom of the pan so it can't stick to the pan and I can get it in one swoop. If the pee...clod :rofl1: breaks up when you are scooping it SUCKS! Little clods everywhere! Yucky.


I got a free 5# bag of corn litter from work...yeah. It wasn't nearly enough and for about a week the litter reeked all the time, male unneutered car urine, ugh! Megan can attest as she was over during this time. Got paid, bought 18 pounds of Dr. Elsey's and no more smell, yay!
 

PWCorgi

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#75
1. The litterbox. You should have multiple litterboxes if you have multiple cats (one cat per litterbox at the very least). The litterbox should be cleaned/scooped every single day. Do a complete litter change once a month or so, and bleach/clean the box.
I had a customer come in, bring a bag of litter up to the counter and proclaim "This is the best litter ever, I can go a whole extra week without scooping!" :eek::madgo: GROSSS!

This has got to be one of my biggest pet peeves. The cat has to pee/poo in the litter box every day, when you haven't cleaned it in a week+ I can only imagine how nasty it smells to the cat, and how horrid it is to run into your own feces/urine when you are working to cover up your fresh deposit.

Poor cats! It's like being forced to use a porta potty every time you need to go to the bathroom!
 

Romy

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#76
So does it have an odor? Yes, it smells like clay, lol. But it doesn't smell like poop. The rats are a hundred times worse than the cat.
If you add a little vanilla extract to their water bottle it really helps with their urine smell. It did when I had mice anyway. Supposedly it works on rats too.

My nose is just pretty sensitive to odors. I can tell when a cat somewhere in the house is going to the bathroom because, euargh. My aunt has a litterbox in her upstairs and even when it's totally scooped out and clean I can't stand it (I house sit for her). And the door has to stay open so the cats can access it.

If I ever get a cat again, it'll be an indoor cat. But I'm going to try REALLLY REALLY HARD to toilet train it. Then I can just flush the grossness and it will be amazing. I wish my dogs could use the toilet too. That would make things a lot more convenient. lol

Don't click this link unless you want to witness the amazingness of a cat pooping in a toilet... and flushing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvyjZIDuzEM
 

PWCorgi

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#77
I've never heard that Romy but I might try it!

Whiskey flushed the toilet when I was in the shower the other day, he didn't poop in it beforehand though :p
 

kady05

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#78
I had a customer come in, bring a bag of litter up to the counter and proclaim "This is the best litter ever, I can go a whole extra week without scooping!" :eek::madgo: GROSSS!

This has got to be one of my biggest pet peeves. The cat has to pee/poo in the litter box every day, when you haven't cleaned it in a week+ I can only imagine how nasty it smells to the cat, and how horrid it is to run into your own feces/urine when you are working to cover up your fresh deposit.

Poor cats! It's like being forced to use a porta potty every time you need to go to the bathroom!
Oh I have totally been there.. I've talked to people before who have said they clean their cats litter box once a week.. OMG. And yeah, they wonder why when people walk into their house they say it stinks.

I have had people walk into my house and question if I even had animals.. that's one thing I am proud of, I must say. Not that I want to hide my pets from people.. but I don't want to be someone who is known as "that girl with a bunch of pets whose house stinks".

And really, it's not that hard to be clean and tidy.

Like I said, I scoop twice daily, when I'm upstairs feeding them (so I'm already up there, might as well scoop). It literally takes a minute to do. I just can't fathom people who only do it once a week, or even every other day. I do have two cats and one litterbox, but it's never been an issue here. I switched to the Worlds Best litter a couple months ago and LOVE it!
 

Doberluv

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#79
If I tried to crate my cats... Omg... LOL. I spanked one of my cats once.:( It did nothing. Cats are such buttholes, lol.
So you don't like animals. You made that perfectly clear in the other thread.:rolleyes:

Or is it possible you just like stirring things up?

 

JessLough

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#80
Don't get me started on people who let their cats roam in town :mad: Your pet should stay with YOU or on your property. Dog, cat, hamster, goldfish, I don't care what it is.

Not safe for kitty, destructive to other people's hard earned personal property, destructive to the neighborhood, and probably a bunch of other things I'm not even thinking of right now!
Those darn feral/stray goldfish are such a nuisance. :p
 

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