Having a Cat vs. Having a Dog

One of the hardest things about being away from college is being away from my dogs. When I moved off campus, I was secretly plotting to adopt a dog. That plan changed when I happened to fall in love with an apartment which had a strict cat­-only policy. As more of a dog person with a very limited cat experience, I had the choice to have no pets or to adopt a cat. As someone who has to pet every animal I pass while walking down the street, I knew that I needed to have a pet. So I decided to adopt my cat, and I learned very quickly that my over­-affectionate­-borderline­-smothering style of interacting with animals wasn’t going to fly with him. Here are some of the differences that I learned about having a dog vs. having a dog.

1.  Petting

My dogs have an “I’ll take what I can get” policy. With the exception of dinner time, they are always up for any kind of attention. So naturally, I thought this applied to cats too, because what kind of living being would ever get mad at someone for giving them a massage? Apparently, cats. When a cat wants to be pet, they’ll tell you. And you have a very narrow window of time to fulfill that desire before they decide to find something more worth their while. Don’t expect them to welcome you back 30 seconds after they demanded you pet them. You had your chance.

2.  Food

When my dogs want dinner, they will just stare at you. They might stand by their food dish and give me big puppy eyes. When my cat wants dinner, he will literally yell at me. If I don’t drop everything I’m doing to feed him, he’ll follow me. One time I had to get out of the shower because he decided he was hungry and needed to eat right at that exact moment. Then he will show me the way to his food bowl and wait until he is sure that it’s wet food, not dry food.

3.  Toys

Since I didn’t really know what cats liked, I bought a ton of different kinds of toys when I first got my cat. I also decided to invest in a cat tree since cats are apparently part ninja. Does he use the cat tree? No. Does he play with his toys? No. He instead prefers to climb in an old cardboard Target box where he keeps his favorite toys, the caps of my Burt’s Bees, the cap of my deodorant, toilet paper, pencils, a stray piece of double bubble he found underneath my bed, and a skittle… Basically anything that is not a cat toy.

4.  Sleeping

My dogs pretty much sleep anywhere. They run on the same schedule as I do. My cat is nocturnal, meaning he has the most energy around the time I completely lose mine. If he so much as hears me sniffle while I’m in bed trying to sleep, he will jump up on my bed and meow his fish­-turkey breath in my face. In the morning, he knows that the first thing I do when I wake up is stretch my arms. As soon as those arms go up, there he is at the edge of my bed, standing on his hind legs with his two paws next to my head.

5.  Entertainment

When I play with my cat he gives it about one minute of hard, concentrated effort and then just walks away. Then he will just meow until I find something else for him to play with for one minute. It’s a never ending cycle of dissatisfaction. It has gotten so bad that I am actually considering getting a fish tank for him to watch while I do my homework. Yes, I am considering getting a pet for my pet.

This might sound like a negative representation of my cat, but the truth is he is probably my best friend. He loves to follow me around my apartment, even though he will always stay 10 feet behind me just so I don’t get the idea that he actually wants to me near me. As much as his diva attitude drives me crazy, I still can’t wait to come home at the end of the day and hang out with him.

Sources:

http://rs1141.pbsrc.com/albums/n600/saltwatershakers/tumblr_lvqr2bvznf1q… if~c200

https://s3.amazonaws.com/dailybreak_images_prod/f96b6b72­2d7a­41fd­82…