Braining Cats and Dogs
"Are you a cat person or a dog person?”
Whether you are a proud new parent to your kitty or doggo or just trying to gain a deeper understanding of your beloved companion, read on to find out just how truly different or similar there are to each other.
#1 Body Language
Dog owners can definitely relate to a situation where you’re prepping up your dog’s food and their tails are wagging with excitement. This is their way of signaling they are giddy and happy. Dogs are generally very expressive with their tail language. When you spot your dogs’ tail swept between their legs, this means they are terrified. While these can be important pointers, its best that you find out by yourself what each tail wags means through experience as sometimes these pooches can be very nuance.
Cats on the other hand would wag their tail to convey anger or irritation. The action of the tail would be more like a slow and swift, side to side movement rather than a dog’s rapid wagging. Cat owners surely have experienced a situation when you’re bothering your half-asleep cat out of sheer boredom and they start manifesting that unmistakable tail movement. You guys better be careful.. one of these day they might just get truly annoyed and claw you. Yikes!
#2 Social Inclination
It's important to note that dogs are a pack animal. They are accustomed to life in the wild moving in large groups. With their innate or follower mentality, they would find it easier to adapt in a domesticated environment where they have to follow the pack leader (read: dog owners). At times, dogs will tend to be very involved with what you are doing as it is their natural tendencies to get things done in a group. As such, they rely on human beings for directions and affection as they have been trained to perform service to humans such as herding and guarding. So it is easier for you to train your dogs to “Sit” and “Roll-over” as opposed to cats.
On the contrary, cats are solitary hunters and are very independent. They do not rely on humans for anything more than maybe basic needs like food and cleaning their litter boxes. As cats are accustomed to a life without the aid of a pack, they are more self-sufficient and would hunt at their own accord. Cats would sometimes bring dead birds, insects and rodents to you as presents as part of their hunting habits. Naturally, mother cats will present dead animals to their kittens to show them how to hunt, so this might explain their similar inclination to share their “gifts” to owners too.
#3 Diet
Cats are inherently carnivore creatures and they require more essential nutrients in their diet. Cats need high protein meal for their essential amino acids which are Taurine and Arginine (Yes, like the Whiskers ad). Without arginine especially, ammonia build up could happen in your cat’s system and become toxic. So remember to only feed your fluffy kitties meat or fish ONLY. While we’re at the topic of food, did you know cats can’t detect sweetness in food? Their dependency on meat only has resulted in no evolutionary drive to maintain a taste for sweetness. This is actually a plus point because chocolates are toxic to cat. The more you know huh?
It's a different story for dogs as they are omnivore creatures. Just like you! Your dogs are able to sustain or both meat and plants alike. In serious survival situations, dogs can even rely solely on a plant-based diet. However, they much prefer meat as they require the proteins to function more efficiently. While cats can’t detect sweetness, dogs have developed a wider palate for sweet food. This is why dogs might want to have taste of your ice pops or desserts. Just make sure the sweet treats do not contain milk or dairy as it may cause stomach discomfort.
Love can exist in many forms, whether its for your family, friends, significant others or even pets. While we’re on the topic of love, catch Zher and Keanu dishing out their take on love on this episode of Hello I have I have Issues.