Its the Doggie Kisses Poll

[king ubu]

Cats are much dumber, but they're more fun, too ... and they're blatantly brutal, too. And totally not capable of any kind of loyalty. But one big advantage is they're easy-maintenance and self-cleaning (well, mostly).

Liability insurance generally does not pay for what your cat breaks as they consider cats non-domesticable ... and right they are, in most cases (including ours).

[jazzbo]

That's odd because I personally think cats are very intelligent, and I have had loyal and domestic cats that are the best companions I can imagine. I haven't had oe for five years as I had two die on me of old old age, the last six months after my wife passed, and I just can't bear the loss any longer. But maybe one day. . . . I wouldn't have a dog but I know that if I ever marry my gal. . . I will because she loves them.

[king ubu]

Oh well, I'm just making fun a bit ... but I think intelligence of cats is really overrated by all those pro-cat folks who hate dogs.

But I do think our cat has some kind of relation to me ... much more so than to mère ubu for sure, as it was me who took care of her when she was small, picked her off the trees when she couldn't get down on her own etc. But it's also a very independent cat, on some days all we see of her is when she comes for food in the morning, and then she might return at midnight, demand food and be off again until next morning ... lucky she still is around, as there are plenty of roads and reckless drivers around. One of those caught our last cat, which we only took over, but which I loved dearly, too. I even started a thread here when we finally found out, a week after her disappearance, that she was indeed hit by a car ... actually drivers who hit animals are bound to report that, but obviously no one bothers about some cat. That was very, very sad - and as cynical as it might sound, the best cure was getting a new cat (some of you here stated just that in said thread), which is the current one (gee, how's that for sounding cynical?!), which again actually is "my" first real cat, raised and been here since she was a puppy, stolen from her mummy who nearly bit me to death when I took her ... I never saw such rage in an animal before that! All my leg and one arm were totally scratched and bitten! But then she had long started to push off the kittens and lost any interest, only when people came to pick them up, she turned into a fury. Normal, I guess, but I never witnessed that before.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I think cats are generally more intelligent than dogs because cats have a sense of humour. Dogs just ARE funny.

All the pug owners we know say their pugs, like ours, go bonkers from time to time (like three or four times a day), and rush about the place at a great rate of knots. In our old flat, Toby had to pass by the telephone table in the hall in order to get a satisfactory insane run going. And the cat would leap onto the table and, every time he passed beneath her, reach down and give him a bop on the head - not using her claws, just taking the piss.

Sarcasm is the highest form of intelligence.

MG

[king ubu]

[Tim McG]

All I know is while Dogs are fun to chase, play games with or play fetch with a ball or stick, Cats are in general [or at least all the cats I have ever owned are], kind, gentle and loving creatures. I never had a cat who was aloof [though both my cats have mastered "don't come"; good kitty] or disloyal. Maybe this is because all of our cats have been rescue kitties from the local pound or from off the street.

As to intelligence, well, I have had cats who were dumb as a box of rocks [one was downright nuts]. OTOH, most displayed a reasonable penchant for intelligent activities....however one might measure that.

Dogs...well, if they didn't sit outside and bark incessantly [at anything, for hours, without purpose; don't even get me started on sirens] or act as if they haven't seen their owners in ten years each and every time they came home I might say they are a little more than moderately smart.

But I digress...

Edited February 27, 2013 by GoodSpeak

[Jazzmoose]

My experience has been that cats are just as loyal as dogs, but maybe I've had a lot of luck in picking cats.

As for intelligence, I'm not sure we're qualified to judge the intelligence of another species. Every discussion I've heard on the subject seems to have more B.S. than a typical political forum thread...

[Guy Berger]

Anybody else read Alexandra Horowitz's book, "Inside of a Dog"? Per Moose's point, worth reading before we make grand pronouncements on various species' intelligence.