Why Dogs are Better than Cats

I have had many types of pets throughout my life. From the conventional house pets like cats and dogs, to the least conventional like goats and turkeys, I have experience with owning many types of pets. I generally like animals, so taking care of many types has always been fun for me. Cats, however, are an animal I would not like to own again. I consider them the highest maintenance and the least exciting. Dogs, on the other hand, have easily been my favorite pet to own and my favorite animal overall and I would definitely like to own many dogs in the future. Because of this, I easily consider myself a dog person over a cat person.

It’s not that I dislike cats. I like almost all animals. But owning a cat was not fun. The last time I owned a cat I was six years old, and it was not a good experience. I have no good memories of owning it. What I remember most was that it shed a lot of hair, so my mother was always becoming angry because its hair would get everywhere. I would try to brush its hair so it would shed less, but the cat did not like it. I do not own a cat but even now I will still find cat hairs on clothes that I leave to hang outside because my neighbor’s cats will come onto my porch. It is very annoying. I have had many dogs and none of them ever had a shedding problem.

The shedding, however, was not the biggest problem. My biggest issue with my childhood cat was that it would always kill small animals and insects and leave them lying around. The first animal I found that my cat had killed was a small lizard. She had left it on the front steps of our home. Because I was very small, it made me very sad to see the dead lizard and I started to cry. There would be many more moments when my cat would kill lizards and birds and it always made me upset. Eventually, I told my mother I no longer wanted the cat, and it became my older sisters responsibility to take care of it.

Dogs, on the other hand, were a whole different experience. My dad has owned many dogs since I was small because he was a farmer and the dogs would help him take care of his fields. They were work dogs, but they were still very playful and friendly. I do not have many memories of my dad’s dogs from when I was a toddler except that I would get to play with them a lot. I had my first dog when I was ten years old. He was a small Chihuahua and he was very cute. Unlike the cat I had in my childhood, the dog liked to play a lot and it had a lot of energy. I remember I would spend all day playing with my dog, even taking him to friends’ houses. My favorite thing to do would be to take him on walks. He also did not bring any of the problems my cat used to have. He did not shed and he never killed small animals. He was a very good dog, just like my dad’s old dogs or like my grandfather’s dogs. I considered him my best friend. I have only owned one other dog after him, but he and all the other dogs I have interacted with have been good dogs. Even the stray dogs I have met have always been good dogs. I think dogs are a great animal because they’re full of energy, loyal, friendly, and cool. Cats are not. This is why I consider myself to be a dog person over a cat person.

Dolores

Vocabulary
conventional (adjective) - tending to follow what is done or considered acceptable by society
shed (verb) - to lose hair naturally
high-maintenance (adjective) – needing a lot of attention or effort
toddler (noun) - a small child between the ages of two and four years old