xtcian

It may not be the witty political banter we're used to here but since you post about Lucy a lot, I'll just go with the photo, keep it light and ask whether you're a dog person or a cat person and why?

I was always a cat person (never had a dog but tolerated them) until I met my wife who was always a dog person. After four or five years of wearing me down, we went 'looking' and ended up with a beautiful Shepherd/Rottweiller/Lab mix named Bella who I couldn't imagine not having now. To balance out the canine, we also have two cats (Vinny and Mona) who get along famously with Bella.

While I still consider myself a cat person, I now love dogs, so I'm kinda both.

I have a golden retriever at home and love that dog so much! She's so sweet and gentle and playful, and she's always happy to see me when I go home on the weekends.

My roommate thought it would be a great idea to bring a cat home earlier this semester, knowing full well I can't stand cats. They're mean, they're selfish, they don't get excited when you come home, and they smell terrible.

The fact that this cat is psychotic doesn't seem to help much. He is fascinated by liquid and likes to knock over any and all bowls, cups, bottles, etc. around the house. He splashes all the water out of his dish onto the floor. He shredded an entire roll of paper towels all over the living room last weekend when we were out for the day.

Dog person. No question.

I'm both. I've lived with both, love both, feel charmed by both, and occasionally feel annoyed like hell by both.

Kate, dogs sometimes rip paper to shreds like your roommate's cat did, and have you ever seen what teething pups (and some older ones) do to shoes, table legs, door corners, and anything else they can warp their jaws round? Usually when cats and dogs wreak this kind of destruction post-teething stage, they're bored and/or lonely. Curing the situation with cats is more difficult than with dogs, however, as teaching an old cat new tricks is more challenging than the dog version of the cliche. Maybe your roommate needs to spend a little more time with her kitty.

(You are a saint for allowing her to move her surprise pet into the pad you share, when she knew you're not keen on felines!)

Both. Everyone in our little household (me, Jack, two kitties) misses Jordan, our dear departed dog. We are unbalanced without him.

Kate, as a postscript to what BEM said (which I agree with wholeheartedly), you might mention to your roommate that a feather dancer is a cat's best friend. My girl cat also loves to play fetch with catnip mice.

Definitely both. I grew up with dogs, and I will always and forever love their relatively easy loyalty and friendliness. They're just more human-like, hence the "man's best friend" thing. I didn't really spend any time around cats until I became an adult, and met a few whose veil of aloofness I managed to pierce. One, in particular, went from stalking me jealously when his dad wasn't around to opening his heart and letting me become his mom. It was a wonderful experience. There is nothing like a pet.

So, is that cute little pup from Cute Overload?

I like both, but I'm more of a cat person. It helps that my two Siamese have all the good qualities of cats AND dogs. They come when they're called, they're VERY excited to see us when we get home, they love to have their bellies rubbed, they're major lap cats, they purr loudly, they're clean and have few - if any - neuroses.

The thing about dogs that keeps me from totally being a dog person is that they smell (sorry, no matter how much someone bathes a dog, I can still sniff one out in a house), they chew, they lick, they drool, they track in dirt, they require being let out every day to potty and a dogsitter for long weekends. It's like having a kid. ;)

I'm a dog person mostly just because I'm allergic to cats.

Lee- read the latest issue of Time Magazine. They now make genetically altered cats that don't trigger allergies. Of course, the cost is only around $8,000 per cat and the waiting list is like 3 years.

I was a cat person growing up. But my allergies have worsened over time. We just lost our 15 year old Lab but still have this one (Jax). He is a good dog but as you can see very Hyper and out of control:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a334/Beetlebom/LZBonz.jpg

Let's see. Dogs are loyal and loving. They keep you warm at night. They wag their tails when they are happy, and they do it when you so much as hug them. Dogs can do tricks. They can wrestle with you.

As for cats...in the words of a friend of mine, "Why would you want a pet that doesn't like you??"

By the way, if you click my initials, you can see a pic of Meg, who I had for 14 years - one of cutest dogs on the 'net, definitely. (The marks on her nose are from where my mom had just kissed her, with lipstick on.)

Fish. Blue Beta named Louis. I love him with a mighty love and he teaches me how to breathe just below the surface.

My favorite "relax before bedtime" site is http://www.cuteoverload.com . Puppies, kitties, bunnies, mousies, even turtles to die for.

If my hubby didn't stop me, I would be one of those crazy people with a house full of pets.

I'm with Tanya on this one: cats all the way.

The basic point - whether dog or cat - is that you want a pet with personality. Those that accuse cats of having none and not loving you, haven't met the 'right' cat.

Our cats, Ernie and Bert, are perhaps the most dog-like cats out there, if loyalty and unconditional love are 'dog-like' qualities. Bert follows my mother around the house and regularly reminds her to take her after-work snooze, by nudging her toward her favorite chair - mostly, of course, so that he can park himself on top of her and snooze himself. As a result, Bert is the only cat I know who smells of 'Tiffany' perfume.

Ernie is the world's friendliest cat, but very protective of her family members. When cats recognize you as family, they will try to rub their head against yours, passing on 'their' family scent to you. She does this with only her family members (i.e. the four of us humans in the house- she hates her big brother Bert), and it's the greatest thing to watch.

Cats are sensitive, that's why so often when you adopt them from a shelter or inherit one from a friend or neighbor that they exhibit strange psychological disorders. I have seen plenty of those cats as well, believe me. But much like raising a dog: if you get them when they're small and raise them in a loving home, they are the best possible pets. Hugely superior to all the crappy pets we had before: a bird, turtles and a rabbit - talk about nooo personality!

If I answered, I'd have to kill you.

Holy Crap, Anne and Claudia. Thanks for the link/reference to Cute Overload. I've now wasted the past hour perusing through all those photos. The captions are CRACKING ME UP. I'm about to get fired...

:)

I'm both. For the longest time I was just a cat person, but that was because I'd never really had a dog (we had a lab briefly when I was five but my father gave him away). When I got married to a woman with a pug, I quickly learned how great dogs are. I'm not married anymore, but I still have that pug, along with a Japanese Chin and two cats. I can't imagine life without them.

Either..... so long as they stay outside.

I grew up with both dogs and cats and loved both, though as a kid I was not as specifically attached to our pets as I am now to my amazing dog, Vincent. Those of you who know me know how, when my ex-boyfriend suddenly and without warning adopted Vincent as a 2 1/2-month-old puppy, I totally surprised myself by becoming so fiercely attached to him that when he disappeared overnight (in a foot-high snowstorm) at 6 months old I was on the brink of suicide. When we found him the next afternoon (he had been hiding under the trailers at Horace Williams Airport) I thought my heart would explode with relief, wild happiness, and gratitude. I'm not much of a prayer-offerer, but when I saw Vincent's little black form burst up in jumps of joy from the snowdrifts I literally promised God that I would never, ever, ever let any danger or harm come to him again.

So far I have been lucky. Vincent is an extraordinary animal. I know there are dogs who are smarter and better trained than he, but when I walk him in the woods and he bounds bravely before me on the trail, ready to meet any thing in the universe, I feel I can see his little golden heart shining through his white chest, and I feel blessed by his ridiculous nobility.

Annie- That is beautiful and I see those same qualities in my sweet dogs. My beagle would lay down and surrender her heart to save us and my black mutt would fight a lion to protect Ben and me. I wish I was always worthy of their love.

There are many animals I could talk about, but I'll talk about the cat who made me a cat person and then the dog who made me a dog person as well.

The cat was Eric's cat Tennessee. I was pretty indifferent to him for the first few months I lived with Eric, until Eric went to Amsterdam for several weeks. Tenny would wander around the apartment meowing at the spots where eric would usually sit or lie, and that just melted his way into my heart. By the end of my year living with Eric, I would leave sweatshirts on the couch for Tenny to curl up and sleep on while I was gone.

I never really had my own dog until my wife rescued a stray poodle like dog that had eluded capture for weeks and was the talk of our neighborhod listserv. He is the best, cutest, most loyal fun dog that has ever walked the face of the earth. I'll post a picture tomorrow to prove it. Anyway, I love him more than almost anything on earth outside of my wife. I love him even though he has cost me a new dog bed, a Bible, several other books, many socks, etc.