Bringing Up Puppy Series – Cats and Dogs – Two Very Different Beasts

Now that I own a puppy and a kitten, and can observe them playing and living together, it’s apparent how different the two animals really are. Let me count the ways.

1. Hershey wants to be with you ALL THE TIME. Spencer? Not so much. That little kitty disappears during the day, doing who knows what. Sure, he likes to sit next to you, but if you nudge him off your lap, no hard feelings. Hershey? Oh, she takes it personally. If you are not paying attention to her 24/7, she’s not happy. Hershey leaps and spins and jumps on you when you walk in the door. Spencer might open one sleepy eye to see who’s walked in.

2. Then there’s the food. Spencer will not eat anything, anytime. We’ve thrown out dishes of food Spencer didn’t eat. Hershey will anything. Eat first, ask questions later, that’s her motto. Hershey would be thrilled to eat the food Spencer walks away from. Hershey’s number one goal in life is to find food. She’s constantly patrolling the floors for lost morsels of food. Spencer’s number one goal is probably to find a cozy spot for a nap (and he’s much easier to have on your lap than our rapidly growing lab, much to Hershey’s dismay.)

3. Then of course, there’s the indoor/outdoor potty factor. It really seems so much simpler to empty a box a few times a week, than take a dog out a few times a day. People are torn on which is worse; some folks don’t like a box full of waste sitting around their house. Me, I just say find a good place to hide it. Other people don’t like the trips outdoors, and the pooper-scooper landmine patrol.

4. And once you have a dog, you have a time limit on how long you can be away from home. A cat could last over night, or even a day or two if you left out food. Dogs require strategic planning. (We picked up Thai food to go after catching a movie last weekend, so we could get home to let the dog out. That was a first, we usually like to sit and linger over dinner.)

5. Surprisingly, our cat makes more noise than the dog. Spencer “talks” a lot. Hershey mostly just cries in her crate at night when she needs to be let out. Occasionally she’ll bark while playing, but Spencer’s the talkative animal in our house. It’s super fun at 5:30 am.

6. Spencer has the run of the house, which means he can cause more trouble at night, nibbling on your toes when he wants an early breakfast, drinking from your water glass on the nightstand. Hershey’s troublemaking is currently confined to two rooms. Often during the day, we don’t know where Spencer is and we don’t worry. If Hershey’s out of my line of vision for 30 seconds, I’m worried. (Usually with good reason.) But that will all change in the summer when Hershey gets to go outside and play and Spencer doesn’t. I wonder if he feels bad that he doesn’t get to go outside to pee 18 times a day?

7. It’s a toss up who’s more destructive. Thus far, I’d have to say Hershey. She loves chewing on books and trying to knock over the garbage can for treats. But Spencer has scratched his share of chairs and carpet. And I’m still not sure which one of them chewed up my laptop cord. They both enjoy doing that.

But both animals have this in common: they love each other and they love us. While they’re different in many ways, they’re both new treasured furry family members .

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Have you missed any of the articles in this series?
If so, you can find them at:
The Bringing Up Puppy Series page.

Related posts:

1. Bringing Up Puppy Series – Lost
2. Bringing Up Puppy Series – The Crazies
3. Bringing Up Puppy Series – Instincts
4. Bringing Up Puppy Series – Weird Dog Questions
5. Bringing Up Puppy Series – Hersheys New Trick

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