Dogs don’t rip up your curtains and furniture, but then again, cats don’t dig up the begonias to bury a totally bare bone they want to crack open at some future time. 
I like cats for the wonderful way they ignore the world around them until it is important to them. I love dogs for the absolute faithfulness they will show you if you treat them right. I love fish for the fact they stay in the aquarium (with a top) and don’t piss on the carpet.
Feh, I’ll take ferrets. 
)>>Being Chaotic Evil means never having to say your sorry…unless the other guy is bigger than you.<<
—The dragon observes
I don’t care for ferrets all that much. They’re too tough and stringy for a marinade, and too small to make a steak out of. About the only thing they’re good for is stewing.
Now, a nice big juicy Labrador retriever, on the other hand…
Some stand-up (don’t remember which one) said that he wouldn’t date a woman with a cat. Nothing against cats, it’s just that she already has a serious emotional involvement in her life, one that tends to not want to share.
I would tend to avoid cat-women (although not Catwoman) because I’m allergic to cats fur if I pet them, and all cats like me and want to be petted by me–at least they have good taste.
Bucky
Oh, well. We can always make more killbots.
There’s a mystery writer whose nom de plume (I assume) is Cat Marsala. It’s what we threaten to have for dinner when the cats get wild.
Cats are the only animal to DOMESTICATE THEMSELVES. I appreciate cats for that.
Also if you treat a cat like a smart kid (not like a dumb child, i.e., dog) they can be quite responsive.
My cat comes when I call her, walks on a leash, and speaks French, altho she is having trouble with deponent verbs, but I’m not the best teacher. (okay the French part is BS, but not the rest).
She loves to travel and makes sure she “goes” when I pull out the travel bag - we’re talking flying which she has done 6 times. She is quiet and relaxed while traveling, without tranquilizers, as she is clean and sober.
Not to be an either/or type I love dogs and have assisted in many births of same.
A “true” story: (may have name wrong)
An Irish aristocrat used to enjoy hunting with his Irish wolfhound named Gledden every day.
One day the dog did not accompany the man.
He came home and went to check on his infant son. He found the crib empty, and the sheets torn and bloody. He became very worried.
Just then Gledden came bounding over and leaped on his master to greet him.
The man saw that Gleddens face and fur was covered in blood and he instantly assumed the worst.
He drew his sword and drove it through Gledden’s breast.
The death howl of Gledden woke up the man’s son who began crying in the next room.
The man investigated, and found his son safe next to the ravaged corpse of the wolf who had attempted to carry him out of the house.
The blood that was on gledden was of course the wolf’s.
It is said the man never smiled again. He changed the name of the town to Gleddenfeld “Gleddens’s Bed.” There are no wolves left in Ireland. The Irish wolfhounds killed them all.
Cats are cool, I will admit.
No cat ever saved a human’s life. Dogs do it all the time. Dogs have been faithful companions, protectors, and partners in mankind’s endeavors since the beginning. Thy’re with us all the way.
I get the idea from my cats that they are just hanging out with us until something better comes around.
When a strange car comes into our remote farm , and somebody gets out of the car, both my Irish wolfhound and Bordie Collie place themselves squarely between my wife and I and the stranger/potential danger.
There is absolutely no question about what they are doing when they do this, and I love them for it.
They are great friends too!
They worship my 3 month old daughter, and are protective and watchful.
I do admit that cats are cool, but let’s give dogs their due.
Often wrong… NEVER in doubt
Speaking of pets traveling on airplanes, do they pressurize the cargo bay? I’d hate to have fluffy asphyxiate.
a silly debate this is, but regardless…
have you ever seen a cat and dog in a confrontation? although the fights don’t get very far, the dog is rarely the victor.
what is essential is invisible to the eye -the fox
Who says dogs can’t be like cats. I have a Yorkshire Terrier. It is one of the most independent dogs I know. It usually comes when called, but not always. It doesn’t track in mud like big dogs, doesn’t slobber everywhere when it gets a drink, and can be trained to go in a litter box. It curles up next to you and keeps you warm. It can easily be trained to do all of the normal dog tricks, but only does them for rewards. It would not, however, be incredibly good at pulling people from a burning building or leading the blind since it only weighs 10-17 pounds. One of my favorite traits of these little balls of fur is the fact that they don’t shed. No fur balls being coughed up, and the sofa doesn’t have a second layer on it of dog hair. This does mean there hair has to be cut, but this can easily and cheaply be done at home. If you are mean to them they realize it and will avoid you for some time. They basicly are 2 part dog, 1 part cat. To top it all off they can be baked, fried, broiled, steamed, and taste excellent with Shake & Bake
Around the house, I never lift a finger/
As a husband and father I’m sub-par/ I’d rather drink a beer/ than win Father of the Year/ I’m happy with things the way they are. -Homer Simpson (Epsiode 3G03)
Buckmeister-Fullerene:
As He Who Knows All, Cecil, pointed out, fire departments don’t keep dalmations any more because they had a habit of eating the victims. Eeewwwww!
Yes, my big rats [read cats] do come when I call them and not cause I’m about to feed them.
No, i don’t have any unnecessary cat paraphrenalia lieing around.
Robedag:
Dogs are loud. Yorkshire Terriers particularly so, unless you rip out their vocal cords (it’s been done.)
My cat has been sitting in my lap while I read through the whole thread. Isn’t THAT adorable?
Inertia’s entire philosophy in two words - Be nice.
She rides under the seat - it is a regulation size carrier. Often if the seat is empty next to me I bring her bag up top. This is usually at the insistance of others who are riding near, as she is so well behaved. When I am carrying her, as the bag looks like a gym bag, people don’t realize there is a cat in there at first and are delighted to see how quiet she is (me too!).
As for cats, they are all smart.
Dogs which I love are another thing varying wildly from the poodle (looks dumb is very smart as it is a sheep dog originally) to the hopelessly stupid Dalmation.
Scylla wrote:
I’m sure this tale isn’t a true story.
I don’t know of one verified incident of a wolf attacking or carrying off a human baby.
Tracer:
That’s why I put “true” in quotations. Sheesh! I imagine it’s more along the lines of an Irish Urban Legend.
Whether it’s literally true or not doesn’t really matter, it shows a valid point. Dogs are mankind’s partner, and their are many documented instances of man being saved by Fido.
Often wrong… NEVER in doubt
Which is why we started naming dogs “Fido” in the first place, right?
Oh, and my nitpicking about the bum rap wolves have gotten over the centuries is not entirely unrelated to the topic of this thread – because dogs evolved from wolves. In fact, dogs are still interfertile with wolves (the resulting crossbreeds are called wolfdogs), and as far as I know, wolfdogs are interfertile with pure wolves, pure dogs, and each other. This means that wolves and dogs are not merely related species, they are the same species.
So any unfair allegations leveled at the wolf population are a slam at dogs, too. 
Fido=Faithful. This is totally off thread, but there is a relationship between “Fido” and the Rennaissance paintings of Venus, where he often appears at her feet. I have speculated that this is medieval short hand for “in the know” alchemist types who know the connection between the constellation Canis Major (fido) and Venus (the star Sirius in Canis Major…perhaps deserving a totally different thread…
This would be difficult. As noted in the Compton’s Online Encyclopedia at http://www.optonline.com/comptons/ceo/05209_A.html :
Since there are two species of wolf, one suspects it hard to accept that the domesticated dog is the same species.
What we call a ‘dog’ is Canis familiaris.
While it is true in general that one of the main charactersitics of what defines a ‘species’ is the ability to breed with itself, but not outside the species, this is not always true.
Inertia–well, dalmations are basically nuts. When the live action D101 came out, dog trainers were warning people not to rush out and get them, because about one in four suffer from things like doggie depression, doggie dementia, and I can’t think of something to go with canine! Dang.
I actually do kind of like cats, they’re just not good for me to be around. I like the “Buckmeister-Fullerine” nickname!
Bucky
Oh, well. We can always make more killbots.
Ah, Bucky, just when we were getting along so well, you start making “Cat Lady” generalizations . . .
Yes, I have two cats. No, they are not my “babies.” They are cats. No, I do not have a single cat poster or coffee mug or calendar. Not even a photo of my cats up at my desk.
And they don’t take up that much of my life—after all, I don’t have to be home to walk them every five minutes or bathe them . . .