Snow Day

[Moo]

dogs lick their private parts then lick your face.

Only if you let 'em

Dogs fetch sticks. I don't need sticks. Ergo, cats are more useful.

Cats bury their faeces in other people's flower beds. I don't need cat poo in my flower beds.

Cats need no exercise,

Which is why you never read of bodies being found by people walking their dogs.

will keep mice down.

- and decimate the garden bird population

Where are the guard-cats, let alone the hearing cats for the deaf, or the guide cats for the blind, or the police-cats, or the drug-sniffing cats, or the cats that help disabled owners to do things like fill and empty the washing-machine.....?
I have yet to hear a convincing answer to the question "What are cats for?"

 

[middi]

What do you mean " what are cats for".

A lot of people in all corners of the world like them as a delicacy. ( if they are unable to get any dogs :wink: )

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Cats bury their faeces in other people's flower beds. I don't need cat poo in my flower beds.

Which is why you need a cat - then the poo will be in other people's flower beds!!

Dogs smell. Dogs bark. Dogs do not bury their poo. Dogs misbehave. Dogs fart. Dogs hump your leg. Dogs can't learn to play the flute. Dogs don't believe in lime.

OK, I may have made the last couple up; but the basic fact remains - dogs are pants.

 

[judrop]

Oooh errrr HOW did I miss out on this one, ( a small thing like Christmas kept me busy ) I like cats AND dogs! ( can that be possible??) they each have their own place in the world, though I do dislike the way a dog will follow one around everywhere whereas I find the cats" aloofness" attractive, but thats more to do with my personality than theirs I guess.
NOW Chickens, THERES a pet for you !! :wink:
Some delightful photographs earlier in this post especially Mrs MdB`s sunset/ sunrise?? in Cornwall , beautiful .

 

[robgil]

dogs roll around in cow poo , when they are not eating it then licking your face.
cats laugh at dogs.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

And robgil settles it once and for all. :lol:

 

[JoceAndChris]

robgil and Family Wiggs- :lol: :lol: judrop, I agree chickens are great pets, they're hilarious to watch and give you eggs as well!

Penners - I ate all the chocolates before you even got there so ner.

Now, I can see the usefulness of dogs and as Moo and Penners know I'm convinced I need 2 large, well behaved dogs who live outside to protect me and my livestock. I could not allow superfluous barking, muddy paw prints inside, humping or jumping at anyone so I think I'll have to go on a really full-on dog training course to achieve these miracle dogs. Chris, who agrees vociferously with the anti-dog arguments quoted above, is being subjected to a sly and underhand dog propagandist campaign - but there is no way he'll countenance a dog whilst Lord Rochester is alive as Lord Rochester controls Chris' mind utterly. We are looking at maybe 10 years of slowly chipping away at dog hatred, and when Lord R finally achieves nirvana I will buy 3 kittens and 2 puppies all at once.

Cats are incredibly useful - mine brings me mice/voles every day which go straight to the chickens to be eaten, has never caught a bird, keeps my feet warm every night, gives me a neck massage most mornings, listens to me singing, hears people coming before I do, relieves stress, turns the flower beds to nice crumbly earth, keeps mice out of the cottage, listens to my problems, ornaments wherever I happen to be, guards me when I'm in the bath, follows me out to the car and howls when I leave, leaves lovely insulating balls of fluff round the place...he's perfect.

 

[Nigel Watts]

Having neither I dare not enter the cat/dog debate, but I did see a rather neat little chicken coup in the garden of one of my mother's neighbours where we went for drinks yesterday. I believe it is called an "eggloo". It is made of plastic, looks like a giant version of one of those early Apple Macs, and comes in a range of colours including, in the case of he one I saw, a delightful and very girly pink. It houses up to four chickens and when closed at night is completely fox proof. When the conversation turned to chicken (of which I knew nothing until very recently) I was able to expound, seemingly knowledgeably, about the need to feed in the morning to avoid the rats and various other matters. They started to be impressed until I showed my complete ignorance of how eggs are made. I assumed that a gentleman chicken and some hanky panky was needed before these turned up, but apparently not.

 

[LadyArowana]

The "eglu" by omlet !

http://www.omlet.co.uk/products_services/products_services.php

 

[Moo]

Cats are incredibly useful - mine brings me mice/voles every day ... has never caught a bird, keeps my feet warm every night, gives me a neck massage most mornings, listens to me singing, hears people coming before I do, relieves stress, turns the flower beds to nice crumbly earth, keeps mice out of the cottage, listens to my problems, ornaments wherever I happen to be, guards me when I'm in the bath, follows me out to the car and howls when I leave, leaves lovely insulating balls of fluff round the place...he's perfect.

Of course, I can't speak for all dogs, but our lurchers ticked all those boxes except for the foot-warming bit (they were never allowed in becdrooms), the neck-massage (too big) and the flower bed excavation. Oh - and they didn't howl when we left; they just looked heartbreakingly reproachful.
Come to think of it, they didn't bring in mice or voles either, but efficiently despatched the rare rodent that ventured into the house. They also declared the garden a cat/squirrel/pigeon-free zone, so it became a veritable little nature reserve.
And as for lovely insulating balls of fluff! The stuff used to float around the hall like tumbleweed (but that was mostly the result of my aversion to housework).

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Agree Moo, our muts have brought us nothing but pleasure, walks on lovely days, walks in fantastic places, a comforting paw, and a friendly nose in the morning saying 'get up'.

Little Miss Disdainful next door is an interesting moggy, she gives us an insight into the cat world and I would say she can communicate just as clearly as the dogs. However, I still prefer not to actually own a cat----I'd worry about them being out on the tiles at night.

 

[LadyArowana]

I still prefer not to actually own a cat.

Only dogs have owners, cats have staff.

 

[Moo]

Only dogs have owners, cats have staff.

Exactly.

 

[Feltwell]

This is clearly one of those debates where it is impossible to change someone's loyalties! Having pets at all (note "pets", not working dogs) is not that rational a decision to start with, despite the benefits they can bring, so the heart will always rule the head.

My in-laws ran a security company for many years, complete with 2 Alsations- officially part of the business, they were listed as an asset on the books and even the VAT was reclaimed on their food. In reality these beasts were possibly the most pampered pets you've ever met - how many "guard dogs" sleep on the foot of their owners beds??? Soft as butter, every single dog they ever had!

I'm a dog person. Haven't got one at the moment, when my old collie died we decided to wait until the kids were older, not really a great idea to bring a new dog into a house with babies / toddlers around. I quite fancy a greyhound next - always lots of ex-racing dogs that need homes, they are supposed to make excellent pets, being docile, naturally quite lazy and good with children. Cats or dogs, I would always get rescue animals though - there are just too many that need homes, I could never go to a breeder.

 

[MdB]

Cats or dogs, I would always get rescue animals though - there are just too many that need homes, I could never go to a breeder.

Absolutely with you here. As far as I'm concerned, paying for a dog or a cat is condemning another one that could have been rehomed.

A quick plug for my wife's favourite charity - http://www.cinnamon.org.uk/. Get your new pet from them and they will pay for all the veterinary bills.

Our two from the trust:

(yes they are as stupid as they look.)

 

[Moo]

Chatting about this thread to a friend this morning, he suggested that the statement "Dogs have owners, cats have staff" is inaccurate.

What it should be is: "Cats have staff. Dogs have friends."

 

[Penners]

Dogs have friends.

Yes - mostly everybody (with the occasional exception of another dog who looked at them the wrong way).

 

[Flyfisher]

Would a more scientific approach to the cats-vs-dogs debate be of any help?

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427381.200-dogs-vs-cats-the-great-pet-showdown.html?full=true

 

[Penners]

Definitely. Particularly as it shows empirically that dogs are superior.

 

[JoceAndChris]

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