Simple! CATS RULE!  ; )

I always have my heart in my throat when I don't see my cat or dog around.  I have to check all the usual haunts (TV room chair or window sill, my bed, patio cushion, soft dirt in the flower bed, etc.. )  until I find them.

When my dog managed to slip under the remaining two feet of opening under the closing garage door, I drove around the neighborhood for a long, long time before returning home to find him, tongue hanging out and thirsty, waiting for me to let him in the house. 

If they are not both on my bed when I wake up in the morning, I am uneasy until I've found them.  I've even dreamed about them being lost.  Wouldn't Freud have a conniption with that?  Concluding what?  There's a place in my heart for both cats and dogs.  They each bring different values into my life and I wouldn't ever be without them.

I really love my kitties.  I've never had a dog, but I do like them.  When I have a husband and an actual home (instead of an apartment), I'm hoping to get a big, smart dog like Sam in "I am Legend".  None of those little yippy dogs, though.  I'm all about the boxers, shepherds, and retrievers.

lol...I used to be a big dog fan (hey, Jim aka bigdog, I'm still a fan of yours!), but as I've gotten older, I've "downsized". And my little Chi is not yipper, I worried about that at first, but it hasn't been a problem. The problem with her is she thinks she's the same size as her "big" sister - I have a 50 lab/bull mix...she's a big dork, but love her to pieces, and a Doxie who is the "lady" of the group.

Egyptians used to worship cats - and they've never let us forget it! lol!

Dogs!  We haven't gotten any yet because we need a proper fence first, but I just am not a fan of cats.........never have been. We got a kitten when we moved in here a couple months ago. I'm about ready to pull my hair out. She is crazy! Attacks you for no reason. Messes with my blinds and jumps all over my furniture. Please tell me she'll chill out once she's been fixed. I'm just waiting until she's old enough. She's strictly indoors now because of her age, but eventually she will be an outdoor cat(hopefully a mouser). Oh, and yes, she has a scratcing post and toys. I'm just at a loss here!

lol! She'll chill a little when she's older and of course, spayed. Cats just crack me up. I'll never be without one either. Especially up here. We haven't had one rattlesnake this year, someone told me it's because of the smell of the cat. Our mice disappeared as well as the little kangaroo rats - only to show up on my porch as a "gift". 

We have both dogs and cats and even 1 rabbit!! We love them all and their all special in their own little way. Wouldnt trade them for anything.

Both! and then some...I've had a duck named Estaban, a chicken named Bertha, a Jackrabbit named Henry, a Mocking Bird named George, a skunk named Sweet Sweet and so on.  They've all brought something into my life, animals give more than they take.

Right now I have three dogs, Boris, Snaggle and Boogie; then four cats, Ding, Anna, Ling and Starvin Marvin.  All have their own story and all have their own ways that win my heart.  I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite.

Sharon, "bertha" reminded me of my own chickens when I was 5 years old. Back in the "good old days", living in the SF Valley there were gas wars on every corner (25 cents a gallon!!). Sometimes the stations would have promotions, like a free chick with every fill-up at Easter. Well, I ended up with 8 chickens. Those were my babies. They would let me pull them around in my little red wagon. I would put them in my little toy refrigerator in my playhouse (that turned out to be a premonition of sorts) and they wouldn't make a peep. My parents grew up on farms, chickens were not pets. One day not long after my chicks had matured, I came into the kitchen where my mother was busy at work plucking one of my babies while two of the others were limply laying on the counter. Dinner. I screamed at the top of my little lungs "I hate you Daddy!" - needless to say, he gave away the remainder of my "babies".

No one has mentioned rats...lol. We had a rat once name Ms. Herbert. We thought she was a he, so added the 'Ms' when we discovered we were wrong. I loved that rat, she was actually my oldest daughter's pet, but that was the smartest animal I'd ever dealt with. I credit her with saving our lives one night. I never hesitated to take her to the exotic animal vet even though my friends and family thought I was nuts...

Both!  Currently, we only have two little dogs (yup, the ones on my icon picture).   But I love cats, too.  I had a kitty that I got before my oldest born, we had her for over 15 years and loosing her was so hard, I cried for days.  We also had two BIG dogs that we had for over 12 years, and we lost all three of our pets to illness and old age over the course of 11 months.  That was rough...heartbreaking.  It is also how we ended up with these two little ones.  After loosing our last dog, I went to the adoption day at PetSmart just to pet the dogs and try to feel better...shoulda known better....long story short, I adopted 2 dogs on one weekend!  What a rewarding experience.   These two babies were rescued by an Animal Rescue in Rosamond as they were running out of time.  They both had their issues, and we had some work to do when we brought them home, but now, they are absolutely members of our family.  It has been very rewarding for me to watch these two blossom into the personalities that they are now.  It is amazing how much a loving home, good nutrition and a structured environment can do for a pet.  Next month will be our 1 year "anniversary" of having these guys come to our home, and they are different dogs from who brought home.  I cannot say enough about rescuing a pet, if you are willing to commit 100%. 

It has been interesting to go from having older, slower, easy going pets to younger, energetic ones.  Cripes...they can wear you out.  Perry, the reddish one, is a Norfolk Terrier.  I have never had a terrier before...wow, he's fun but full of energy. Such a character.  Sophie, the black and white one is a Shih-Poo and and the sweetest, most loving girl.  She keeps Perry in line, but would much rather sit on Moms lap and snuggle.

Pets add so much to our lives.  I know people that are not "pet people" and I respect that.  If you are not a pet person, don't get one and then neglect it.  But as for our house....we'll always have critters. 

I like horses... but the question was cats or dogs huh?   Ok,  I can very easily say I like dogs better, preferably a big dog.  

I have two huge dogs for cuddling and one scrappy cat for mousing.  My cat really is a sweetheart though- when he feels like it.

madkow, that brings to mind the phrase "Dogs have masters, cats have staff". They allow us to take care of them. Dogs are in every sense, people pleasers and in this debate, I think gives them an edge.   :)

Joty,

On Bertha the chicken, my brother brought her home one night. 

He worked at the Mobil Oil Station at the corner of Hwy. 99 & "R" Street in Merced and closed the place at midnight.  I came in from a date and this white chicken was sitting on newspapers on the coffee table.  I went over and pet her, and she just sat there allowing me to do it which I thought was weird.  I figured someone would tell me where she came from.

About that time my brother Lowell came down the hall, I saracastically asked him if she followed him home? He said no  "I found her."  She had fallen off a truck on Hwy. 99 and he couldn't just allow her to get run over.  His next words "Do you think Mom will let me keep her?" (This from a 19 year old!)  I  told him she needed to be cleaned up and made to look better.

So here we are at about 2 a.m. giving this chicken a bath in the laundry room...the odd thing was she didn't seem to mind!

Anyway, I used bluing in her rinse water to make her look whiter (only she came out with a tinge of blue) and I put a big red bow on her.  By the time we were all done, it was nearly time for my parents to get up as they were both early risers.  We put Bertha on newspapers on the kitchen table where my Dad usually sat (she stayed put where ever she was put) and then we hid in the livingroom waiting to see what would happen.

When Dad came out of the bedroom, he walked into the kitchen spotting the chicken.  Never said a word nor did he look puzzled or anything.  He just walked over and plugged the coffee pot in gave her a pat and went into the bathroom.  We knew it was ok with him because he pet her, that seemed to be the defining factor in our house "once they're pet, we got to keep them".

He came out of the bathroom, went out front to get the newspaper, came back and poured his coffee and sat down.  After he sat, he moved the newspaper Bertha was sitting on over so he could open and read his newspaper.  That's about the time Mom came out of the bedroom.

She didn't see Bertha at first because Dad had his paper open and upright so it blocked her view.  She poured her coffee and started to go to her end of the table and that's when she spotted Bertha.  She looked at the chicken, looked at my Dad and reached over and pet Bertha (we knew then!) but before she said anything my Dad pipes up "It's NOT my chicken and I don't know anything about the chicken." 

By then Lowell and I were laughing so were discovered and had to explain about Bertha. 

We had her for about 6 months, but the neighbor's dog kept getting into the yard and pulling the feathers out of her butt, so a friend's grandmother took her as a pet.  She had four chickens that were special to her and they accepted Bertha into their flock. We went to visit her a couple of times so I know she was still there a year later, but after that I don't know what happened to her.

Estaban, the duck is another story by itself.

I am more of a dog person, but years ago ended up with a cat, and have loved Kitty ever since. I will straight-up get in the MIDDLE of a cat-fight to pull her out and protect her from getting hurt, and I cannot sleep until she is in the house. Yes, I have been scratched pretty badly pulling her out of scrappers.

We had some pretty strange pets when I was a kid, too. I think the horny toad named Clint was the one who took the cake, though... Or maybe just who I remember the best and fondest. When he died (I'm sure we "loved" him to death), I remember all of us crying our eyes out, and giving him a complete, and official pet burial.

I love the story about Bertha the chicken.