Polar Coordinate

It’s an age old discussion between dogpeople and catlovers, just what animal is the best human companion.

One way to look at it is of course to compare the usefulness of the respective animals: Dogs can be used as guards, shepherds, seeing eyes for blind, at hunting, to dispose of rats and other vermin, to search for drugs, explosives, dead bodies, lost people, trapped people escaped convicts, dangerous fungus and toxins, as helpers for handicapped people or as sled dogs in the arctic and antarctic. Cats on the other hand can kill rats and mice, and according to folklore, alleviate gout and rheumatism.

Smaller types of wild cats are mostly not a pack animal, the only real pack animal among the big cats are lions, which live in prides based around one or more alpha males. Wild canines on the other hand are among the most sociable pack animals in the animal kingdom. Thus biologically dogs have a stronger urge to bond socially with whoever they “pack” up with. Now both species are quite intelligent, no doubt there, but if we were to look at EQ rather than IQ, dogs would have the edge.

Exhibit A: Typical Cat

Now the behaviouralist Desmond Morris pointed out an important discovery in his book on animal body language. Modern cats used as pets, keep their “kitten-state” all of their life. They act as if their human companions was a parent, and that is the main reason they enjoy our company, and like to be handled, cuddled and generally have close contact. Once a cat “grows” out of this, i.e. becomes abandoned and goes feral, or is allowed to live a mostly solitary life on say a farm, they very rarely return to the kitten-state. Some big cats can also keep this kitten-state if kept as pets, for instance cheetahs, but also tigers and lions.

Dogs on the other hand grows up, and will see their human family as their pack, and their owner as the pack alpha. This is why dogs most often will show a guarding instinct for their family, and will endure almost anything from children, or as they see them, the pups, in the family. This also explains why stray dogs, even after years of neglect or living feral, often will re-bond with a new human pack if they get the chance.

Exhibit B: Typical Dog

This is of course not absolutes: Different breeds have been developed over years to have different natures, and some dogs have a tendensy to try and lead their pack, which in turn can be quite a handful for their owners.

Neither animal will show friendship and care for their family and owners, but cats will usually show more of an independence, and exhibit solitary needs, while dogs left to their own devices will turn to sulking or destructive behavior to gain attention from their pack.

Some other nice trivia:

Buddhists believe that on the day that the Bud­dha died, he summoned all animals to his side. Only members of 12 species, dogs among them, reached him before his death. He rewarded those who came with a year of their own, which is why the cat has no sign in the Chinese zodiac.

If you ever at the Shibuya train station in Japan, you can see the statue of Hachiko, the Akita who waited faithfully for it’s dead master for 10 years. The record for cats would be, I don’t know, 10 hours?

But the one crowning argument in my view is outlined on this page:

Cats where domesticated around 8500 BC, 10500 years ago, but by that time, humans and dogs all ready had had 4500 years of partnership and cooperation… Or to put that in perspective: The first forms of agriculture just started 12000 years ago. So us humans kept dogs as friends and companions long before we got the idea that farming might be an option.

Cats might be nice, but man’s best friend they ain’t!