I love both dogs and cats.

I love both dogs and cats.
People wonder how this is possible.
People believe one either abhors both, or loves either a dog or a cat.
But I have been able to love both these animals.
You need a dog, when you are feeling down in the dumps.
Nothing a like a friendly creature, which wags it's tail when you come home, and accepts you and loves you however rich or poor you may be.It is great for one's ego to have a companion like this.

But when you get too proud, too big, too arrogant, you need a cat to put you in your place. I love the cat. I love its confidence in itself. I admire its proud bearing. I admire its pedigree. I once stroked the fur of a magnificent foreign breed at a friend's house. It looked on tolerantly and condescendingly at me as if to say "Go on. Indulge yourself. Like my fur? It's pity you don't have any".

While the poor dog has lowly jackals, wolves, hyenas as its near relatives, the cat has the majestic lion, tiger, leopard and panther as it's relatives. I love the cat for its aristocratic bearing.

We keep a cat because WE want to. Not because the Cat needs us.
It can jolly well survive without us, unlike the pet dog which would starve and be mauled by street strays if its owner abandons it.

Hating a cat comes naturally. But that is because of our puffed up egos. We want to be looked up to. We want someone to lick our feet, to jump eagerly to pick up the biscuits and crumbs that we vainly toss at it and a companion which obeys our stupid commands.

Cat lovers never try to train a cat. It just cannot be trained.
On the other hand it trains its owners to understand its needs and cater to them!

There is a wrong notion that the cat is not affectionate. Not true. It is very affectionate but on it's terms. You can't switch on and switch off your affections at will like you do with a dog.

A cat is a clean animal unlike a dog. It doesn't need a bath, unlike a dog. It licks itself clean. It doesn't smell. It doesn't bark, unlike a dog. It is never a nuisance to the neighbours. It does not bite. It does not need to be taken for a walk, unlike a dog. It is toilet trained from birth. It covers up its droppings with mud and you need not clean up the mess unlike the dog.

No license is needed to keep a cat. All cats are unlicensed, and they roam around freely. Have the dog cathchers of the city Municipality or corporation ever tried catching cats? They'd better not try. Any attempts will be doomed to failure.

Cats of well known breeds are cheaper to buy, eat less, occupy less space. Don't ever try to take it out in the car. Dogs may enjoy that, no cat will agree to be confined like that.

You can safely go out of station and leave it to take care of itself. Simply leave a window open and some water and food in one corner and it will manage till you come back.
A truly great animal.
While you may believe that a dog is a man's best friend, the cat will make you believe that man is the cat's best friend.