So Who Wins? Dog or Cat?

Tom is scared of Butch.
Garfield laughs at Odie.

The eternal battle, dog and cat.

So who IS the smartest?
Silly question?
Not really.

It is the eternal debate between pet lovers, which is the animal that rules the roost.
Which animal has mastered the world best...?

Cat, I hear you say. Dog needs man, dog acknowledges man as boss. Not cat. Cat thinks it is above us. Cats are independent.

My point entirely.

The cat certainly THINKS it is smart. It thinks it rules the roost. It suffers from the delusion that it is the master of its environment. It doesn't need us, or so it thinks. It's independence is in it's own head and our tolerance. We choose to let it be independent.

Dog is a bit more on the ball.

It remains a fact- like it or not- that Man has changed the face of the globe.
Man determines which species stay, and which go. Which live in abundance, and which live as protected species.
We have remoulded our world.

Other animals have had to adapt to this fact, or die, put bluntly. That is how evolution and extinction work.

Our ancestors were pretty good at what they did. Competing with man for the same food was not a good survival tactic, as Sabre Tooth Tiger discovered, a bit too late. But it's worth noting that most other Felid Carnivores exist in the thousands, largely because, they have got in our way. Brutal, but true. Once a species like man comes along, the lot of any other predator- unless they do it in the sea, the poles, or in the depths of the jungle- is not a happy one.

After all, we are chasing the same food.



We were also far TOO efficient at one time at catching prey. Basically, early man NEVER failed. No other species had been so good. We caught ALL our prey, and they didn't get a chance to reproduce. And so departed the Mammoth, the Mastadon, the Glyptodon, the Ground Sloth, the Short-faced Kangaroo, etc.

Until we hit on a cunning plan.
Pen them in, and help them breed in abundance.
And THEN kill them.

It is worth looking at the Order Artiodactyl- Even toed Ungulates.
Half the species in it exist in a few thousand.
The rest exist in millions.
There is no in between.

Those that exist in abundance, are those we either eat, or use as beasts of burden.

Those that don't, are those we don't.
It's that simple.

In a sense then, life for these animals- the forces of evolution, their very survival, is no longer in their own hands.
They are prey which have now come completely under the control of the predator.
They exist because they are good prey.

Whether that makes them lucky or not, is up to you.
But it certainly wasn't THEIR choice.

Pets are different.
They have adopted the symbiotic strategy.
If you can't beat them, join them.
Unlike Sabre Tooth, they knew there was a new predator in town that couldn't be beat.

Cat is a recent recruit to our domestic life- about four thousand years ago, tamed by the Egyptians. A skulking, desert scavenger. One who was lucky enough to excite the religous sensibilities of the Egyptians.



Dog is something different. Dog is a true symbiant. Canis Familaris separated from Canis Lupus (the Wolf) by making itself a friend, not a foe, to man.

Dog has evolved determinately towards making himself man's best friend, century after century for forty thousand years.
The dog learned early. In a world of Man, the next best place to be, is by his side.

And who's the fool?
Canis Familiaris must have the easiest life of any species on this planet, yet be one of the most abundant, in terms of large(ish) mammals. Most don't have to find their food. Most sleep in beds as comfortable as people do. They are loved, petted, cared for, mates found for them. They eat, sleep, go for walks and play with squeeky toys.

Sometimes, you'd think we served THEM.

Cat hasn't got that bond with us. We don't take to them so much, because they don't love us like dogs do. Dogs had it sussed a long time ago.

We want a hunting ally.
And a friend.

And oh what a friend the dog has been!

The dog evolved a huge love for us, and us for him.

Dogs stand beside man, surveying the world. With the rulers of the world doting on them.
Cat, well, cat can't even see that.