Are you a cat or dog person?
This question somehow gives people piercing insight into who we are as individuals based solely on our preference of feline or canine company. I like to think that like nearly everything in life, this choice is not absolute. Both animals have their strengths and annoyances. I feel it is necessary, however, to formally submit my endorsement of cats as the overall preferred company of the modern college student.
To put it bluntly, cats are making a comeback: The Internet calls them “LOLCats” for a reason. They’re hilarious and awesome.
We tend to treat both cats and dogs as equivalent human companions. We call them our friends, members of our family and even our children (yikes!). We recognize their emotional states, and we revel in their ability to emulate human behavior. We also recognize that a cat or dog looks miserable while we trot them around a party saying, “Look at this hat on Cookie-Butt! Doesn’t it look so funny?” Yet people still have no problem exploiting their pets for our collective amusement. This spectacle has worked in cats’ favor, as the Internet testifies.
Cats are very much your friends, but their affection varies depending on their personalities. Some behave more like roommates who swing by sometimes to see what you’re up to. Others behave more affectionately and greet you as soon as you get home in a way that seems like they want to know about your day. Either way, most cats tend to be passive and standoffish, and some are only interested in you until you feed them. Then you can kindly stop touching them before they start clawing and gnashing at you like furry, 7-pound demons.
Cats are self-entertained. College life, as you are aware, can get crazy busy. Among class, studying, extracurricular activities, a job and social events, it’s a wonder you have time to sleep, let alone hang out with an animal. As long as you meet the necessities of food, water and shelter and remember to curate their box of sand sculptures, cats will get along just fine.
Owning a cat is like having a friend that hangs out. Owning a dog is like having a toddler for 10 to 20 years.
Dogs beg. They are needy, playful, interactive, highly emotional and sometimes quite destructive. They need constant attention. In the late college stage, many couples use dog ownership as a surrogate dry run for having a child because dogs are a big responsibility. They treat dogs like babies, which I get. Really. They give a lot of love but also need a lot of it too. But they’re not kids, and in our ever-busy lives, people seem to take a passive awareness of this and put these super-dependent animals in situations that make dogs miserable. We’re never around. It’s no one’s fault in particular. Dogs and humans have a symbiotic relationship that goes back to prehistory, and we’re predisposed to want them and love being around them. But the fact is that the college lifestyle we lead doesn’t leave the amount of room that such a loving creature needs to feel nurtured and balanced and behave like the kind of dogs we see on TV. The concept of a dog is nice, but the reality is it’s a big decision to own one.
Dog owners: I’m glad you own them. They’re fun to pet. I don’t have the time or budget to afford one myself.
Cat owners: Brush off the cat haters. While you’re at it, brush off all that hair on your jacket because some people are allergic to awesome.
Wesley Campbell is a fifth-year English major. His column appears on Wednesdays.
