I’d be careful to assume that cat’s selfish “fuck you I’ll do what I want” attitude as some evidence of higher intelligence. Sure, they seem to get a much better bargain in the human animal relationship, that is getting a shelter food and attention (whenever the cat feels like it) but that probably has more to do with a much different co-evolution between humans and cats then per humans with dogs, cats being a convenient pest control and maybe companion vs. dogs extreme malleability as protector, Sheppard, hunter, laborer and undeniable companion. Their loyalty comes from their own wolf-like pack mentality and a close evolution with man kind. I would say that our ability to currently train dogs to be so many different kinds of assistance animals, requiring extreme self control, human emotional sensitivity and extensive training certainly says a lot about a dogs ability to adapt. I see a lot fewer cat assistance animals. Is that because cat’s couldn’t be bothered to do so or lack the social and intellectual skills to be properly trained?
In my own personal experience, I didn’t find owning a cat a particularly rewarding experience. It was a very lopsided relationship and the benefits of having her around were outweighed by the responsibilities. When you needed her for companionship she was nowhere to be found or loathed being touched and when it wanted companionship it wouldn’t relent demanding it even if you were busy or it seriously inconvenienced you. When we got a dog the house was transformed. The dog was far more emotionally sensitive to us and was very easily trained. The cat was really nasty to the dog and tended to disappear for longer stretches of time than before (she would already go away for two or three days, leaving us worried, one time ending up with a broken leg from being hit by a car). I found the cat the least adaptive pet and if it were up to me I would have replaced it with two dogs.
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