Cats vs dogs: Which pet is smarter?

Daily News ^ | January 19, 2012 | Kate Greene

[mairdie]

Posted for Daffynition:

Researchers at CanCog Technologies, a private institution in Toronto that studies behavior and aging in companion animals, have tested dogs and cats on the same tasks, using cats that show the same level of interest in food rewards as the dogs. They found that cats make more errors than dogs and require more trials to learn the same tasks.

[nicollo]

Exactly!

[catnipman]

Most cats LOVE bacon. My brother was at the breakfast table eating eggs and bacon, and one of his cats jumped up and made a FEINT at his eggs, and when my brother went to cover up the eggs with his hand, the cat instantly snatched a piece of now unguarded bacon, and instantly left from the table and zipped under a bed ..

[catnipman]

“Dogs vary SOOOO greatly, including intelligence.”

so do cats: some are pretty amazing in their ability to communicate their “needs, wants, and desires”, whereas others are pretty much just lumps.

[ravenwolf]

I always thought cats were dumb animals but
back in the early 40s there was a man going
around town picking up stray cats.

When I ask hI’m what he wanted them for he told me
he was using them to train hounds.

You can imagine my surprise, wow they must be
smarter than i am, I sure could never train
a hound.

[lurk]

What a total waste of time to discuss whether a cat or a dog is smarter. They’re so different, there’s no way to even create a matrix to measure them.

Dogs are smarter anyway. The end.

[lurk]

Call me when a cat sled team wins the Iditarod.

[nicollo]

Intelligence is a relative term. Cats are intelligent within certain contexts, and demonstrably so. But dogs have enormous powers of problem solving and emotional intelligence beyond other animals.

Above all else, dogs (and beer) are proof God loves us.

[Exit148]

You’ve heard that funny one about different dog breeds and changing a light bulb?? What would a cat do??

[golux]

This is, admittedly, hilarious. I first saw it years ago. However, now I am a little older and have been married for some time. Therefore I posit:

Dog Diary, line 1:

Whatever happens, I am going to appear to be enthusiastic. That's the best way I can serve these very nice people, even if, at times, my heart breaks.

A servant, a slave, a clown... Maybe. But at least I am not a cat.