Wild Car Wednesday - the truth about cats and dogs

I'll give credit for today's crazy topic to my hubby.

Don't ask me how we even got on this subject, and on our date Friday night no less! We're finally able to spend some time alone together, find some romance, and gaze into each others' eyes. But what we really want to do, what we really needed, I guess, was to be flat out silly. So we started a debate about cats and dogs...

Which are the smarter species? I argue dogs... they are trainable, they have the capability and desire to obey and they have social skills. My husband argued cats because they can be potty trained (as in litter boxes), they don't beg for attention (but command it), and they bathe themselves.

The irony in this? We have a cat, which my husband can't stand. She hides in the dark and claws at him when he walks by. She snootily rubs her butt in his face when he is realxing on the sofa. And when it came time to pick out our family pet, I didn't want a dog because I felt that it would be too much work for me. But I actually really do think they are the more intelligent animal.

My reasoning? Our cat, for instance, runs into things (like closed windows), chasing some invisible prey. She imagines simple noises to be dangerous and goes psycho. Literally. She darts outside just as we're closing the door, often getting stuck or bashed in the head (poor thing). She overestimates her abilites... like when she tries to leap up onto the top of our armoire and ends up body crashing into the side of it. And don't get me started on naughty... first of all, she manipulated us into buying her. I am dead serious. We knew we needed a docile cat... we had 2 children at the time we adopted her and knew more would be on the way. So, I didn't want a cat with a nasty disposition. It was clear to us that she was the calmest one in her litter. While her siblings tumbled and fought, she sat in the corner with an unamused look on her face. The minute we got her home? Craziness! And to this day she eats my flowers, then throws them up. Knocks over vases. Hides under the kids' beds when we tuck them in and then cries to be let out (thus waking them up). Claws at our carpet thereby destroying it.

We do love our Isabella. She is a quirky part of our family, and very entertaining. Couldn't imagine life without her, even. We're used to her. If it were possible to train her to obey (and we've tried squirting her with water... heck we've drenched her), I think we'd have the perfect pet. But for now, the question remains.