Strings Attached

Dog lovers quite often admit they dislike cats. And cat fanciers feel that felines are superior to dogs. In intelligence surely; and they also value the independence of cats. Cats aren't helpless, as dogs appear; they're not dependent on the presence of their human companions to be happy. And the aloof nature of cats appeals to many people, preferring that to the sloppy emotionalism and needfulness of dogs.

That quaint old term 'fighting like cats and dogs' has its genesis in the reality that, most often, dogs and cats prefer the company of their own, they take umbrage at the presence of the other. Dogs love to chase cats and cats most often hold their own in a never-ending battle. Dog owners likely feel superior to cat owners, and the reverse is also true. But is the intelligence question and answer reliable?

Here's a twist on that old conundrum. Researchers at the University of Bristol claim through the results of a survey of pet ownership that cat owners are more intelligent than dog owners. How's that? Well, it would appear that they claim better educated people have a tendency to work long hours which compels them to select a pet that can thrive on its own.

The result being that cat owners turn out to be more likely to have had a university degree as opposed to people with dogs who, as a class, spend more time with their pets, because they have more time to spend; ordinary working stiffs, not time-twisted over-achievers. Working overtime? no stress, the cat doesn't need to be walked.

"Cats require less time per day than a dog, so they are more popular with educated people who work late and have long commutes", according to a lecturer in feline epidemiology who led the study. "We don't think it is associated with income because that was one of the variables we looked at, and there was little difference."

And another finding seems to corroborate what any casual onlooker might have guessed: that it was more likely that older, female pet owners would be involved with cat ownership. The study, published in the Veterinary Record journal also pointed out that a mere 7% of households came complete with pets of both species.

For most pet owners, the pre-existence in the household of a cat would diminish the chances that a dog would be introduced into the house, and vice versa. Dogs, the research concluded were to be found more often in larger households where the potential of dog-walking duties being shared was a constant.

However, the more interesting finding of the survey, respecting which of the species is more intelligent, may yet have dog owners crooning victory. The publication of an earlier study demonstrated that dogs are superior in their ability to reason out simple tasks, in contrast to cats' failure to do likewise.

The task was simple enough and appealed to the animals' instincts to secure food for themselves. Two pieces of string, one of which was attached to a food reward, had dogs responding with a high degree of accuracy. Whereas cats presented with the same sturdy little task were unable to discern which of the strings to pull to obtain their treat.