I have three cats, but I m thinking of getting my first dog. I have two dogs and am thinking of keeping a stray kitten that has been hanging around. Dogs and cats have been part of family lives for thousands of years. The dog came first, about 10,000 or more years ago, and the cat followed about 5000 years ago, when Egyptians enticed him to dine on rodents that ate the grains stored in silos. Dogs are pack animals, cats are loners, but each species touches something in humans that is unreachable by the other.
Physical differences are obvious.
All domestic cats are cut from a similar cloth. Although there are minor variations in coat type, head and body shape, and size, cats lack the depth and breadth of differences found in dog breeds. The tiny Chihuahua with its smooth or long coat and big, pointed ears is as much a dog as the huge Great Dane, but a child unfamiliar with either may not recognize them as the same species. Cats don t fool anyone at least with their appearance. The idea that dogs hate cats may have been born because dogs chase cats and grew because cartoons depicted ongoing battles between the two species.