Cats vs dogs in terms of house damage

[Anonymous]

If you have a fenced back yard dogs for sure. It depends on the dog but cats can and will go anywhere in the home. Counters walking on. Furniture scratching on. Litter box smelling. Alternative litter issues in the closets …. They pee there.

[Anonymous]

I have both.
Dog is a big golden retriever puppy. He chewed the binding off a rug and has gnawed on the dining room table. But I think those days are past. However, his on-going damage is scratched floors and dirt tracked into the house. It can be cleaned but my rugs all need professional cleaning.

My cats have mercifully not scratched any furniture. But there are some carpet stains from puke and hairballs. And, one of my cats periodically will pee on things. We have a great stain and odor remover, but it took time to find this.

In sum, both can be bad but you never know in what way.

[Anonymous]

I have a disgusting corner in both my living room as well as bedroom that is covered w/dried feces on both the carpet & the walls.

I don’t know for the life of me how I am ever going to fully remove it w/out tearing out the carpet and re-painting the walls.

[Anonymous]

^^Cat owner 🙀

[Anonymous]

Cats cause more damage that you can’t control. Cat pee should be labeled a WMD. The special cleaners and enzymes help but they don’t work when it becomes a pattern. It seeps into the floors sometimes getting down to the subfloor. If the cat decides to go up against a wall, it’s in the baseboards and drywall. Cat owners get used to the smell and don’t realize how strong it can be. Every older cat our family ever had and everyone we’ve known who has had a cat has had this problem when they get older. This is with very attentive cleaning of the box, placing multiple boxes around the house etc.

[Anonymous]

For a dog or cat, much depends on breed. Sure, individual pets of any breed MIGHT be great house pets, but you’re likely to get an average pet of a breed. From that perspective, breed matters most.

[Anonymous]

I have one of each and they are equally destructive in different ways but in the day to day my dog is messier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would vote for a cat too because a girl cat is very unlikely to have pee problems (it's boy cats, even if neutered, who tend to have more issues with pee.) However, the clawing things up can be a thing. You need to get some great cat scratchers, make sure you dose them regularly with catnip, and keep the nails trimmed. This means get a kitten so you can work on trimming their nails while little, so they are used to it and happy to have their paws touched.

Hahaha… it was one of my female cats who was the most indiscriminate of pee-ers. It was also a female cat that ruined the leather on brand new chairs, despite years of leaving all the furniture alone and haven’t otherwise appropriate scratch opportunities. Generalizations are just that.

[Anonymous]

Cats are jerks. They pee just to spite you. The throw up fur balls. My friends who have cats all have stories of cats peeing in suitcases, on laundry, and generally ruining things. I have heard enough cat stories to never get one.

We had a border collie for 12 years. He chewed the corner of a couch once during a thunderstorm when he was a puppy. We never had any other issues.

[Anonymous]

I've had both. Cats are the worst, you never get the smell out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never really had any major problems with either, but if I was looking for a pet right now, I'd go for a dog. I'd go for a dog because I think cats, and their litter boxes, can leave an odor in the house.

Use metal boxes because plastic absorbs odors, scoop daily and use a deodorizer with zeolite/Nonscents. Dogs smell infinitely worse and more than cats.

[Anonymous]

Our 4 cats are perfect litter box users thankfully but over time they have ruined some furniture with scratching. My brother’s dog ruined a number of rugs with chewing and ruined the HW floor finish with scratches. The floor issue to me is the dealbreaker for dogs.

[Anonymous]

I’m surprised by all these terrible cat peeing stories. Never happened with mine, and I’ve had cats for almost 20 years.

[Anonymous]

If your cat is peeing all over there is problem and the cat is reacting to stress or a medical issue. Normal cats don't behave that way to spite you-it isn't something they are capable of.

See a behaviorist and a vet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our 4 cats are perfect litter box users thankfully but over time they have ruined some furniture with scratching. My brother’s dog ruined a number of rugs with chewing and ruined the HW floor finish with scratches. The floor issue to me is the dealbreaker for dogs.

The floor issue plus shedding and dog smell are why I won’t get a dog, even though they can be so sweet and cute. Cat personalities vary widely and you may not know what you’re getting unless you get an older one. But I’d only get one if I had a separate basement area for the litter box. As long as you buy one with a hood and scoop daily, no issue with smell. A friend kept a litter box in her apt bathroom and I would retch every time I had to go in there.