Pet therapy cats vs dogs

I used to rear dogs as pets when I was little. Now that I am not so little anymore, my family adopted a cat. I have to say, taking care of dogs and taking care of cats.....well, a very different matter altogether.....

After years of caring for dogs and cats, I have concluded that:

If they could talk, they would probably say....
A dog - "You are my master"
A cat - "I am your master"

A dog would always seek attention from the owners (wags tail, barks, licks the owner)
A cat would only seek the owners' attention when 1) hungry 2)......hungry 3) mmmm.....hungry

A dog can be too clingy at times as it depends on you for its livelihood
A cat can't be bothered and will most probably not think twice about changing owners if ill-treated (i may be wrong as some cats are very loyal)

A dog is generally high-maintenance as they consume more food, need more space and more of your attention
A cat, on the other hand, just needs very little feeding (i think it depends on the breed), sleeps 16 hours a day and spends another 4 hours grooming and staring into the sky.........hence, a cat does not have much time for you.

My feline friend (btw, her name is Juli NG, as in Juling) is my bundle of joy. My mother-in-law found her abandoned at the TTDI morning market one day. "She squints, that is possibly the reason why she was left behind" My husband and I took her in and presented her to my dad (whom had just lost our family cat not too long ago) a few days later and the rest is history.

Nowadays, they are a tight pair. Juling never once leaves my dad when he is alone and loves to sit by the toilet door whenever one of us is in it. hahahha....just to make sure we do not fall into the toilet bowl........Juling never does her big business in the house......she actually walks down 7 flight of stairs and poops god knows where........good kitty!

Even though your sofa will not look the same again and the occasional soiling of the floor and door mat may drive you nuts, cats offer plenty of health benefits to its owners.

Health benefits of owning pets (in this case both cats and dogs):

Companionship
1. Dogs and cats are wonderful companions....especially for the elderly and children.
Pet therapy can help relieve stress (personal experience) and may be beneficial for people with depression, anxiety and also in disease management.

2. Personal development
You or your children can also learn alot from these gentle creatures such as humanity, love and responsibilities.

3. Healthy heart and blood pressure
Whenever we are stressed out at work, we can alway carry and hug our cat......i can practically feel my tension easing and my blood pressure dropping....serious. Juling is my stress ball...so to speak. My husband always say that she is a 'village bicycle' as we normally take turns to carry and hug her........without any resistance whatsoever......i guess Juling must be thinking "resistance is futile......"

4. Self-esteem
A local study conducted in UKM (collaboration with Sunway medical center) has demonstrated that there was a tendency for people with pets to generally have slightly higher self-esteem and self-efficacy as compared to people without pets.

5. Plus points as boyfriend material
Guys who rear pets are deemed to be more caring, responsible and selfless.........see how he treats animal and you can gauge how well he treats others.

6. Assist the handicapped