Marta Borgi summarizes her results saying, "Children in our study preferred dogs over cats in every comparison, and regardless of their familiarity with this species."
Most cats adapt to a new baby; they recognize that gentleness is required with this little human and react to him or her very differently than to older humans. It is important to oversee interactions and to reinforce calm and gentle behaviors by rewarding your cat with treats and quiet praise.
Canines are smitten with babies and can form strong connections because of the amount of time spent together. Both a baby and a dog, especially a young pup, have a common desire for a playmate and someone who will give them attention.
And dogs? They're noisy, disruptive and "lick you and themselves," counters Sanford Reikes of Louisville, Ky. Clearly, there are dog people and there are cat people. But it's not much of a contest: 74 percent of people like dogs a lot, and only 41 percent like cats a lot.
Some social scientists have suggested that this affection for dogs is simply a learned cultural attitude. However a recently published study suggests that our preference for dogs over cats might be "prewired" in children and that, if anything, it is our fondness for cats that may be learned through experience.
Paul Zak, an economist at Claremont Graduate University in California, has found in his research that dogs get a 57.2 percent oxytocin boost when they interact with their owners. Cats get a 12 percent boost. In other words, your dog truly adores you. Your cat accepts your presence.
At the end of the day, there simply isn't a clear winner. Cats and dogs are each uniquely intelligent in their own way, and there's no inherent superiority between them. Each animal should be assessed according to its unique abilities.
Dogs are the most popular pet, with almost half of Australian households keeping at least one dog (48% in 2022, up from 40% in 2019). Cats come second, with a third of all households with at least one cat (33% in 2022, up from 27% in 2019).
Cat-lover territory includes the huge territories of Canada (52.3% of cat or dog photos are cats), China (88.2% cats), and Russia (64% cats). The dogs take more continents, though. Dog posts outweigh cat posts across North and South America, Oceania, and Africa, while the cats take just Europe and Asia.
Research has shown that “cat people” tend to be more intelligent than “dog people.” On top of that, the study found the pro-cat camp tends to be more creative, independent, and rebellious. However, the science suggests it isn't all negative for dog lovers – and not all positive for feline folks either.
Here's the thing, though — when it comes to raising cute, helpless, and needy creatures, raising a puppy is way harder than raising a baby.
Fortunately, most dogs look upon a baby with curiosity and interest and will show no signs of aggression or other negative behavior. However, some dogs may perceive an infant as a strange mammal or even a potential item of prey. "Dogs that have never seen a baby may not view them as human beings."
You should be very careful to monitor your dog any time it is near a baby. Pet owners have also said that their dogs tend to have more patience with babies and that dogs are usually gentler with babies than they are with adults. Some owners have even reported that their dog has become highly protective of their babies.
Risks to your baby's breathing
Never allow cats into any room where a baby or child is sleeping. A cat may settle to sleep near a baby's face. This is very dangerous. It could interfere with your baby's breathing.
Many cats become protective of what they view as a 'people-kitten' and there are accounts of cats raising the alarm when a baby shows signs of sudden illness.
Similarly, young kittens have particularly sharp teeth and claws, which can accidentally injure delicate young children. For all these reasons, cats over 2 or 3 years old are best for kids under age 5 or 6.
Most Cat-Populated Countries
Sitting at rank number one is the United States, which is recorded to have at least 76.5 million pet cats in total. Of course, this doesn't account for their number of strays, which is said to be over 41 million.
Latvia, Ireland, and Sweden are three countries, among many, with low numbers of household felines. The lowest cat ownership statistic goes to Spain and Greece, coming in at 10-15% of households.
Zak studied 10 cats and 10 dogs to see how much affection they had for their humans, and it turns out dogs love their owners almost five times more than cats do, according to the Huffington Post.
There are currently an estimated 28.7 million pets in Australia and we have one of the highest pet ownership rates in the world [1]. Approximately 69% of households in Australia own pets, with dogs being the most common (48%), followed by cats (33%) [1].
Dogs are the most common pets and account for 47.8% of household pets. The second most common household pet is cats who account for 33% of household pets, followed by fish 12.1%, birds 10.5%, and small mammals, reptiles and other pets account for the remainder.
Millennials make up the largest percentage of current pet owners (33%), followed by Gen X (25%) and baby boomers (24%). In 2022, Americans spent $136.8 billion on their pets, up 10.68% from 2021 ($123.6 billion). Dog owners spend an average of $730 a year on their dogs.
Within the encephalization quotient proposed by Jerison in 1973, values above one are classified big-brained, while values lower than one are small-brained. The domestic cat is attributed a value of between 1–1.71; relative to human value, that is 7.44–7.8.
On the whole, psychologist and dog researcher Stanley Coren estimates, the average dog's intelligence is roughly as sophisticated as a 2.5-year-old baby's.
Based on several studies, behaviorists believe an adult cat's intelligence is comparable to that of a 2-year-old human toddler.