Are cats and dogs nicer than humans?

Why?

How are we judging niceness? If the dogs you observe are nicer to you than the people you observe, then try adjusting your observations for a few factors:

1. Your dog or cat probably has everything it wants taken of by humans, while a human might not.

2. Dogs and cats don't compete with you for resources and social status the way humans do. Go ask a kitten who was just killed by it's father how much nicer it thinks cats are than humans.

3. Dogs recognize you as master, and cats at least recognize you as bigger than them. Ask a rabbit what it thinks of dogs, or a bird what it thinks of cats.

If by niceness you mean "does not act like a jerk as often"...

I dunno, because they lack intelligence?

...I only came up with this conclusion because the only being who kills purely for fun asides from humans are dolphins...the next most intelligent being in this planet.

edited 27th Feb '11 1:11:12 AM by Signed

Cats and Lions kill for fun. There are probably others I don't know about.

"Go ask a kitten who was just killed by it's father how much nicer it thinks cats are than humans."

Yeah, but but that's "just" infanticide and humans do it too. I'd be more interested in how cats treat each other in feral colonies, for instance.

"Dogs recognize you as master, and cats at least recognize you as bigger than them. Ask a rabbit what it thinks of dogs, or a bird what it thinks of cats."

Again, we do the same things. Or used to, anyway. And I'd prefer to separate natural predatory behavior from aggression per se.

Still, very good points overall.

edited 27th Feb '11 1:42:06 AM by LoveHappiness

Dogs are responsible for the extinctions of:

- european lions

- lots of flightless bird species

- thylacines

- tasmanian devils (on mainland Australia)

- several island lizard species

They don't sound particularly nice to me...

edited 27th Feb '11 1:40:45 AM by GayJesus

Depends on the human in question. Since cats and dogs are animals I wouldn't judge them based on a moral standard. If they go off scavenging corpses if they need to feed, I can forgive them. Humans who fall far below moral standards however get a negative judgement.

Dogs and cats aren't nice. Nice is a human characteristic that is linked to our ability to comprehend the future. Something that animals in general cannot do. Dogs and cats are simple. We confuse them being guileless with them being kind. You can create a similarly nice human being by lobotomizing them.

Also, cats? Cats are nice? Which cats are these again?

edited 27th Feb '11 5:44:39 AM by Shrimpus

Dogs, probably. Cats, probably not.

http://www.cracked.com/article/226_6-adorable-cat-behaviors-with-shockingly-evil-explanations/

Not sure about "niceness", but IMHO they are "friendlier" - because we bred them that way.

Soviet scientists bred wild foxes as an experiment to study the process of domestication. Measurable behavioral and appearance changes occurred within only a few generstions, suggesting genes associated with domestication are already present in the wild population.

Short answer? Yes.

Not always.

Were anybody to cage me, I could be equally unruly and murderous, only sneakier.

That poor thing is severely distressed, that's all.

edited 28th Feb '11 7:52:44 AM by SavageHeathen

I have a cat on my lap right now. She never feeds me or pets me, all she does is use me as a pillow and a food dispenser. She shows affection in certain ways (I think) but I wouldn't call anything she does "nice" even if she's friendly to humans. She's just doing what's in her best interest.

How are we defining nice anyway? Everyone has their own exact meaning for it and while we tend to share a similar general view I've seen misunderstandings spring up because people were unaware that their views of nice were different from others...

Since we have no exact definition I will use mine which is more or less "agreeable" with a mix of "concerned for others and tries to do 'good'". Now going by that...

Cats? No not really. I've personally run into many cats I would consider nice. Many are generally agreeable and won't hack your face off for just looking at them. I've also run into many who were complete asshats and even more who want nothing to do with you and will run away before you can give them their free massage. Cats are more jerkish than humans in general though, I think. Even the nice ones have this catly jerkishness to them. Jerkishness is just sort a natural trait of cats. How the particular cat expresses this depends on the cat, but I have never seen or heard of a cat who wasn't a big jerkface. Cats are lovely animals and are my second favorite thing next to humans, but they are jerks. Jerks who own you. They are selfish too.

Now dogs can be some of the most friendly and lovable things on the planet. "I WILL PLEASE YOU! LET ME PLEASE YOU! I LOVE YOU MASTER!! LEAD ME SOME MORE!!" if they're trained well. If not they're "THIS IS MY HOUSE! YOU ARE MY BITCH (no pun intended)! I WILL DO WHAT I WANT, WHEN I WANT! NOW TO BARK AT THE DOOR NONSTOP!". They can be much less lovable then because many dogs are complete jerks when not trained. If they are not they are just incredibly irritating for everyone who meets them (save maybe their owners). They still seem concerned about their "pack" (fail person who hasn't trained them), but they're assholes many of them. That or the most annoying fucks in existence. By my fancy human standards.

Even if we judge them by my standards and deem them more jerkish I am personally much more afraid of humans and I dislike more humans than I dislike cats and dogs. Combined.

edited 28th Feb '11 8:44:16 AM by Aondeug

That depends. Is that cat possessed by a demon? Because my family has nothing but stories about how they had a cat on the farm that hunted like there was no tomorrow, frequently beat up passing by dogs, and scared away the bull. And it wouldn't share the bed.

Other than that case, most domestic animals seem to be quite friendly, maybe too friendly, but perhaps that's our problem then.

edited 28th Feb '11 8:52:16 AM by Usht

I would cheer all those actions for being awesome (at least while I wasn't being sued for having an asshole cat) save the refusing to share the bed. Fucking asshole. THAT'S MY BED YOU FURRY BITCH.

I'm allergic to cats, so I don't have lots of experience about them. I love dogs, though.

Dogs are cool.

@Aondeug

It'd bite and scratch someone who tried to get on the bed. I don't think you understand just how scary that cat was.

I've had a cat like that so I do understand. I understand very well. Said cat also had a spot in our laundry room no one was allowed near ever. This was slightly more understandable since this was her area where she raised her kittens. Which she had a lot of. The bitch was always pregnant and always nursing. ALWAYS. She was also always terrorizing the neighborhood dogs and destroying the local wildlife. She was horrifying and part of the reason we now fix every cat we get.

edited 28th Feb '11 9:02:49 AM by Aondeug

That cat in the video is obviously not tame. How would you feel if some weird monsters much bigger than you overpowered you and stuck you in a cage? Terrified, obviously. And to someone who knows cat body language, that cat looks extremely terrified, at the level of 'if I don't kill you, you'll kill me'.

In general, I'd say that cats and dogs are less likely to be deliberately mean than humans. But they're more likely to be aggressive out of fear or lack of understanding, for the same reason severely developmentally disabled humans are.

Dogs can be very dangerous, but they ain't normally aggressive unless: A) You step on their turf uninvited. B)You scare them. C)You deliberately antagonize them. People should leave dogs they don't know alone, but that's basic common sense.

edited 28th Feb '11 1:49:44 PM by SavageHeathen

"suggesting genes associated with domestication are already present in the wild population." - Frodo

Of course. They'd have to have at least some of those genes in order for selective breeding to make them prominent. You can't squeeze blood from a turnip.

Cats play with mice. That is, they toy with them before eating the terrified rodent. That sound nice to you?

A nice dog, however? Possibly the Most Triumphant Example of Good Is Dumb, in that they don't have a malicious thought in their innocent heads... unlike a dog that has been abused or taught violence.

EDIT: Since when is Most Triumphant Example a Red Link?

edited 28th Feb '11 3:50:00 PM by GameChainsaw

Since people couldn't figure out to quit linking it.