why choose cat as pet rather than dog?

For my husband and I when we were looking to get a pet for our kids we were talked about the pros and cons of both and came up with the fact that with a dog eventually him and I would be the ones taking it out for walks and really didnt want it to be that way. We decided to get a cat as a starter pet mainly because it would be an indoor cat and would get the kids in the habbit of feeding an animal on a regular basis. My husband cleans the litter box because at times it is really naasty and I dont want the kids near it. Eventually we do want to add a small dog to the family so the kids can learn the extra responsibility of taking it forwalks but that is not going to happen untill we get a slightly larger appartment.

I really like both cats and dogs, but I have to say cats are generally less work. When we go out of town for the weekend we can fill the cat's food and water dishes and just leave. That is not the case for the dog. She can only stay by herself for so long before someone will have to come over and let her out to go potty and fill her food/water dishes. I personally think dogs are more affectionate than cats though.

For me its being in school, not stable (I rent, I move and travel a lot). A cat is easier to move - I can even take mine with me on plane rides. That would be possible with very small dogs, but I like bigger dog breeds. Would love to have a dog as well, but I simply know that I do not have time to walk a dog several times a day, I may have a yard at different times but when moving coiuld end up not having a yard for the dog, and so on. I believe that if you take on a pet, you keep it. As far as danger, my cats have scratched me up during playtime many times in life, my dogs (that I had growing up) never hurt anyone their whole lives.