Is the cat or the dog more human?

[caption id="attachment_10646" align="alignleft" width="300"] 'Hot cat' in bed, not on tin roof - wikimedia commons[/caption]

Marsha Hunt-----Apparently animals are more human than thought, according to a Deakin University study. That leads to the question: who is more human-like, a cat or a dog.

Researchers find that both animals and humans can be unpredictable, especially when it comes to the amount and type of activity either might perform. Studying the unpredictability of animals is a first, as it has generally been assumed that animals operate mostly on instinct and humans through thought and language. However, in examining the behaviors of mosquitofish scientists learn they too vary in terms of activity levels.

For years the dog was the favorite pet of most people. But the rank of #1 has been taken over by cats. Less maintenance is cited as one of the chief reasons folks are now favoring cats. Another reason cited is their level of independence. People see cats as having more of that unpredictable behavior that scientists are now studying. Whether that's the truth or not is yet to be discovered, however, as research on the subject of animal behavior in terms of human-like characteristics continues to unfold.

Is the cat or the dog more human-like, one might further ask. It turns out that many people consider the dog to be friendlier in many respects, although needing more care than the cat. Research has found, however, that as a general rule dogs like to be petted and many cats do not, despite the fact they appear to sit patiently on a lap. That unpredictability is a human-like trait, in terms of the cat allowing themselves to be stroked or not, as the dog on more occasions will be content to predictably enjoy that human touch.