The age-old argument: Are you a cat person? Or a dog person? Though I love all animals so much, I have to say that I have a preference for cats. I've had pets all my life: dogs, cats, fish and even a turtle. I have to admit that my cats have been my favorite to own. After two years of not owning any pets of my own, I was immediately reminded why I love cats so much after I acquired two kittens in the last seven months. I certainly consider myself to be a crazy cat lady, always have and always will. Here are many reasons why you should be as well!

1. Size.

Cats are smaller than most dogs. Much smaller. Unless you have something like a chihuahua, which I personally consider more of a rat than a dog. And if you like small, fuzzy animals, then they're absolutely perfect! If you're concerned about your cat shedding, then you could always get a hairless cat. In that case, you'd have to be willing to live in constant fear because let's be honest, those things are kind of scary.

2. Necessary care.

Cats are incredibly independent. They need very little more than someone to fill their food and water bowls and changed their litter. Beyond that, they groom themselves and do their own thing. Unlike dogs, they don't need to be taken on walks, let outside several times a day or groomed. Also, because of their independence, it makes it much easier to have multiple cats. Having multiple dogs can be quite a handful.

3. Expenses.

According to a study done by the ASPCA, cats are less expensive than dogs. Here's the breakdown on yearly averages:

• Small dog – $1,314 the first year, $580 per year after
• Medium dog – $1,580 the first year, $695 per year after
• Large dog – $1,843 the first year, $875 per year after
• Cat – $1,035 the first year, $670 per year after

According to the study, small dogs are about 90 dollars cheaper than cats to maintain yearly, but the first year of ownership is more expensive than that of a cat. Dogs in general tend to cause more household damage than cats. Those may not be yearly expenses, but there is likely to be an expense down the road during dog ownership that relates to household repairs. For example, new carpeting or furniture might be necessary after owning a dog for any period of time due to accidents. Dogs also have a tendency to chew, so there may be a need for other new household items such as shoes. The extra yearly cost for dogs is likely to be due to grooming and toys, two things cats don't need a lot of.

4. Quirks.

First of all, cats tend to be quieter. You won't be getting any noise complaints about your cats from the neighbors. Even chatty kitties aren't problematic.

Another quirk is a commonly known one. Cats are curious by nature- hence the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat'. Dogs tend to be followers, so they're more curious about what their owners are doing. Because cats are so independent, they explore more things on their own. This leads to a lot of interesting situations, including the trend 'if I fits I sits'. With the many cats I've owned in my near 19 years of life, I've seen them do some weird stuff. More so than the dogs that I've own in my life. All because they're curious little babies.
Other weird quirks of cats are things like eating bugs. That's a nice quirk to have because they take care of any bugs that get into your home. I've literally never had a cat who didn't eat bugs. To put that into perspective, I currently have two cats. Growing up, I had five cats consistently. One of those cats had five litters of kittens, a total of 15 kittens that we raised and gave away. We also brought in strays here and there. That's more than 20 cats in my life time, every single one liked to chase and eat bugs.

My favorite kitty quirk is their point of view of their people. Cats consider their people to be big, hairless versions of themselves. This is why they bring us dead animals as "gifts". They think you need to be taught how to hunt and they love you so they take care of you. My kitten takes it a step further. If I put a dirty plate onto the coffee table, he will dig to try to cover it up. That's his way of cleaning up after me.

5. Snuggles

Most kitties love to snuggle, and they'll snuggle with you anywhere. Because they're so small, they don't take up too much space when they snuggle you. And you can always tell how happy they are because they love to purr. It's especially special when a cat chooses to snuggle with you, because they're independent so it tends to be on their watch.

Overall, cats are sweet, independent, lovable creatures. They are easy to fall in love with, you'll soon desire more. And then you'll become a crazy cat lady like me!