I like cats and dogs both fine, but I don't like having to take care of them. My dad is an animal lover, so we've always got some kind of pet. At the moment we have a pitbull and two cats. I don't mind them, and I do like having them around, but if I had the choice of animal vs no animal, under the circumstances that I would be the sole caregiver (as in if I were living by myself or under some other odd situational circumstance), I would rather not have one. It's not exactly that I don't want to take care of one, but I'm just a naturally introverted person, and I don't think I'd spend enough time with it. I would just feel bad, like I was neglecting it or something.

If I had to choose between owning one or the other, or if I ever change my mind and decide to get a pet, I'll definitely own a cat before I own a dog. Cats require much less attention and are pretty self-sustained. Assuming they aren't de-clawed ( D: ), they can hunt for themselves and won't have any issues with you being gone for long periods of times. Owning a dog would be harder because you would have to either take it with you or make arrangements for its care before you left if you were going to be away from it for any period longer than a few hours.

So, in the end, cats > dogs, I suppose.
:3