Are Cats Cleaner Than Dogs?

Most people would agree that cats are cleaner than dogs.

This is true.

Cats are far more flexible than dogs meaning they can lick clean almost all of their body, the parts they can’t reach with their tongue they clean with their paws which they moisten.

In contrast, dogs love things with strong smells, often these are dirty things such as poop and rubbish which dogs love to roll in.

While cats spend up to 50% of their waking hours cleaning themselves most dogs won’t care if they are covered in dirt and will make very little effort to clean themselves.

Cat Self-Care

One basic fact that you have to keep in mind, is that dogs need help from their owners to get clean, whereas cats can do the job themselves.

Cats comport themselves quite happily, in fact they spend 50% of their time grooming themselves, both the males and the females.

Cats are obsessive self-cleaners.

They use both their tongues and their teeth to groom their fur.

As they are very flexible creatures, they can reach most parts of their bodies with their mouths.

For the harder to reach parts they wet their paws with their own saliva and use them like washcloths.

Dog Self Care

Dogs don’t have that physical dexterity.

All dogs can reach are their paws and their privates.

Dirt in general doesn’t bother them.

‘So I’m dirty, who cares?’ seems to be a dog’s approach.

They are perfectly happy to let someone else do the job.

So, if you are a dog owner and want a clean pooch, roll up your sleeves and get scrubbing.

Not all dogs take to wet washing, but almost all of them love a bit of grooming with a brush.

It is said that breeds like Huskies, Basenjis, and Canaans do actually clean themselves, but they are exceptions.

Potty Training

When it comes to evacuating their bowels, to put it nicely, cats are quite fastidious.

On the whole they like to do it in private like any civilised animal.

They also like to cover up the mess they have left behind.

Whether this an instinctive hygiene reflex or just embarrassment, nobody knows, but it adds to their reputation for cleanliness.

Some indoor cats are so anally-obsessive that they won’t use a dirty litter box or even share one with other cats!

Dogs, on the other hand, are a different matter. 

Dogs go when and wherever they want to.

They aren’t civically minded and don’t suffer from social embarrassment.

As a concession, they make a half-hearted attempt to cover it up, but it’s just for show.

Bad Smells

Cat urine may well smell, but there isn’t any odour from their bodies because of their constant grooming.

Both cats and dogs will moult and shed dander, but dead skin and oil build-up on dogs make them pong a bit.

If you don’t want that ‘wet dog’ smell around the house you’re going to have to get the brush out and groom Fido, because the dog certainly won’t do it.

Both dogs and cats, like most living creatures, carry bacteria in their mouths, but you never hear of ‘cat’s breath’ as opposed to ‘dog’s breath’, which is well known.

At one time, when we had coal fires, dogs would clean their mouths and teeth by chewing lumps of coal and also bones.

Nowadays, with our change in energy use, it’s only bones or specially-designed dog chews/treats.

So Who Is Cleaner?

This one is a victory for all those cat lovers out there.

Their flexibility and general love of being clean and doing the cleaning makes cats the clear winner here.