Episode 2

Are cats better than dogs? The results might shock you!

Hello, Friends. This is your host Josh and this is the Comprehensible Australian Podcast, a podcast for those who are learning English as a second language and want to learn more about life in Australia. Welcome to episode number two. Are cats better than dogs? The results might shock. So I'm your host, Joshua Pereira. I'm an English teacher and I speak Australian English. I love language, so that's why I became an English teacher. I'm making this podcast to teach you English in an enjoyable way. You can use this podcast to learn English. You can listen to my episodes while you are washing the dishes, walking the dog, or commuting to work or the train, or in the car. You can also look at the transcript for each podcast and study the words which are new, those words that you don't know yet.

OK, so let's get started so. The topic of our podcast today is cats. So I decided to make a podcast today about cats because I just really, really love cats. Cats are just my favourite animals in the whole world. Now, does that mean that I hate dogs, maybe you're thinking? Absolutely not. I do love dogs. I have had dogs my whole life so. I've had two dogs. One dog was called Texas, so we called him Texas. And the other dog we called Remi. So I've had two dogs. Now I have two cats, so maybe you're wondering why. Josh. Josh, why do you have two cats? OK, so I'm going to tell you about my 2 cats a bit later in the episode.

But first, I'm going to tell you a little about a little bit about cats, so some cat facts and a little bit of vocabulary about cats. So let's get started. As you may know, cats are a very common pet, especially in Australia. Cats are not native to Australia, so originally in the beginning there were no cats in Australia. So cats came to Australia for the first time in the 1800s, so about 200 years ago. So in the early 1800s, Europeans brought cats to Australia, so they are not native, they are invasive or introduced so they are not native to Australia like the kangaroo or the dingo or the wombat, so cats are not native to Australia.

So according to Wikipedia, so I'm looking at Wikipedia, there are 3.9 million domestic cats in Australia. So a domestic cat is a cat that lives in a house. So I have a pet cat. It lives in the house, so it lives at home with me, so it is a domestic cat. It's a domestic cat. So that's 3.8 million domestic cats in Australia in 2016, so that's 2016, it’s about five or six years ago. OK. So maybe there are more domestic cats now. In 2016, there were up to 6.3 million feral cats in Australia, so a domestic cat lives in the House at home. It's a pet, a feral cat lives on the streets. They don't live in a home that is a feral cat, a feral cat, a wild cat. OK, that's a feral cat.

So according to the Australian government, 27% of households, so houses, 27% of households have cats. On the other hand, 40% of Australian households in 2016 have at least one dog. So 40% have at least one dog, so that means one or more dogs. So compared to dogs, there are fewer cat owners, so there are more dog owners. There are more people who have dogs, but that's 27% compared to 40%. So compared to dogs, cats are less popular. So I think dogs are a little bit more popular than cats, but cats are still pretty popular. They're still fairly popular pets.

So here are some facts about cats that maybe you didn't know before. Fact number 1 : cats are independent. Cats are independent. That means they like to do their own thing. So with my 2 cats, I have two cats, they like to do their own thing. Sometimes they don't need me. Except for food, of course. They need me for food. So my cats, they like to be alone. They often like to be alone, they don't want to have other humans around them all the time, or other cats around them all the time. If you have a dog. I'm sure your dog loves to be with other people or your dog loves to be with other dogs. But cats, they're happy by themselves.

Fact #2. Cat breeds: there are fewer cat breeds than dog breeds. Let's start with dog breeds. Maybe you know some dog breeds already. Labrador, Golden Retriever, Chihuahua, Dalmatian: There are lots of dog breeds. Dog breeds are like different kinds of dogs. So I have two dog breeds, maybe Chihuahua and Golden Retriever, they are different sizes. They have different fur colours, so maybe the golden retriever is yellow and the Chihuahua is maybe. I don't know white. I'm not sure. OK, we have different dog breeds. They are both dogs, but they are different types. They are different kinds. So there are hundreds and hundreds of dog breeds. As for cat breeds, there are not so many, so maybe less than 100, I'm not sure.

So some very popular cat breeds are the Siamese, the Persian and the Main Coon. So actually I don't know a lot about cat breeds. And this is because in Australia about 70% of pet cats are mixed breed. So they don't come from a specific breed. It's not a specific kind of cat. So sometimes when it's not a specific kind of cat, like Maine Koon or Siamese, we sometimes call it something like domestic short hair or mixed. There's also a slang term, moggie. A moggie is a cat that isn't a specific breed of cat. There is a similar slang term for a dog which isn't a specific dog breed, so we call them mutts. But mute is a little bit offensive. Mogi is not so offensive, so I call my cats moggies. So they're not a specific breed. And often these kinds of cats that are not a specific breed, they're moggies or they're mixed. They are. Likely to come from shelters. Shelters are a place where you can find. Animals that need a home. So animals that need. Humans to take care of them. OK, so. My cats are from a shelter. So one day I went to the shelter because I wanted a cat. And at their shelter, they had lots of cats and lots of dogs. And those animals, those cats and dogs they needed. A home. They need an owner, so nobody was taking care of them. Except for the people at the shelter.

Fact #3 cats can communicate non verbally. So people can communicate verbally and non verbally. So if I communicate verbally I use words I talk, I tell you what I want to say. So you have a friend and I say, hey, I need something. Please help me. OK, I use words. I use words to communicate. People can also communicate verbally. So if I feel sad. Then maybe I cry. OK, maybe I cry if. If I don't want to talk to someone, so maybe I don't look at them, I don't look at the person. I don't want to talk to you, so maybe I look at my hands or I look at the floor. But I don't look at the persons face. Sorry cats. Also communicate nonverbal. So cats can communicate to humans. They can tell humans what they want using their bodies. Cats can use their tails, so maybe they move their tail very quickly or very slowly. They can use their ears so when their ears are up or down. So cats. Communicate non verbally. With other cats and also with humans, especially with humans. Share information. OK, maybe the information is Josh, Josh, Josh, please, please. I want food. I want food. I need food. Or maybe my cat is telling me. Oh, Josh, I just love you. I love you so much. OK, so this is how cats communicate with other cats and with humans.

Fact #4 cats are very agile. Cats are very agile. So sometimes we can call athletes agile, so these are sports people. So Agile is an adjective. If you are agile then you can jump really high so you can jump high. Or maybe you can run really fast. Sorry, that is agile. Compared to dogs? And compared to humans, adult cats are very, very agile. So if a cat is 1 metre tall, OK, that's a very big cat. If a cat is 1 metre tall, it can jump 6 metres in the air. It can jump six metres up. So imagine if you were a cat. So if you were a cat, you could. OK, so a human is, let's say 1.5 metres. 1.5 * 6 that's about. That's about 9 metres. So imagine that you could jump 9 metres into the air that's taller than a house. So a cat can do something very similar so. I have my cats at home and they're. Yeah, they're pretty short. They're not very big cats, maybe. I don't know about when. OK, when they stand, they're about 30 centimetres tall. And I know they they can jump on beds really easily. They can jump on the kitchen table really easily. They can climb very easily, so they are agile. They can climb so they climb on the walls. They can climb trees absolutely amazing and it's so easy for them. It's so incredibly easy. So cats are agile. They're like little athletes. They're like sportsmen or sports women or sports people.

Fact #5 cats are nocturnal. OK, so we have the word nocturnal. Cats are nocturnal, which means that they are night creatures. Are awake at night. They wake up at night. So why are cats awake at night? So many cats are more active at night. Because cats like to hunt at night. So we know that. There are many cats which are pets. But there are also many cats which are feral, so they live on the streets. They live outside, nobody owns them so. It's something natural about cats. It's something in the nature of cats. They like to hunt at night. So naturally. Cats are stimulated. They are more active at night. I know for my cats they are awake during the day a little bit, but they usually sleep during the day, so usually actually in the sunshine nearer window. They like to sleep during the day. When the sun goes down, it's night time, maybe about 6:00 at night. It's a bit darker. The cats they wake up, they want food and then they play all night. So I'm sleeping and I can hear my cats. They're in the kitchen. They're doing naughty things. So cats are nocturnal, they like to. Do things at night time and sleep during the day.

Fact number six, cats clean themselves. So if you have had a dog. Then you know. Dogs are very stinky. You need to wash your dog if you don't wash your dog, then your dog is really stinky. OK, they don't smell good. On the other hand. Cats, you don't need to wash them you usually. OK, usually you don't need to wash cats. You don't have to wash your cat. So I have two cats I have never washed my cats. I have never ever washed my cats and thank goodness, thank God that I don't have to wash my cats because maybe you already know. Cats hate water. Cats absolutely hate water. OK. Do you not have to wash cats? Why do you not need to wash your cat? The reason why you don't need to wash your cat is because cats. Clean themselves already. So according to Cornell University in the United States, they say that cats. Spend about 30 to 50% of their day grooming themselves. So how do cats grim themselves? They use their tongues. They use their tongues to clean themselves, so we we have a tongue in our mouth, you know, it's. Like a pink. To pink part of our mouth, I mean, they use their tongues to clean themselves, so they lick themselves. For about 30 to 50% of their day. Yeah. Now imagine this is you. Imagine you are a. At this means that you spend 30 to 50% of your day. Maybe having a shower? So for a human, our day is what about? Or 88 + 816 hours long. Sorry. We sleep for 8 hours and then you wake up. You go to work, you eat, you drink, you play. Yep, and that is 16 hours, so 8 hours for sleeping and then the rest is 16 hours. So if. We were cats. Then we would spend. Up to so at maximum 50% of our day. Cleaning ourselves. So 50% of. Our day that is about 8 hours. What? That's eight hours of cleaning yourself. 8 hours of having a bath, 8 hours of taking a shower. That's absolutely crazy. For that reason, my cats and most cats, especially pet cats that live inside. They smell. Yeah, for it. They smell good. They don't smell bad. My cats have never had a bath, have never had a shower, thank goodness. And they smell beautiful. They smell lovely.

Fact #7 cats have very sensitive whiskers. So imagine a cat. On a cat's face. Near their mouth. OK. On the sides of their mouth. They have long hairs, long hairs like similar to a beard or a moustache. And they go. To the sides, to the sides of their face. They're usually white, but sometimes they're black. So my cats have mostly white whiskers. And cats use their whiskers for these long hairs. To get information about their environment. Information like the temperature or wind and this helps them to hunt in the dark so we know that cats. Are more active. At night, they like to hunt at night or in the dark. Sorry, these whiskers are very very sensitive. They can get information about the environment. So maybe it gives them information about other animals. Or about other cats, or about the wind or the temperature. So cats have very sensitive whiskers.

Fact #8. So cats really love boxes. So lots of cat owners will tell you that their cats love boxes, they love going in boxes, they love smelling boxes, they love playing in boxes. And my cats are no exception. They love boxes and I think the reason why cats love boxes so much is because it's a place where they feel really safe. So in the wild. Outside on the streets there are lots of things in a cat's world, which is really dangerous, or which are really dangerous. For them. So other cats can be dangerous. There are dogs. There are other dangerous animals, other dangerous predators, so predators are dangerous animals. Cats like to be able to hide. They also like to be able to see around them so 360° around. When cats can hide and they can see around them, they feel really safe. And I think the reason why they feel safe in a box when they can hide and see around them is because in the wild and outside on the streets, there are many. Things in a cat's world. Which are very dangerous for them. Like other cats, so other cats can be dangerous. Dogs. Other animals. Other dangerous animals or predators, so a predator is a dangerous animal. It seems that for a cat. There are lots of things. Which are dangerous for that cat. So they like to be able to. And see around them and feel safe and they feel safe in boxes, I suppose.

Those were some facts about cats. So there were those were 8 facts about cats. OK, so now I'm going to tell you a little story. A true story, a personal story about. How I got my cats and how they have influenced my life? For most of my life. I always thought I didn't like cats. I always thought that I preferred dogs and. You know, when I was a child. I had a dog. It was no, it was on a small dog, but it wasn't a big dog. It was a medium sized. And his name was Texas. And I got him when I was 8 years old. And I had him until I was. 18 years old, he sadly passed away. When I was 18 years old and yeah, he was very sweet. Yeah, he had brown and white fur. He had very long ears. Big, beautiful. Eyes. His eyes were shiny, so you can see light in his eyes. They were shiny eyes. And he was very affectionate. He loved to give kisses and he liked to cuddle and, you know, sit on me. When I was watching TV. Those kinds of things.

So I always thought that I love dogs and I didn't like cats. UM. So you know Texas, my dog, he passed away when I was 18. And you know, my sister also got a dog. In 2020, yeah, 2020, the year 2020. Sorry, about four years ago. And yeah, I like her dog. So her dog is called Remi. So yeah. Yeah, I always thought I really like dogs. And then. UM last year? Last year I got TikTok, sorry. You probably know TikTok, it's an application, it's a phone app. And TikTok has a a feed, so a feed is where you can see lots of different posts. Sorry for TikTok, this feed is called. The for you page and on my for you page. I've got lots and lots of. Funny videos about cats, funny videos of cats. So cats doing funny things and jumping, you know, cats are agile and jumping and climbing. And, you know, cats sitting on their owners laps and being cute, the cats are really cute. And I just thought, Oh my goodness, I really need to get a cat.

Lots of my friends also had cats as well, so you know, I was about 21,22 and, you know, my friends were a similar age. My friends were also 21,22. And some of my friends, yes, they adopted cats so. They bought some cats too, from shelters. And usually if you buy a cat from a shelter, it's not very expensive. So maybe around $100, about 100 Australian dollars. In U.S. dollars, maybe that's, I don't know. I don't know what the US dollar is at the moment. I think it's about, I think 100 Australian dollars is about 150. The US dollars. So it's not very different.

And yeah, I met my friend's cat, so he actually my friend. His name is Josh. I used to live with Josh. I live with Josh, and from the ages of. From the age of 18 to. 20 almost 21 and when I moved out, Josh and my other, my other friends, they got a tiny little cat and ohh my goodness. This cat was so cute. Now at that time I couldn't get a cat. I lived at the university I lived. At my university, in a little apartment. At the university, you can't have a cat. You you are not allowed to have a cat. So I was. No, I was a bit sad because I really wanted a cat. The cat's my friend's cat. So Josh's cat was just so cute, so little liked to play a lot. So he was a little he was very playful. And I wanted this. I really wanted a cat. And then when I was about 23 and I got into a new relationship. And so I had a boyfriend and I really wanted. I told my boyfriend that I really wanted a cat. We lived together as well, and I told him I really wanted a cat. And he said OK, OK, Please wait. Just wait a little bit. Wait a little bit and then maybe we can get a cat.

Long story short, we never got a cat and then he and then we broke up. So we decided that we. Didn't want to be together anymore. We didn't want a relationship anymore. So it was, it was sad. And I I was a little bit crazy. Sorry. I was a little bit crazy. We were still living together in the same apartment. And I wanted a cat and he didn't want a cat. So what did I do? One day I was at university and I was looking at cats on the Internet, and I was looking at caps. I was looking at cats for adoption. So cats that needed. Room and you just need to go to the shelter. You need to go to the place and say yes. I want this cat. You just need to adopt the cat. And I saw these two little. Small cats, baby cats or kittens. I saw these two little kittens. They were just four months old. They were black and white and they just looked so naughty. They looked really naughty. Really cute. And I just decided. Right, right then and there. I need these cats, so I took an Uber. I took an Uber to the shelter.

It wasn't very far from the university. I saw the cats and I said. OK, I'm going to take them so. I took them home. I didn't know anything about taking care of cats. I went to the pet shop and I quickly bought. All the things that I needed, so I bought food I bought like a cat toilet. So we call it a litter tray. So I bought a cat toilet cat brushes to, you know, take care of their fur of their hair. I bought Cat toys and then I told my ex boyfriend hey I'm I'm very sorry but we now have two cats. I'm and then you know, he wasn't very happy about it. But you know, I didn't care which is OK. And then I moved out. So I lived with my family now and. So I moved from the apartment to. My family's house. So we live at the beach and yeah, now I have two cats, so my cats.

They have Russian names, so one cat is called Dimitri and the other cat is called Nikita. They are both boys. They are brothers, so they have the same mother. They are both black and white cats, so they have black bodies and they have white feet. Or actually we don't call them feet. We call them pores. So cats have 4 paws. Dogs also have 4 paws. So they have 4 white pores. And on their chest, so on their chest they have. Like a white part as well. So actually this kind of coat where the cat is black and white, we call it a tuxedo coat sometimes. And and I think it's really cute, a tuxedo is. Something that men wear so men wear tuxedos at special events like formal events, formal dinners. It's like a black bow tie, a white shirt and a black suit jacket and usually black pants. That's called a tuxedo. It's very formal. It's very elegant. It's very beautiful. So we call these kinds of cats that have this fur colour black and white. We call them tuxedos. So my cats, yes, they look like they are ready for a fancy dinner or they are ready for a special occasion all the time.

So many people say yes, cats are very independent. Cats don't like to be with humans. This is not true for my cats. My cats love. Evening time with people you know, I I walk from the kitchen and I go into my bedroom and my cats follow me. I go into my bedroom and I go into the office and my cats follow me. I am working at my laptop computer. I'm working at the computer and my cats. They sit on my keyboard. And when my cats sit on the keyboard, I can't work anymore. So it's very cute. It's also very annoying I get a little bit angry and I say Kitty Kitty. No, no, you can't sit there. And then I actually, then I put my cats in a little box and they're very happy. So I think before I got a cat, yeah, I felt a little bit sad. And you know, I I didn't know what to do with my life. I didn't really know my career. UM. And now that I have cats, I just feel, yeah, I feel really. I feel really happy. I've had cats for about four or five months now. And I feel really happy. I'm really happy every time I go home. I'm very excited to go home. I think you know most people when they finish work, they're really excited to go home. Every day I'm excited to go home and see my little kitties. So yeah, Kitty is a cute little cat. That's a Kitty. So that's the story of how I got my cats.

And for the last part of today's podcast, I'm going to. Share with you a little story about a very important tuxedo cat, so this is a black and white cat. In Australian history there was a English man. A very important English man and his name was Matthew Flinders. So he was born on the 16th of March in 1774. So the 16th of March 1774. And he died on the 19th of July in 1814, the 19th of July 1814. So this was about 200 or 300 years ago. Matthew Flinders is famous because. He sailed in a ship around Australia. And he drew a map of Australia. So he's a very famous Australian explorer in my city in Melbourne we have lots of place. Which are named after Matthew Flinders. So the most important train station in Melbourne is called Flinders Street Station. There's also. A street, the most important St in Melbourne is. Or one of the most important streets in Melbourne, I should say. Is Flinders Street station. So Matthew Flinders was on a ship. Matthew Flinders was on a ship and the ship sailed around Australia so it went around. Australia and he was the first person who did this. Matthew Flinders had a cat and this cat. Went with Matthew Flinders when he was. Sailing when he was on this ship. And this cat was born in 1799 and it is thought that he died. In 1804, and he died in Mauritius. So I'm talking about the cat. The cat died in Mauritius and this is actually where my mum was born. My mum was also born in Mauritius. And this cat was a tuxedo cat and. Matthew Flinders really loved his cat and. We know the name of the cat. The cat's name was trim, TRIM, trim.

According to history, this cat was very smart. It was very intelligent. And Matthew Flinders saw. On a ship, the ship was called the HMS Reliance and Matthew Flinders decided that this cat was his favourite cat. So sadly, Matthew Flinders was captured in a war. He was captured in Mauritius by the French, so he was an English man and he was captured by the French. So he was put in prison. Matthew Flinders was in prison. And he died in prison. So I think he was in prison for about 8 years and he died in prison. And when he was in prison, he really missed his cat. There are lots of statues of Matthew Flinders around Australia, so they're like pieces of art, really big pieces of art and. If you look at some of these statues, there is a cat next to you. Matthew Flinders and that's his pet cat trim the cat. UM, and I think that's just a really lovely story. And what I also love about this story is that. Cat trim the cat. Has the same coat colour as my 2 cats. Sir, I think that's really lovely. OK, so this is the end of the podcast. So today we talked about cats and I shared with you some facts about cats. A personal story about how I got my cats and also. A story about a famous Australian explorer, Matthew Flinders, and his cat.

OK, so I hope you enjoyed listening to the comprehensible Australian podcast. This was episode #2. Are cats better than dogs? The results might shock you. Join me next time for episode #3. Have a lovely day, a lovely evening or a lovely night wherever you are in the world. And I'll see you next time. Cheers.