"I like small animals, for example cats."

Translation: Lubię małe zwierzęta, na przykład koty.

[Court211039]

Having trouble with the distinction between "Lubię" and "Podoba mi się". For example, here I wrote "Podoba mi się małe zwierzęta, na przykład koty" and this response was marked as wrong. Hovering over "I like" also produced the translation "Podoba mi się", exacerbating my confusion.

[alik1989]

https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/35422745

https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/27726068

It's a difficult question. When referring to animals, the verb lubić is used, for the most part. I was trying to find a text sample where podobać się is used in this context and the result was, well, horrifying.