An animal shelter that only cares for cats and dogs has 8 fewer dogs than cats. the animal shelter has 12 dogs. use the five-step problem-solving plan. how many cats are at the animal shelter?

I'm not sure what you mean by the five step plan, but to get the answer, just think about the clues. 

     (c = number of cats)

      8 fewer dogs than cats can be written:    c - 8

since we know how many dogs there are:   c - 8 = 12

                Now, just solve for the variable:   c = 20

Hope I helped :)