how to make an *if* statement loop?

Question

i am new to python and i'm just trying simple exercises with if statements but i want my statement to loop, what i have is...

species = "cat"
if species == "cat":
    print("yep, it's a cat")
    species = "dog"
if species == "dog":
    print("and that's a dog")
    species = "horse"
if species == "horse":
    print("look at that horse over there")
    species = "cheetah"
if species == "cheetah":
    print("WHERE DID THE CHEETAH COME FROM?")

(yes it is a little silly) is there a way to continuously loop the statement and is there a way to limit the amount of times it loops? if there is a better way do what i am trying to do and if what what is it?

Answer 1

I would store this data in a dictionary, and then you can loop through that:

responses = {
    "cat": "yep, it's a cat",
    "dog": "and that's a dog",
    "horse": "look at that horse over there",
    "cheetah": "WHERE DID THE CHEETAH COME FROM?"
}


for species in ['cat', 'dog', 'horse', 'cheetah']:
    response = responses.get(species, 'none of those here')
    print(response)