Question

An animal shelter that only cares for cats and dogs has 8 fewer dogs than cats. The animal shelter has 12 dogs.

Answer 1

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 :)