Are Dogs and Cats Really Enemies?
The sour relationship between dogs and cats are so legendary we guess you already know it. But, are they really natural born enemies?
Written by : Felis (Unpad’17) The Cat Corner Lead Editor & Pet Dog Owner
Reading time : 3–4 mins
There is one old saying, “Fight like cats and dogs” that refers to the natural predisposition of the two species’ relationships to be rather adversarial. Pop culture blast it to the masses in form of kids cartoons such as Nickelodeon’s CatDog, or, WB’s Tom & Jerry that they are mortal enemies. It is not that I disliked these TV shows but they role helped shape out perception of so many people regarding to this issue.
Cats and Dogs Function Differently
Cats are loners. Well, sometimes they will spend time with their human or the other cats but often they also enjoy wandering off the street and spending time on their own. Cats live by their own rules, due to the nature of their ancestral species.
While dogs really like to chase things — cars, bikes, and could even running person. Dogs also preferably chase smaller things. A dog sniffs other dog’s butt, later they are buddies. They enjoy the company of others, whether it is their human family or other dogs. That is the very reason why some people call dogs as ‘the human’s best friend’.
In the wild, there is a high chance a stray dogs chase stray cats too. When the predator instinct kicks in, this behaviour would naturally turns out being a ferocious fight between the two. When it comes to animals, it’s difficult to end a fight once it’s underway. A friendship may seems quite unlikely here and I would be freaked out.
I happen to have both a cat and a dog find these animals get along pretty well together. My first pet is Fino the dog who’s been around for 3-ish years with my family. My second pet is Luna, a cat I adopted from my neighbour back in March. One interesting event is not too long ago when Luna gave birth to 3 kittens and my dog get along pretty well with the babies! I am so scared at first thinking Fino going to hurt them, seeing them as a new toy to bite off, or other things I cannot even imagine. As the babies grow, Fino plays with them! Apparently the kitties see Fino as a big brother to play with. Fino and Luna could also living together. My experience shows that these two don’t get on but whilst they might never be best buddies, they can certainly learn to tolerate each other so that everyone can live together in harmony. This showed that cats and dogs can live together under the same roof.
That’s in my case.
To validate my point, I jumped straight into a lot of academic publications. Topic of cat-dog relationships is somewhat hard to find, yet I found one titled: “Cats and dogs: Best friends or deadly enemies? What the owners of cats and dogs living in the same household think about their relationship with people and other pets”. The researcher gave questionnaires to 1270 residents of Italy who own both a cat and a dog. The study found that most dogs and cats sleep at least occasionally (68.5%) and play together (62.4%). 42.8% dogs lick the cat and 41.8% cats are more likely to ignore dogs around them!
This study also confirms, I quote, “…the common beliefs about the sociability of the dog and the privacy of the cat, but this does not result in continuous internal struggles.” and “most cohabitations are peaceful”. It is true that they speak different languages, but this study concludes they seem to understand each other well and interpret each other’s approaches in the right way.
Another study in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior titled “Evaluation of the relationship between cats and dogs living in the same home” from 1131 participants finds that majority of owners perceived their cat and dog to get along well together. Nonetheless, very few owners indicating that although the cat-dog relationship could largely be considered as amicable it was rarely considered a close relationship. More results on the table below:👉👇
It is safe to say that a peaceful coexistence between cats and dog under the same roof is a possibility and it is really good to know everyone is a friend to another.
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Property of The Cat Corner Blog, 2021. This article is in the public domain available for re-use.
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