Can cats and dogs live together without constantly being at war? It seems that they very often can.
We often hear people declare themselves to be a "cat person" or a "dog
person", but browsing through the various pet forums it appears that
there are many of us who equally like both cats and dogs.
My son has a beautiful Border Collie who was the only pet of the
house until she was five years old. Then three part Burmese kittens
were brought into the family. Mollie the Collie and the kittens were
introduced to each other slowly, and Mollie was taught that the kittens
were not to be harassed. Naturally she was given extra doses of
attention and affection, just to show her that the kittens were an
addition to the family, and not a replacement for her.
As the kittens grew they soon learned to dominate the dog, after all
they are felines and a canine must know its place - besides there are
three of them. Often when Mollie is snoozing, or just reclining
chilling out, one or more of the cats will just walk right over her,
forgoing the niceties of walking around the dog. Mollie gives the
impression that this behavior does not bother her, but sometimes a
little sigh of exasperation is heard.
Rarely do the cats take any interest in what is in the dog bowl,
Mollie on the other hand, will quite often take a sniff of the cats
lunch, and if one of the cats is close by it will give her a warning
hiss.
I don't think that it can be said that the cats and Mollie are great
friends, they never appear to play together. They live together in a
state of tolerance, rather than friendship, but the relationship seems
to work very well, my son's house is free of cat and dog fights.
But from reading the posts on the pet forums, many people report that their cat and dog are the best of buddies.
A lady writes that her Boxer and tabby curl up together on the sofa.
Another post from an elderly gentleman reports that his Persian cat
often hitches a ride on the back of his Labrador cross. Many pet owners
write that they have a cat and a dog that snooze in the same basket.
There are many amusing posts about cats and dogs being taken for walks
together. There are stories of cats and dogs being absolutely
inseparable, even accounts of dogs pining for cats that have passed
away.
All this does not imply that any old cat and dog can be thrown together
and get along like a house on fire. Some dog breeds are unlikely to put
up with sharing their home with a cat. Hounds and hunting dogs, for
example may not be a wise choice. Also not all breeds of cat are
sociable or tolerant enough to live with another species of animal.
When introducing cats and dogs to each other do it slowly and
make sure that you are always in control. Never leave your pets without
supervision while they are learning to get along with each other.
Feeding your cat and dog in separate places, and at separate times is
probably best until they are used to one another.
Remember that two or more dogs are likely to have a pack instinct, and
could see a new kitten as prey. If yours is a multi-dog household and
you are adding a cat to your pet family, make the introduction one dog
at a time. Remember also that it is not only dogs that can hurt cats,
frightened cats can inflict nasty scratches to inquisitive puppies and
dogs, and a scratch on the puppy's eyes could be serious.
So can cats and dogs live together as friends? Yes, they can, it may
take patience and perseverance on your part, but the result will be
worth it.
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Article added to SearchWarp.com on Monday, September 04, 2006 View other articles written by Larry Chamberlain(1,863)
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