Cats and Dogs: Do They Get Along?
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| Photo: Jiri Vaclavek/Shutterstock |
By Zazie Todd, PhD
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Can cats and dogs ever get along? Isn’t there always a risk
that the cat will become a furry snack, or the dog will get a scratch to the
nose? Although we often talk about ‘cat people’ and ‘dog people’, in reality
many of us are both, and want both as pets.
There’s some good news from a study by N. Feuerstein and
Joseph Turkel, who looked at cats and dogs that live in the same home. They
distributed a questionnaire to pet owners who had both cats and dogs, and also
spent time in the house observing how the cat and dog interacted when in the
same room. Where people had multiple cats or dogs, they chose the animal to
observe at random, so they were just observing the interactions of one dog and
one cat. They classified the behaviours on a six-point scale that included
friendly, indifferent and aggressive behaviours.
In approximately 66% of the cases, the cats and dogs showed
amicable behaviours towards the other animal. In about a further quarter, they
were indifferent; they were aggressive in less than 10% of the cases. One
important factor was the order in which the animals were acquired; dogs were
more likely to be friendly to the cat if the cat had been adopted first.
Also
important was the age at which they were introduced. They were more likely to
have a friendly relationship if introduced at a young age, which for cats was
less than six months, and for the dogs was less than a year old.
So if you are planning to get a cat and a dog, it makes
sense to get the cat first. Of course, if you are adopting a dog from a rescue,
you can find one that has already lived with cats, or at least has been tested
to see if it is friendly towards cats.
One very nice finding from this study was that the cats and
dogs often seemed to understand each other’s communication, even though there
are differences in the signals they use. For example, a wagging tail is a sign
of friendship from a dog, but of nervousness or impending aggression from a
cat.
This did not stop them from getting along; the cats and dogs seemed to be able to read each other’s body language. The dogs had even learned a cat-friendly greeting. Cats often greet each other by sniffing noses, and the dogs in the study were observed to do this with cats.
This did not stop them from getting along; the cats and dogs seemed to be able to read each other’s body language. The dogs had even learned a cat-friendly greeting. Cats often greet each other by sniffing noses, and the dogs in the study were observed to do this with cats.
These nose-to-nose
greetings occurred more frequently in the animals that had been introduced at a
young age, suggesting that early exposure to the other species enables it to
learn their communication signals.
If you liked this post, you might like my book Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy
. Modern Dog calls it “The must-have guide to improving your dog’s life.”
. Modern Dog calls it “The must-have guide to improving your dog’s life.” If you're a cat person, you might like to check out my book Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. Dr. Sarah Ellis says, "Purr is definitely a book your cat would want you to read!"
Does your cat get along with your dog? Have you seen them do
a nose-to-nose greeting?
You might also like: Finding out if dogs like cats - or not.
Reference
Feuerstein, N. L., & Terkel, J.
(2008). Interrelationships of dogs (Canis familiaris) and cats (Felis
catus L.) living under the same roof. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 113(1-3), 150-165. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
