Why do cats and dogs fight?
A cat and a dog are predators, which means they are rivals. They tend to compete with each other. In addition, the difficulty is the difference in behavior. Animals use body language when communicating.
The communication of a cat and a dog can be compared to the communication of people in similar, but still different, languages. Pets begin to understand each other over time, but in the beginning they may have problems.
Hunting instinct
Dogs are stronger than cats and therefore pose a threat to them. The cat may get scared and run, thereby provoking the dog to chase it. During the chase, the hunting instinct takes over the dog more and more: it begins to chase rather for fun, and by the end of the chase it may no longer be chasing with such good intentions.
As a result, a dog that was previously friendly may injure the cat. Some dog breeds are more inclined to treat cats as if they were prey (especially hunting dogs). You should never let your dog chase a cat, including during a walk.
Fight for attention
Animals are also prone to jealousy. Lack of attention towards one of the pets will also lead to a negative reaction from the deprived pet. Very often, a new family member is given more attention. This places the newcomer higher than other members of the "pack".
This is how the newcomer becomes an outcast among other pets. Many believe that cats do not need communication as much as dogs. The statement is not true: cats often show less love for a person, but this does not mean that they love him less.
Fight for territory
It is natural for predators to fight for territory because their survival depends on it. Even if they are not harmed by the new tenant in the house, their instincts still remain. Both dogs and cats protect their area. Even in relationships between dogs, accepting a stranger into the pack is always problematic and dangerous.
Cats are loners, so they generally do not accept anyone on their territory. However, at home, where there is always prey, the instincts are still weakened.
Official explanations
The variety of hypotheses speaks not only of good human imagination and observation, but also of the fact that the problem of the relationship between dogs and cats, which probably seems frivolous and stupid from the outside (especially compared to many others), has really been of interest to people for many years. In the course of numerous studies and observations, scientists have developed several theories according to which the enmity of cats and dogs is explained by the following:
- different lifestyles (pack dogs versus individual cats).
- fight for territory.
- different interpretations of body language by animals.
- imitating the behavior of the owner.
- reluctance to contact.
- influence of genotype.
How to introduce and make friends between a cat and a dog
The easiest way to get to know each other is to get a kitten and a puppy at the same time. Their instincts are not yet so strong; they do not yet defend the territory. Introducing adult pets will be much more difficult.
In any case, the first meeting should occur only when both pets adapt. You should not give animals the opportunity for physical contact during the first meeting.
If the animals are adults, then it is safer to use a muzzle and a cat carrier when introducing the pets. If the first meeting is successful, it is worth giving the animals a treat to encourage them and also make the first meeting more enjoyable. The cat should always have the opportunity to escape: there is no need to keep it close to the dog by force. At first, it is worth keeping the new family member in a separate room.
How to make friends between a cat and a dog? Tricks from an expert
For some reason, many people believe that cats and dogs are enemies.
There is even a saying: “They live like a cat and a dog.”
Anastasia Kalinina, an expert at the BelNovosti news portal, tells how to make friends with pets.
It is believed that a cat and a dog do not understand each other's sign language. For example, a cat wags its tail when it is angry, and a dog when it is happy.
The dog raises its paw, inviting to play, and the cat - threatening. A dog shows its teeth and flattens its ears when it calls to play, and a cat does so when it defends itself. In fact, it all depends on the owner.
It is easiest to make friends between a kitten and a puppy when they are about the same age. Then the kids play, sleep and even eat together. And when the dog is taken for a walk, the cat can accompany it. Such friendship can last a lifetime.
A dog easily accepts a kitten when it has puppies of the same size and age. Then the kitten becomes an outlet for the dog, because the puppies are taken by their future owners.
A kitten gets along well with dogs if it was born in a family where the owners have a good-natured dog, whom the mother cat allows to tinker with her kittens.
Such a kitten in a new family does not show any fear or aggression towards the dog. Thanks to this, the dog favorably accepts the new tenant.
If you want to get a kitten, but don’t know how your dog will behave, then go visit friends who have both a dog and a cat. Maybe the dog is even the same breed as yours.
Then your friend’s cat or cat will not be afraid of your dog and you will be able to see its reaction. If your dog is friendly, then you can adopt a kitten.
If your dog is chasing cats on the street, then you will have to look for a small kitten who does not know that he needs to run away from dogs. Then, under strict control, you can teach the dog not to show aggression towards the baby. Give your dog treats and praise if the dog is calm.
Strictly punish aggression towards your child. To avoid conflicts, do not allow the kitten to get into the dog's bowl. It’s also best to remove your dog’s favorite toys.
If you have an adult cat and you want to take a puppy into the house, then make a sleeping place for the cat on some kind of elevation. Then the puppy will not disturb the sleeping cat. Feed your cat on a table or windowsill.
Do not allow the puppy to bite the cat; give treats for calm behavior. If the cat is aggressive or timid, then it is better to stick plastic anti-scratch caps on its claws. If the cat is very worried, then you can give it anti-stress tablets based on medicinal herbs.
It is advisable to start giving tablets to a shy cat a few days before the new pet arrives in the house. Do not leave your cat and puppy unattended until they are comfortable with each other.
It will be difficult to make friends with adult animals. Especially if they had a negative experience: the cat could be chased by dogs, or the dog could be scratched by a street cat. In this situation, it is important that the first meeting does not end in a brawl.
The dog must be kept on a leash. You can feed them in the presence of each other, praise them for their indifferent behavior, then take them back to their rooms again.
In this case, the animals will rub against each other for a long time. Here, too, anti-scratch protection for cats and a muzzle for dogs are recommended in difficult cases. You will need a lot of patience.
It is especially difficult to make friends with a hunting dog. Burrowing terriers are very intolerant of cats due to their explosive temperament. Here, it is still better to introduce an adult, calm cat and a puppy or a kitten and a puppy.
An adult hunting terrier may not accept an adult male cat; this is risky. This is especially true for dogs participating in practical hunting or baited in a hole.
This requires strict control and, probably, a cage for the kitten for the first time. So that the dog sniffs and gets used to the stimulus.
There are very frequent cases when cats rub against their dogs and walk together in the countryside. The cat brought mice to our old spaniel. In a game, the cat calls our collie to climb a tree, and in the barn the dog chases mice into the cat’s claws.
So a cat and a dog can be great friends and understand each other’s language. Nobel laureate Konrad Lorenz in his book “King Solomon's Ring” describes the game “Buffalo Hunt”, where a cat depicts a hunting lion, and a dog very realistically depicts a dying, mauled buffalo.
I myself observed such a picture, where the lion was a teenage kitten, and the buffalo was an adult collie. And the game ended with joint licking or hunting for the collie’s luxurious tail.
Good luck to you and your pets!
Photo: Pixabay
Getting a puppy if there is an adult cat in the house
There are no particular difficulties when meeting an adult cat and a puppy. It is necessary to let the puppy adapt.
The cat and puppy need to get used to each other's smells. To speed up this process, you can give your pets bedding and each other's toys. Before the first meeting, it is better to tire the puppy a little by playing with him.
An active baby should not be allowed to immediately start pestering the cat. During introductions, the cat usually behaves quite calmly; over time, it begins to treat the puppy like a kitten.
Official theory
There are many more interesting myths and tales among the people about the reasons for mutual dislike between animals. But these are just fairy tales. People who study the habits of pets give more plausible explanations for the cause of hostility:
Different behavior. A cat and a dog are diametrically opposed creatures. The dog is a noisy creature that loves to run, bark, and frolic. Let your dog into an unfamiliar apartment, and he will immediately rush to explore and inspect the rooms.
And a calm, unperturbed adult cat prefers to lie more, looking around. She is characterized by innate isolation and indifference. Philosophers! But this behavior is typical of cats who are wise in life - young fluffies behave differently.
Curious dogs, wanting to get to know the cats, run towards them. Outraged by the shamelessness, the cats quickly run away, trying to scare off the impudent ones with their hissing and raised fur. This provokes the mischievous dogs even more – a fun chase begins.
Here we should also take into account the “Jewish” character of the purrs, who consider the place in which they live (a house, an apartment and even a street) to be their personal, inviolable property. The arrogance of dogs is immediately suppressed - cats aggressively defend their territory.
"Predatory" legacy. Dogs are driven to chase cats by an innate instinct that is transmitted genetically. Dogs are hunters by nature and will run after any moving object. Hunting habits intensify when the dog is outdoors. There is a similar, but diametrically opposed theory:
The wild ancestors of cats (lions, tigers, panthers, leopards) always pursued small relatives of dogs (hyenas, jackals, coyotes). The fear of big cats is ingrained in the subconscious of canines. Seeing the little purrs, the barking pets begin to take revenge. Instincts are awakened by the smell of a cat.
Unpleasant memories. Sometimes the kitty is quite peaceful and doesn’t mind playing with the dog. But the dog refuses the friendly relationship and snaps at the cat. This reaction is caused by unpleasant memories (a young dog was offended by a cat, scratching a curious person on the nose). The dog grew up, but the hostility and fear of purrs remained, fixed in the subconscious.
The owner's character. Owners of tailed pets are also capable of developing a hostile attitude towards cats. If a person is loyal to purrs, the dog, looking at him, will not show negative emotions.
But as soon as the owner demonstrates hostility towards felines, the dog duplicates human feelings. Enmity appears between pets.
This is interesting. Speaking about the difference in the behavior of animals, one curious feature was noticed - verbal contact. Dogs and cats have diametrically different body signals:
- A dog's tail wagging means interest and affection. In cats, tail movements indicate irritation or danger.
- When cats purr, they express pleasure. And the grumbling of dogs means a threat and a warning of an attack.
- If the dog raises his paw, he offers to play. The cat perceives this as a threatening action.
- Cat-like arching is a pose that signals an upcoming attack. And the dog, who does not understand this, reaches out to sniff the strange creature or lick it, getting hit in the face with a paw with sharp claws.
Animals perceive verbal signals differently. This is the source of misunderstanding. What to do?
Getting a kitten if there is a dog in the house
Getting to know an adult dog and a kitten becomes more and more problematic. The dog may perceive the kitten as prey or a toy.
If the dog is calm about cats, then the acquaintance will most likely go quite smoothly. Otherwise, you must muzzle the dog and use a leash to control it. If the dog shows aggression, it is necessary to pull it away.
A friendly attitude should be rewarded with a treat. You need to pay more attention to the dog at first so that it is sure that the attitude towards it has not changed.
In any case, the first meeting of pets should take place under strict supervision.
Basic rules of behavior if you have a cat and a dog at home
To create and maintain a friendly relationship between a cat and a dog, it is necessary to follow some rules of behavior. The main mistake of the owner is to unconsciously induce jealousy in animals. It is almost impossible to avoid conflict if pets are provoked.
Feeding
When your pet is eating, personal space is especially important for him. Only the owner of the animal can violate it. In order not to give your pets a reason to violate the personal space of other inhabitants while eating, you should place their bowls away from each other.
Feeding a cat and a dog should happen at the same time, so that no one is offended because the other pet was fed earlier. During feeding, it is necessary to ensure that the dog does not take the cat’s portion (sometimes the opposite happens).
You may be interested in our article: How and what to feed a puppy from 1 month to a year. Useful tips for beginners
Attention
You should always give all pets the same amount of attention. Many people single out the special, the best and the most beloved among their pets. This cannot be allowed. If you can see that the animal is jealous, you should once again pay attention to it.
However, some pets persistently demand all the attention of the owner and are jealous of any attempt to communicate with someone else. This behavior should not be encouraged: the animal needs to get used to the fact that not everything should go only to him.
Domination
With the arrival of a new family member, the struggle for dominance will begin. If for puppies and kittens this ends only in games, then in relationships between adult pets everything can be much more serious. An animal owner should never lose authority in the eyes of his four-legged friends, always remaining the leader of the “pack.”
To be a loved and respected leader, animals must be judged fairly. You cannot put one pet above another, allowing it to oppress other family members. There is no need to interfere with a simple manifestation of dominance, without a quarrel or a fight: finding out your position in the family is simply necessary for pets.
If you approach the process of getting to know a cat and a dog correctly and help them build a relationship, then they may well become good friends. It is important to always remember that a cat and a dog, as well as their relationship, are a great responsibility.
Before you take on such responsibility, you should make sure that you can keep a cat and a dog. We are talking not only about financial costs, but also about attention, an attempt to understand the logic of your pet. If you have the necessary time and desire, you can even make friends with an adult dog and a cat.
Fight for territory
The second theory is closely related to the first theory. Since dogs and cats are predators who protect their possessions from outside encroachments, their relationship is the result of competition for territory, which they are forced to divide among themselves. This, by the way, can explain the facts we noted about the aggression of domestic dogs and cats towards their relatives living outside their territory and, accordingly, being strangers to them. However, from this perspective, the possible friendliness and even affection between a dog and a cat living in the same house is incomprehensible, and here we can again recall the upbringing and attitude of the owner towards these animals. It is quite possible that a dog accustomed to a cat perceives it as part of its pack, which has one common goal - to protect its home from outside incursions. From this point of view, a person is considered by her as the leader of the pack, to whom both animals obey.
If we return to competition for territory, we can recall the study conducted by an international team of biologists of a large number of fossils found several years ago in North America. Its results led to an interesting conclusion: it turns out that the appearance of cats on the North American continent caused the extinction of most species of wild dogs. Scientists have found that before their appearance, more than three dozen species of animals from the canine family lived in North America. Currently there are only nine of them, including the domestic dog. Scientists see the reasons for this not only in climate change, which the wild ancestors of dogs managed to survive, but also in competition between dogs and cats for food. Wild American individualistic cats, which at one time came to America from Asia, turned out to be more effective hunters than pack dogs, which led to very tragic consequences. This fact is “remembered” by dogs at the genotype level and, according to scientists, is the main reason why dogs hate cats.
This version is supported by the fact that in the African wild there is still competition for food between large cats and wild dogs. As for peaceful coexistence in a home environment, everything here is also quite understandable: if there is no reason to compete over food in order to survive, a dog will not quarrel with a cat, especially if they have been “familiar” almost since infancy.
