Am I wrong, or are catsand dogs natural enemies?
I know many live together but in the wild, would a dog go after a cat to eat it?
You know, outside of cartoons, I don’t know that I’ve noticed a particular enmity between dogs and cats. Dogs will chase strange cats out of their territory, but they will do the same thing with strange racoons, opposums and mail carriers. When I’ve seen dogs and cats residing in the same house they seem to ignore one another.
[bill murray]…dogs and cats living together…[/bill murray]
In the wild I suspect it would be the other way around. A big cat might go after one of the weaker dogs in a pack, but the pack of dogs would need more meat than a most big cats would offer, and it certainly wouldn’t be worth the fight. Dogs pretty much stick with vegetarians, I believe.
Most dogs are chase hunters and will go after anything that runs from them. I suppose this instinct would be good for wild dogs (wolves, etc) who live in packs. Cats (other than lions) tend to be solitary creatures, usually ambush hunters. Upon seeing a dog or pack of dogs, most small cats will hide until they think they’ve been spotted, then run to the nearest tree/cover, and the dog’s instinct would be to chase.
We have 3 cats and 2 dogs. They pretty much ignore each other.
No cite for this, but I have heard that Cougars will not tolerate dogs or coyotes in their territory and will kill them given the opportunity.
It could have something to do with the fact that dogs and cats (or any predators) sharing territory would be competing for food.
Dogs will certainly kill and eat cats in the wild. Dingoes are one of the primary predators of both feral cats and foxes, one of the major reasons for encouraging their populations in national parks. In recent years dingos on the fringes of suburban area have been causing problems by killing pet cats.
I’ve seen footage of Cape Hunting dogs chasing and killing a cat (can’t rememebr which species) and I imagaine wolves would also happily snack on cat since they eat anything else that moves to slow.
I don’t think this is the result of any particular enmity (although apparently wolves will go to great lengths to kill foxes for sport) but rather because cats are fresh food to a wolf.
I don’t think dogs and cats are any more enemies than dogs (or cats) and any other animal of similar size and space. It’s also difficult to look at the world and see if they are “natural” enemies because most of the places where ferral or tame dogs and cats are found are certainly not their natural habitats. Sure, medium sized dogs will chase or beat up a cat if they’re feeling up to it. If they are really hungry, they’ll kill it to eat. But dogs will also kill other dogs to eat as well. In fact another dog might make an even easier meal than a cat. On the empty army base near my house, I saw a coyote bouncing through a field. I also found another dog skeleton, scattered around in bits. Somebody’s pet Bowser didn’t come home one night:eek:. Since dogs are much more apt to approach and sniff each other, and can be lured out by other dogs, they might find themselves on the menu of a ferral canine more often than a cat who’ll duck and cover or vamoos as soon as anything scary is heard.
I have a Dog as well as a Cat. They are good buddies. They play well together, but the difference in size (The Dog is a Cocker) means they have adopted different tactics to compensate. The Cat likes to ambush the Dog, whereas the Dog likes to charge the Cat.
My thought is that if Dogs aren’t often around Cats, they think of them as other animals to be checked out, chased off, and even hunted. This is how my Dog goes after squirrels. But once the Dog(s) and Cat(s) get accustomed to each other, it’s OK. Oddly, while my Dog is fine with our little tabby, she still barks after and tries to chase a friend’s black Cat. She seems to think the black Cat is not the same kind of animal as the our tabby.
In sum, it’s how the animals react to each other.
Maybe it depends on the dog. While some dogs may tolerate cats I have a clear recollection as a child of seeing a large dog wandering down the street, spotting a cat, chasing it, cornering it by a fence, and then killing it mercilessly. As far as I know the dog didn’t know the cat… but for all I know the cat may have been tormenting the dog for years. Nevertheless as soon as the opportunity arose the dog attacked the cat and the cat was no more.
A bunch of screaming kids pulled the dog off so I have no idea if it would have eaten the cat or not. But it killed it nonetheless. So I know at least one dog that didn’t like cats. I would say they are natual enemies in the sense that dogs will chase lots of small furry animals.
It would be interesting to see how a dog would deal with a rabbit. My WAG is that as long as the rabbit stood it’s ground… which large male rabbits tend to do… the dog wouldn’t attack… but I might be all wrong about that.
For domestic animals, I always thought the rule was that cats will put up with, or even befriend, dogs who were already in the house when the cat was introduced. So, if I already have a dog or two and then go out and get a kitten, the feline will grow up accepting dogs in their territory as normal. However, ig you already have a cat or two, and introduce a dog into that household, the fur will fly. I can back this up with anecdotal evidence, but nothing more.
Hasn’t anyone ever noticed that dogs and cats have an almost diametrically opposed communication system?
[ul]
[li]Dog – Tail wagging means happy[/li][li]Cat – Tail wagging means pissed off[/li]
[li]Dog – On its back is submissive[/li][li]Cat – On its back is trying to bring all claws to bear[/li]
[li]Dog – Swat at things with paw is playful[/li][li]Cat – Swat at things with paw is maybe playful and maybe trying to remove your nose[/li][/ul]
I’ve wondered how much of the cats-n-dogs mythology is caused by dogs and cats misreading one another? Dog sees cat wagging its tail and thinks it wants to play. Cat sees dog constantly wagging its tail and thinks the dog is perpetually pissed off.