I notice that in real life (not just cartoons) dogs seem to hate cats and view them as enemies.
Competition for prey?
Please go easy if this question is an old one . . .
They don’t do they? I think it’s just that dogs like chasing things and cats are one of the more common animals around to chase.
I think that dog and cat body language is just quite different - the way a dog wants to play is the way a cat attacks. Plus if you had a great big critter several times your size barking and lunging at you, your first reaction might not be to assume that it’s friendly.
Another body language issue – when a cat’s tail is wagging back and forth it means that it’s stressed and might lash out. A dog might approach what appears to be his new best buddy and walk into a swat to the face, followed by hurt feelings on all sides.
Ah, yes, the ol’ language barrier problem.
To a cat, dogs are awkward, slobbery, and don’t clean themselves properly. And they’re so servile – obviously, they have no self respect.
However, my Lab and the cats got along fine. One of the cats would occasionally rub his head against the dog – to claim ownership, I guess. The dog generally ignored the cats. The exception was when he got home from a week in the hospital. He decided he needed to bathe the cats with his big, wet tongue, thus confirming every stereotype the cats had of him. They didn’t counter attack, but they didn’t hang around for more than a lick or two.
Dogs will generally tend to chase anything smaller than themselves, especially if it’s not another dog (although when the size differential is significant, it will happen - big dogs will chase small dogs).
In most cases of dog-chasing-smaller-non-dog, it’s a case of:
-The smaller animal is a bird, a rabbit, a rodent - and it escapes
-As above, but it doesn’t escape, and is injured/killed/eaten
-The smaller animal is a cat, for whom flight is not the only option on the menu, when chased.
So it’s not that dogs chase cats - they chase all kids of stuff - it’s that when dogs chase cats, it often ends differently to when they chase other animals.
Well…
Excerpts from a Dog’s Daily Diary
8:00am Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30am A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40am Walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30am Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00pm Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00pm Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00pm Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00pm Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00pm Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00pm Wow! Watched TV with my master! My favorite thing!
11:00pm Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!
Excerpts from a Cat’s Daily Diary
Day 683 of my captivity : My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape… In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the floor.
Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a “good little hunter” I am.
The audacity! There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of “allergies.” I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.
Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow – but at the top of the stairs.
I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released --and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded! The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. The captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe…for now. -By, some dude on the internet
Oh, wait, dogs hating cats…
In that case I think it’s an issue of them being smaller, and potential prey. Dogs chase all sorts of critters - rabbits, squirrels, mice (though many tend to get away because they’re so tiny). However in my personal experiences a good amount of domesticated dogs and cats get along (or they play out old Tom and Jerry episodes with Spike and Tyke in them after the humies leave… maybe with less cat losing).
What Mangetout says. If the cat was replaced by some other small pet freely roaming households / yards, dogs would chase them and someone would ask why do dogs hate X?
I don’t think dogs don’t like cats at all. I believe the relationship is more about the cat the dog. Sure dogs like chasing things (ANY thing…is there any other animal that will chase a stick?) and so when a cat runs on seeing a dog the dog thinks "Yay it’s chase time! But the dog is not chasing because it doesn’t like the cat just because chasing is fun.
I have always lived in a house with at least one cat and one dog and from what I have seen the relationship is always determined by the cat. Dogs understand the difference between ‘our’ cat and other cats and are happy to accept a cat in the house (happy- but sometimes over curious. A new thing NEEDS to be sniffed!). The cat is one who sends out the hostility rays. They tend to assume the dog wants to eats them and bring on all the nasty cat noises and the hissy attitude. Once the cat has decided the dog is ok all is well.
We once had a German Shepard who watched (nose millimetres away) our cat give birth and then pretty much adopted the kittens. She used to lick the kittens as the cat nursed them, she followed them about the house nudging them gently if they wandered too far, she loved them like they were own. She pined for weeks after they found homes (their mother didn’t seem to notice).
'Other" cats are just sticks to dogs…things that move fast ie; FUN. If cats chilled out a bit dogs would ignore them.
Obligatory my dogs like cats just fine pics.
I think it’s often a communication barrier thing. When my cat wants to wrestle with the dogs, he does cat play stuff like bite their legs; when the dogs want to play with the cat they do the play bow, and the cat has no idea what they’re talking about. But dogs and cats often get along fine.
Awwwwwwwwwww cute pics! See dogs do like cats!
I have one small cat and five very large dogs.
The cat came here as a kitteh and was basically raised by the dogs.
He comes when called, runs up to the door when I get home, same as the dogs.
He will wrestle with the dogs, and the dogs will often bathe him. He doesn’t swat them, nor bite them.
Really? My cat does this all the time, to everything - doors, furniture, me - how’s this related to claiming ownership?
I vaguely assumed she was ‘scratching’ her whiskers …
Another vote for a language barrier. Worse than a barrier really…it is like opposites in some cases. Like if I said, “I love you” and you interpreted that as “I hate you”. Causes much grief and misunderstandings.
But yeah, they can get along with some familiarity. The first week a dog and cat in the same house meet can be rough though. Or in my house where the cat just refuses to be friends at all and has been like that for many years. Like a perpetual Cold War (complete with minor little battles here and there).
Cats have scent glands on either side of the top of the head (cite)
We had both a cat and a dog simultaneously when I was a kid – they got along fine (until they got old and crotchety, and then it was just minor irritation), so it’s not inevitable that they hate each other.
Animals will get in each others’ way, though, and it’s not the usual thing to treat other species as tolerantly as one’s own – they’re not “people”. So dogs, being largwer, will bully and chase the cats. Cats will avoid the dogs, but fight if cornered.
It’s not just cats and dogs that exhibit this kind of behavior. I once saw horses chasing a cat 9talk about a one side advantage) at a farm. But I think that dogs and cats, being common domestic species, are more common for people to see and comment on.
My dogs like cats a lot. They are always trying to visit the cat next door, who is about 18 years old and just had a cancerous leg amputated. He used to run away, but now is willing to visit (and it’s not just that he “can’t run away” now).
The older dog had been a stray and had had, we imagine, the opportunity to “meet” all kinds of animals, so cats are no strangers to him. He is extremely gentle with all. The younger dog spent all her life until her adoption as a puppy mill production line worker, so before her rescue, we don’t think she had seen another animal besides her fellow slaves. She is very eager to chase squirrels and may come off a little hyper, but she really wants to be friends with cats. They don’t hate cats.
Hijack: Is there any way to get a cat to get along with a ferret? I’ve heard it’s impossible. Ferrets are prey.
We had a Maine Coon cat that got along with the dogs just fine. He preempted any potential bad feelings by making strategic diplomatic overtures and establishing that he would not attack or flee, then mostly ignored them.
Then again, he had a somewhat doglike personality to begin with (at least as far as we were concerned).