All cat behavior can be explained by this one phrase:
Cats is weird.
I’ve got cats and dogs living together in my house too. It’s pandemonium.
Question: Can your neutered dog still get it up? I’ve only had female pets but I always thought the neutering put a damper on that sort of thing. But if neutered pets can still go thru the motions, then I’d speculate the reverse of your wife’s theory: that your cat had his way with your dog. Now he loves the dog because after 6 long years, he’s finally found a use for this annoying creature (and if my theory holds water, your cat is also a slow learner).
Now recently my spayed female cat started getting all affectionate with the dog. After much research and many vet visits, we discovered that a small amount of ovarian tissue had been left behind during the hysterectomy and that tissue can and did regenerate. So now our spayed cat goes thru random heat cycles where she becomes very loving and even propostions the dog. Too lazy to go dig up the cites, but not sure there is a male version of this phenomenum anyway.
Other possibilities: Your cat has repressed his homosexuality all these years -and therefore expressed hostility towards the object of his gay affections, your hot pug,-but is now your cat is finally coming out and isn’t afraid to show it. OR, cats are just weird and their behavior is bizarre and follows no logic. So go figure.
Any chance you recently gave the dog a bath with a different soap? He might smell/taste different.
It could be a sign of the apocalypse. I know from a 1984 documentary that such things portend evil:
And you didn’t post any of them here? Shame!
On your question, I have heard of this happening before with older cats. But no real explanation (as with much of cat behavior!)
Yes. He sits around with a boner all the time. Cat never does.
No.
An anectdote I saw recently, doesn’t really explain anything. My girlfriends mum has several cats, and, as of last year, a dog. The dog is the bane of the cats lives and delights in chasing them.
However at some point one of the cats decided she wasn’t going to take it anymore (OK, maybe I’m anthropmophising, but she definitely stopped running away when chased). Now that one cat and the dog get on swimmingly, they play together and clearly both of them clearly enjoy it. But the other cats run away and are still treated like “prey” to be chased (though she never does anything to them when she catches them, and in fact its the dog that inevitably comes off worse).
I have several cats and one dog, all the cats have varying degrees of tolerance for the dog. Luna, the youngest, likes the dog and even plays with her. Purranna who’s about second oldest, hates the dog the most. She has chased the dog on several occasions and enjoys peeing on the dog’s bed whenever the dog goes outside. Several months ago, Purranna was sick. The biggest clue I had that she was not herself was that she was sleeping on the dog’s bed with the dog. Although the dog was scared of her and was sleeping on the corner of the bed and kept casting a nervous eye towards the cat. She didn’t go so far as cuddling with the dog but she definitely wasn’t herself. So if the cat hasn’t had a full physical exam recently you may want to think about getting him checked out.
Your cat obviously realizes that neither of them are getting any younger, and sometimes the plans you make for your life when you’re a kitten just don’t pan out like you thought that they would, and it’s not that he’s settling exactly, I mean, he’s no Rin Tin Tin in the looks department but he’s a good dog with a steady income…