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Can dogs and cats really get along?
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Seven-year-old Miss Kitty checks out Maggie, the new
puppy in the house. At only 13-pounds, she never
would think of backing down from the two full grown
dogs in the house, weighing 60 and 85 pounds. She
is a dog-friendly cat that establishes the rules at the
first meeting.
In the cartoon world, dogs and cats are always at odds with each other. In the real world, dogs and cats can get along, suggests a study, so long as the cat is in the home first and introductions are made at a young age.
Neta-Li Feuerstein and Joseph Terkel, zoologists from Tel Aviv University, are the first to tackle the issue of whether dogs and cats can live together in harmony. Their findings, to be published in the Applied Animal Behavior Science Journal, reveals that puppies and kittens learn about each other more easily while still young.
Terkel told Discovery News that "like children, who learn a new language more easily than adults, so too did the cats and dogs learn their new 'language' more easily, the younger they were."
Youth is always best for learning another's "language." But having worked in an animal shelter for several years, I also know first-hand that older dogs and cats can live together harmoniously when two things are carefully considered: the personality of the pets and that first introduction.
First, the personality of the pets: Body language is what dogs and cats understand best. But dog and cat body language is in general contadiction with each other: Dogs wag their tails when they are happy; cats wag their tails when they are stressed or anxious. Therefore, an assertive cat with a raised tail approaching a somewhat submissive dog with a wagging tail is more likely to elicit a positive reaction from the dog, since the dog sees the cat's wagging tail as friendly. An assertive dog wagging his tail and approaching a submissive cat, however, can be misunderstood as a threat, scaring the cat away. So while an assertive dog might frighten the cat, an assertive cat is likely to be the leader of the pack.
Second, proper introductions are very important, especially in the dog/cat world. Those first meetings should be done with the dog on a leash, so there is no lunging or chasing allowed. Once the dog and cat learn how to act around each other in a controlled environment, there is less likely to be problems later on.
Of course, dog and cat people know that both pets can live together in peace (I have two dogs and two cats introduced at various ages). But it all depends on those first introductions and the individual personalities of the pets -- and it seems with older pets, as the study points out, cats like to be top dogs in the house.
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