Fighting Like Cats And Dogs
Lisa and I recently lost our cat, Moose, after 16 years. We got her about five months after we got Bo because we thought he needed company when we were at work.
They got along great, running and playing together like the best of buds. When we got Copper, years later, she also fell in love with Moose. She used to follow her everywhere and would actually lick her face. I think Copper believes she’s a cat.
After Moose passed Lisa swore we would never get another cat. No, not because we don’t love cats, but because Moose had a constipation issue for the last 13 years. It was so bad that one of the chapters in Bo’s book, Unleashed: Memoirs Of A Man’s Best Friend (Kensington Books, Oct ‘09) is called Enema Of The State.
Last week all that changed after Lisa found a cat on our sister site, Catster, and fell in love with Sunshine. On Saturday we picked her up and when we got her home Copper looked like it was Christmas. She was so excited that she was going to have a new kitty buddy. Unfortunately, Sunshine had other ideas and poor Copper got a big swat on the nose. I’m sure they’ll eventually work it out.
As I was reading the news this morning I came across an article on a study that was done by Israeli researchers on the relationship between cats and dogs.
Tel Aviv University researchers said they found two-thirds of the homeowners they surveyed reported a positive relationship between their cats and dogs.
“This is the first time anyone has done scientific research on pets living in the same home,” Joseph Terkel of the department of zoology at Tel Aviv University said in a statement. “It’s especially relevant to the one-third of Americans who own a pet and are thinking about adopting a second one of the opposite species.”
Approximately 200 pet owners were used in the study. After analyzing the data the researchers concluded that cats and dogs can live together peacefully. Although, it was found that there were better results when the cat is adopted first and both animals are young.
Hmmm…I should have read this about a week ago. There is hope things might settle down in our house, and peace will resume, because according to Terkel “cats and dogs learn how to talk each others language–or read each others body cues.”
That does seem to be true, right now that big swat to Copper’s nose is coming through loud and clear.
Any Dogsters that have a dog and cat give us a bark, or meow, to share your story.
I kept a feral foster kitten Dsl (named because his constant hiss sounded just like his rescuers DSL line) because from the first when he would not come to me, he slept with my dogs. He still does. He plays with them and comes on walks with us.
Last year, I fostered an unsocialized Chihuahua. I was told she had 2 puppies, but when she came, she had 2 puppies and 2 kittens (that she had rescued).
Eliza
I have a min pin named apollo. When he was 3 we adopted a kitten named bandaid. The first few months were a struggle but eventually they got along. They play fight now and genuinely love each other. However any other dogs that enter Bandaid’s territory beware. She is not a friendly cat toward strange dogs. Even though my sister’s dog bu has been around since we got her she has never taken a liking to her. I guess cats are just fickle creatures!
I love this article. I got a puppy at three weeks old and several weeks later adopted a kitty. They are about the same age, and have always loved each other. A year and a half later I found a kitten in the woods and brought it home. He fit in no problem. Then I adopted a pit bull that was about a year and a half old. Although at first I was a little nervous about not knowing Sundae’s background. I realized everything would be okay when she was eating and let the cats come up and eat out of her bowl. People are always amazed at how well my pets get along. They play and sleep together…no problems. I am glad to hear this is the rule rather than the exception, and I do think they learn to understand one anothers body language.
Several years back during the reign of Star Wars I recieve a orange colored kitten.He was given to me by a girl who was in love with the drummer in a band in a bar that I knew for years and he was interested in me;So she gave me the kitten as a piece offering.I name the kitten Star Wars because I liked the movie and because I felt it was two stars at war…Anyway I carried him in my purse throughout the loud music until I went home and introduced him to my 6yr old dog Ebony Princess who was named by my brother after the song;Ebony Princess…..Princess allowed Star Wars to suck her nipples as if she was his mother,mind you Princess had never been with another dog,she would always protect her stuff by sitting down every time another dog came sniffing…This scared me thinking the now a cat was hurting her since her nipples were very red,but I was told it wasn’t hurting when the cat was about 2yrs he stopped….There was one thing Star Wars used to do that made me laugh and was unique; was when he would hang on to the dogs neck while she walked around the house.He would hang like a bag of groceries,I quess Princess was taking he for a ride..Star Was got lost for about 8 months when he was a kitten, during Christmas week the children that I had gather to spend the night were playing in my hallway the apartment door was open.All of a sudden the children started screaming they were saying that my cat had just run into the house.I asked were did he go and how do you know it was my cat.They said he ran into the closet.Now the closet is were I made the animals go when I had company..By now The super is asking for he cat and the children were saying that not your cat you stole it thats our cat.So I picked up the cat agreeing with the children since a strange cat would not come into a house were there is a dog;No sooner than I said that the cat jumped out of my arms ran to my dog and hung on her neck like a bag of groceries and then ran into the closet…The children were fussing I was fussing and Princess started barking and chased the Cat-napper away ..Afterwards the children, Princess, Star Wars and myself laughed and celebrated the return of Star Wars……Blessings
i’ve had atchoo for the last 14 yrs and she’s always been a timid cat. her only encounters with dogs have been unpleasant (chasing and fisticuffs). we recently adopted elvis (9 mos old) because we wanted to adopt and also because he lived with two cats previously. elvis is learning to deal with atchoo’s hissing, and atchoo is slowly but surely learning that elvis is here to stay and allowing him to walk within 2-3 feet from her…just so long as he doesn’t start any funny business. atchoo will sometimes sit/lay in the hallway blocking elvis’ access to certain areas of the house, but he finds a way around her…either taking a different route or whining for an escort. it’s been a month since elvis has joined our family, i can only see great times ahead for elvis and atchoo
Sorry to hear of the passing of your beloved kitty Moose.
Yes I think more dogs like or tolerate cats than not,bol. Our grrl was mothering a tiny kitten when we adopted her. She got a wake up when she got swatted by our local neighborhood dock cathooligans,bol. 
They all know she was not going to eat them,some are as big as her too.;)