• Question: Do you know why cats and dogs seem not to get along, but some of them, are perfect friends?? Is it something to do with smell, or is it just evolution??

    Asked by planetcathy to Kevin, Charlotte, Jo, Louise, Valeria on 14 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by jessc.
    • Photo: Kevin Mahon

      Kevin Mahon answered on 14 Jun 2012:

      I answered this for other students – firstly why cats and dogs don’t get along at times..

      ‘The age old question!

      Couple of reasons – dogs are very sociable animals and very inquisitive, if a dog that has never seen a cat before see one – they’ll bound towards it! Which is obviously very scary for the cat!

      A big reason as well is the difference in body language – namely how they use their tails. Dogs wag their tails as a ‘friendly’ kind of invitation whereas a cat sees a wagging tail as a sign of distress/anger, which again is scary for the cat! So when the dog sees a cat wagging its tail in response he thinks it means ‘come play’! Whereas the cat is trying to be left alone!

      Dogs also love to sniff new things – which again is something the cat finds distressing.

      Whats very, very important is how a dog or a cats first interaction with the other is like – If it goes poorly and the animals are realtively young, they may be wary/scared of the other species for some time!

      All in all we can tie cats and dogs hating each other down to a series of unfortunate misunderstandings!”

      And why they can sometimes be friends!

      “It is definately possible for cats and dogs to get along – under the right circumstances of course! It is firstly, very dependent on the temperment of both the cat and the dog, and their experiences. Any cat/dog that has had bad experiences with the other species previously will have a hard time getting along.

      But if they have never experienced the other before and their first encounter doesn’t result in the cat getting scared or the dog getting aggressive, there is the potential for them to get along. I’ve heard many, many stories from cat and dog owners of cats and dogs living under one roof and even playing!”

      So it’s not evolution as such – they have not evolved to not get along, or to be friends – their relationship with each other hasn’t effected which individuals mate!

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