In Multi-Pet Homes, Cats Are Top Dogs
Aug. 18, 2008 -- Dogs and cats can make nice with each other, suggests a new study -- so long as the cat is in the home first and introductions are made at a young age.
The paper, according to authors Neta-Li Feuerstein and Joseph Terkel, is the first to examine relationships between dogs and cats living in the same house.
One noteworthy finding of the study, which has been accepted for publication in the journalApplied Animal Behavior Science, is that if the animals are introduced to each other while still a puppy and a kitten, the two can actually learn each other's body language.
Terkel, a professor in the Department of Zoology at Tel Aviv University, 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."
The scientists gathered their data from two primary sources. The first was a questionnaire directed to people who owned both dogs and cats. It was distributed by veterinarians, on the Internet and through the university in Israel.
The second was direct, in-home observation of dozens of pets by the researchers.
For each visit, they had the owner roll a tennis ball between the dog and the cat, to see if mutual play existed and to determine if one species would dominate the other. They then placed canned cat food (which most dogs will eat) between the two to see how they'd react. Finally, the owners were asked to stimulate positive interaction by playing a game with both the dog and cat.
During the study, the researchers took special note of body language that has the opposite meaning for dogs and cats, according to other studies. For example, tail wagging in dogs can signal amicable and submissive reactions, but the same behavior can be a sign of stress, or even aggression, in cats.
The scientists found the cats and dogs with the best relationships in households where the cat had been in the home before the dog was adopted. But surprisingly, they say, this has more to do with the dog than the cat.
"An analogy can be drawn with homes in which a dog is adopted either before or after a baby is born," according to the scientists. "When the dog enters a home with a baby in residence, the status quo is already in place. However, when the baby is born after the dog has become accustomed to a certain amount of attention, and the focus now turns to the newborn child, the status quo is altered, and the dog will often display behavior resembling jealousy."
The study also found that cats do best with dogs when their age at first encounter is six months or younger. For dogs, which have a longer learning period, that age extends to a year.
Body language was so well read by cats and dogs fitting these scenarios that the researchers were able to document a dog behavior never before described.
Normally dogs sniff each other's nether regions to get information. In the case of successful multi-pet households, the dog may sniff the cat's nose, which is a common habit among cats. The mutual nose-sniffing looks a bit like an "Eskimo kiss," where an individual rubs his or her nose on another person's nose.
John Bradshaw of the University of Bristol School of Veterinary Science believes it's important to remember that, although dog and cat behavior can be somewhat predictable and controlled, each animal is an individual. He said, for example, that some cats seem to be bolder than others, with boldness appearing to be an inherited trait from fathers.
Bradshaw also suggested that home is where the heart is for cats, while dogs are more flexible.
"Cats are territorial animals and are likely to be stressed, and therefore less able to learn, when removed from familiar surroundings, whereas puppies' territories are usually centered on familiar people rather than specific places," he explained.
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