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Living with Dogs and Cats
31 August
1999
Dogs think:
My owners feed me, love me and take good care of me, they must be gods!
Cats think:
My owners feed me, love me
and take good care of me, I must be a god!
Potential pet-owners might think it is difficult to keep the peace in
a household with a cat and dog but Animal Behaviour Consultant, Dr Joanne
Righetti, says dogs and cats can live together peacefully and become
great companions.
"The simplest way of ensuring that a dog and cat will get along in your
household is by acquiring them both at the same time or introducing
them gradually.
"The younger dogs and cats are when they are first introduced the better,
because then they have the opportunity to grow together and become familiar
with each other from the outset," said Dr Righetti.
Should a household introduce another pet when there is a dog or cat
in residence already, there is potential for problems to arise. In these
situations it is best to think of your pets as siblings. Just as children
can become jealous of all the attention given to newborn babies by other
household members, dogs and cats can also become jealous of the fuss
over new family pets.
"Apart from evenly distributing attention and affection to each pet,
there are a number of things you can do to ensure your dogs and cats
get along," Dr Righetti said.
"When you first bring home your new pet, put them in a room behind a
closed door for a few days so that your other pets can get to know the
new arrival 'through the door' and with minimal confrontation.
"This way your pets will discover each other through smell, hearing
and other senses that dogs and cats use, so when you introduce them
face-to-face, they will already be familiar with each other.
It is also a good idea to keep your dog on a leash for the first few
face-to-face meetings."
Case Study
One Sydney family with a two-year old Border Collie dog, Timothy, and
a two-year old Tabby cat , Henry, used to experience events that are
common for owners of both dogs and cats. Timothy, a friendly dog, often
approached Henry to play. Henry was not as enthusiastic and usually
responded to Timothy's invitation with a swipe to the nose. As a result
Henry avoided Timothy by seeking higher ground - perching on things
like couches and bookshelves - to keep out of Timothy's reach. After
following some of the simple steps mentioned above, Timothy and Henry
are now getting along, proving that peace can exist between dogs and
cats.
"This is a fairly common situation for households who have a mature
cat," says Dr Righetti.
"To ensure that dogs and cats get along, owners need to allocate their
pets their own bed, food bowl and toys, and look out for warning signs
of potential conflict.
When the dogs and cats do get along, owners should reinforce this behaviour
with rewards and attention. When they have scuffles, owners should make
it clear this kind of behaviour is unacceptable and introduce commands
such as 'settle', 'easy' and 'gently'."
Another effective measure is to feed both the dog and cat at the same
time so that they associate the sight of each other with a pleasant
activity. It is a good idea, however, to keep the cat’s bowl higher
off the ground in this case!
With these measures dogs and cats can live together happily and even
become caring companions for each other.