Cat and Dog Living Together
A conflictive relationship
Cats and dogs are famous for their
conflictive relationships and there are some reasons for it. Due to
the fact that they belong to different species, their codes and body
language is not the same and this causes them to misunderstand each
other and then conflicts appear.
There are several ways in which cats
and dogs express and communicate through their codes and body language
differently from each other. Most of the times, dogs rise their paw
willing to play, while cats rise it defensively and willing to hit
the other, and therefore a dog could misunderstand this sign and try
to play with the cat when he would actually hurt him. Another clear
example of the difference between the codes of cats and dogs is the
way in which cats wave their tales when they are angry while dogs
do so when they are happy or willing to play, becoming a major misunderstanding
among them.
Getting used to each
other
Despite of the fact that cats and
dogs show very different signals, codes, and body language, they can
actually learn to understand each other and then live together without
any major problems. This must be achieved slowly and carefully, preferably
by following the advice from a professional, since a fight among a
cat and a dog could cause a dangerous situation.
Enemies becoming friends
Cats and dogs can actually become
good friends if they recognize each other's place in the family. Once
they get used to each other and positions are clear, a cat and a dog
can even play together and become good friends. Once a dog recognizes
the cat as part of the family or part of the pack, he will respect
the fact that he lives under the same roof, and although he might
not become his friend, they could live together without any major
problems. This does not always happen, and sometimes, depending on
the cat and the dog's personality, a cat and a dog could find it impossible
to live together, and therefore it is very important to be very careful
at the time of introducing the new pet to the resident one.
