Cats and Dogs: Living in Harmony?

CHAN SHER LIN — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:26:00 GMT

Think of this scene, the dog chasing the cat, and the cat chasing the rat and how the cycle will go on and on forever. Here, let us focus our attention on the cat and the dog. How many of you still hold on the belief that the coexistance of cats and dogs is impossible? Although such situations do happen in real life, but it is still possible for a cat and a dog to live together.

Cats and dogs are naturally mistrustful of each other and it is really difficult for them to accept each other. Most dogs are natural predators, and they are designed by nature to chase and catch smaller animal for food. Even though dogs are domesticated for thousands of years, this predatory instinct still stay within. On the contrary, the cats automatically defend themselves against larger predators. They climb trees, and will try to scare the enemy by spitting and hitting, or launch a counter attack with its claws and teeth. Therefore, it takes a great deal of patience and effort on the part of the pet owner to train and persuade the dogs and cats to learn to live in harmony with each other.

There are several ways of training both the dog and the cat to coexist with one another.

Training of the Dog

First, teach the dog that the cat is off limits altogether and shall not be disturbed under any circumstances. This can be done by placing the cat within the dog's visual range and then taking the dog through several short daily sessions and insist that the cat cannot be approached in any way. Repeat this procedure every day, bringing the cat a little closer each time, and if the dog makes a lunge for the cat, jerk him back immediately and order him to LEAVE the cat. When the dog sits calmly or ignores the cat even when it is right next to him, let it walk around the room while the cat is present. BUT, always keep a lookout and pull the dog away IMMEDIATELY if it shows signs of a chase. REMEMBER TO ALWAYS REWARD THE DOG FOR OBEYING YOU AND IGNORING THE CAT!

Training of the Cat

Cats are highly territorial and antisocial in nature and thus, it can be difficult to introduce new dog or puppies to a resident cat. Therefore, constant reinforcement of positive social behavior will be encouraged. Cats are not like dogs, where you can take it for an obedience course to teach them how to deal with a dog. Give them some space and time to accept the new 'friend'.

In addition, cats should not be introduced to a home with dogs that have chased and tried to kill cats. These dogs will probably find it difficult to see cats as anything other than prey, and even if they do not actually manage to catch the cat they can make his life pretty miserable. Similarly, a puppy have to be protected from a territorial bully of a cat that has, by virtue of his prior experiences, a lifelong hatred of dogs. Sometimes a dog in such a situation will learn to avoid a dangerous, unequable cat. In other instances, the cat may spend his life in trepidation of the dog. Neither of these situations is desirable be avoided by prevention or rehoming of one or other of the feuding parties.

If you are thinking of mixing species, ask whether they are predatory, aggressive, territorial, solitary, or gregarious. It will give you the genetic drift on what to expect. Then ask, how the species was raised, with whom, by whom, where, and when. Next you should also look into and additional information about prior interspecies interactions of the species in question.

Here is a clip to show that IT IS POSSIBLE for a cat and a dog to live together in harmony. Here, it shows how an adult dog attend to a kitten who had just lost its mother.

Here is another video showing how Lacey, a 14 week old puppy, and Hannah, a 8 month old cat, get along together.

Always give the cat and the dog their own territory. Do not force them together to let them settle down at their own speed. You will need time and patience if these two animals from entirely different species are to become friends. It probably will happen eventually, but until you are absolutely sure, DO NOT LEAVE THEM ALONE TOGETHER!

References:
Cats and Dogs: Peaceful Coexistance, Cat Care Tips, Retrieved on 19 March 2008
Cats Living with Dogs, Petplace.com, Retrived on 20 March 2008
Cat meets Dog, will they live together peacfully?, Gwen Bailey, Retrieved on 19 March 2008
Call Me Friend, A Kitten and a Dog, Retrived 19 March 2008
Are Cats and Dogs really Enemies?, Retrieved 29 March 2008
Cat and Dog Best Friend, Retrieved 30 March 2008

Showing the Other Side some Love

ROBERTS SHARON JANE — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 08:32:00 GMT

I was searching some online news sites a while ago when I came across this very interesting story. Now, it is not surprising to hear of "special" offspring being the result of intimate physical encounters, such as the Liger, a combination of a Lion and a Tiger, or even a Zorse, the result of a Horse and a Zebra's past-time activities (Hemmy.Net, 2006). However, this really takes the cake for me. What on earth would you call these very special children of a, I can only assume, proud Mother Cat? Dats? Cogs?

Picture by National Geographic <http://new.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/11/photogalleries/wip-week4/photo3.html>

Yes, this is supposedly the result of a Dog and Cat having intercourse.

This article, featured in such credible sources as the National Geographic and other online news sites, tells of a woman in Brazil, Cassia Aparecida de Souza, who claims these cat-pups among her litter of six are a result of her cat, Mimi, mating with a neighbourhood dog three months earlier. Three of the animal offspring in the litter were such cat-pups, while the other three, with more feline features, died a while after birth. (National Geographic, 2006).

This story created much hype and media attention (WayOdd, 2006). However, most of the responses ran along the same lines.

When two organisms are inter-bred to make a "new" organism, the new organism is termed a hybrid. Hybrids of different types of dogs are not uncommon as the parents ultimately still belong to the same species (WashU, 1996). However, as many of the professionals put forth,

    "the two organisms crossed must be very closely related to produce any offspring...they must at least be in the same genus, although often that is not even enough...crossing animals from different genera will not produce offspring" (WashU, 1996).

Other responses:

    Danelle Karth: "science fiction, hopeful dreams, or silly antics of fun loving people" (Karth et al., 2008).

    Sarah Blaskey: "the location of a gene is not in the same place on the same chromosome between species...They could never match up"
    (Karth et al., 2008).

   Morgan Drake Eckstein: "It can not happen" (Karth et al., 2008).

One was a little more hopeful, a little.

"There actually is a very, very, very small chance of a hybrid organism being able to mate and produce offspring. This has to do with the manner in which the hybrid's chromosomes are shuffled in producing gametes (sperm or egg cells). There is a very small chance of producing a gamete which has all the same chromosomes which that hybrid got from one parent, and such a gamete would be compatible with a mate that is of the same species as the parent whose chromosomes are in that gamete. The odds of this happening are 1 in (2 raised to the power or N), where N is the number of pairs of chromosomes that the organism has in each cell", (Blaylock, 2004) (which is a lot).

My personal favourite comes from a lady called Santi Meintjes who responded :

"Can humans and dogs cross-breed and procreate?...So why is it acceptable to pose such a question for other animals? Both man and dog being animals as most people should know by now. I simply can not imagine the kind of moral and ethical status of the mind that comes up with this kind of trash" (Karth et al., 2008)

In short, they didn't believe it for a second.

One of the major motivatiors for agricultural cross-breeding is the perceived benefit of improving the performance of the whole production system by crossing complementary breeds to produce animals with desirable traits inherited from both parents and overall greater performance levels (Kennedy, 2003). The vision that immediately comes to my mind upon reading this is of a doctor mixing the genes of Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt and Josh Hartnett into a foetus to produce one of the most perfect human beings on the planet. As exciting, and a little warped, as that sounds, cross-breeding also poses risks of increased genetic disorders due to unnatural gene manipulation, new strains of disease and even extinction as often, such animals are unable to produce viable offspring of their own (Kennedy, 2003).

The theory that Mimi actually gave birth to cat-pups was eventually debunked through a blood test and explained away by the fact that sometimes mammals will nurse the young of another species (WayOdd, 2006). (We must be proud of the not-so-gullible members of society quoted above). I initially found it interesting that noone was willing to admit the possibility in this world of amazing, unexplainable occurences.

Although we are now certain that dogs and cats, or any other two species so distantly related, cannot procreate, this article helped shed some light for me on issues such as genetic variation (different species have a copletely different genetic make-up), inheritance (traits are passed on) and even imprinting, a form of learning where the organism is exposed to a certain key stimuli very early in their development and form an association with it (Manning and Dawkins, 1998), which may be a possible explaination for the puppies attachment to Mimi. More importantly though, this prompts us to look deeper into the issue of animals nursing the offspring of a different species (why? are they aware of the difference? will there be complications as the "foreigners" develop?, etc.), the possibility of such cross-breeding, as well as teaches us not to be so quick to belive a scientific miracle.

This article touches mainly on the issue of cross-breeding and genetic variation.

Here is an interesting related video of a "dog-bunny" (calgirl2, 2006). Weird but cute.

References:

     Blaylock, Bob. "Is it possible for a dog and cat to mate and procreate?" answerbag. 25 Feb 2004. Demand Media. 15 Mar. 2008. <http://www. answerbag.com/q_view/3422>.

    "Brazil Cat-Puppies Theory Debunked." WayOdd. 21 Nov. 2006. AHN MediaCorp. 15 Mar. 2008. <http://www.wayodd.com/brazil-cat-puppies-theory-debunked/v/5797/>.

    calgirl2. "dog-bunny hybrid animal jumping around my bed." YouTube. 7 Mar. 2006. YouTube. 15 Mar. 2008. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOR3c-nf_o4>.

    Karth, Denelle, Blaskey, Sarah, Pagay, Mary, Eckstein, Morgan Drake and Meintjes, Santi. "Can cats and rabbits cross-breed and pro-create?" Helium. 2008. Helium, Inc. 15 Mar. 2008. <http://www.helium.com/items/581345-quite-frankly-hypothetical-question>.

    Kennedy, Delma. "Crossbreeding." Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 5 Dec. 2003. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 15 Mar. 2008. <http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/sheep/facts/xbreed.htm>.

    Manning, A and Dawkins, M. S. An Introduction to Animal Behaviour. UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

    "National Geographic News." National Geographic. 15 Nov. 2006: Week in Photos: November 10-November 16, 2006: 3. USA: National Geographic Society. 15 Mar. 2008. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/11/photogalleries/wip-week4/photo3.html>.

    "Top 10 Hybrid Animals." Hemmy.Net. 19 June 2006. Hemmy Inc. 15 Mar. 2008. <http://www.hemmy.net/2006/06/19/top-10-hybrid-animals/>.

    WashU, Michael Onken. "Re: cross breeding." MadSci Network: Genetics. 30 May 1996. Washington University. 15 Mar. 2008. <http://www.madsci.org/archives/1996-05/831665023.Ge.r.html>.

LSM1303 Animal Behaviour Student Blog : dog

Cats and Dogs: Living in Harmony?

Showing the Other Side some Love