When I was a boy, we had a Saint Bernard. Like all Saint Bernards, Charlie was a big, slobbery dork of a dog. Charlie was a good dog. We also had several cats, one of which was named Batman. (We named all of our cats after comic book characters.)
Charlie and Batman were best friends. Everywhere Charlie went, Batman went too. At night — especially on cold winter nights — Batman would climb onto Charlie’s side and curl up in his thick fur. They’d sleep contentedly for hours, best buds.
Here’s a YouTube video featuring other cat and dog friendships:
I know that cat-dog friendships are common, but just how common? And why do they occur? What are the dogs thinking? What are the cats thinking? What about friendships between other species?
3 responses so far ↓
1 edgar // Aug 27, 2008 at 12:29 pm
hello there,
i really like your blog, and its premise. your writing is clear, too, and the tone is warm and inviting.
i’m an editor at opposingviews.com, the debate website, and since we both cover pets and animals, i thought you might be interested in what we’re doing.
we’re currently having a discussion between experts about whether people should own pets. you can see it here if you’re interested:
http://www.opposingviews.com/questions/should-we-keep-pets
readers can pick sides and comment on the debate, which is moderated.
you seem to have a sort of spiritual point of view on animals, which might be an interesting add to the discussion.
check it out, and send me a message if you want to know more.
thanks!
2 Shweta // Sep 5, 2008 at 10:42 am
I have a cat and a dog. But in my fifteen years old age I have see them together,in fact if they are together imagine there is a big calamity.
3 Caitlin // Nov 16, 2008 at 12:07 pm
We have 2 dogs (rottweilers) and 2 cats. One cat was adopted at age 8 and really doesn’t care for the dogs. She doesn’t mind them, but mostly wants to be left alone.
The OTHER cat and the younger Rottweiler are BFFs. We got the cat as a kitten; she was a stray who hid in our garage an wouldn’t leave. The Rottie was also a stray that we adopted at 6 months old an was over a year old when the kitten moved in.
The first time we saw the two of them playing we freaked - here was this big rottie with the kitten’s head in her mouth. It took us a couple of minutes to realize they were playing and that the rottie was being very gentle. Now that the kitten is older she taunts the rottie an runs away, teasing her from up in trees an under furniture; they will play tag for hours like that.
The kitten is still part-wild and spends a lot of time outdoors (dog-doors are wonderful) but she always comes to check on her puppy when she comes in. When the Rottie was sick she came in and groomed her and sat with her. It’s really very sweet.
Most of our experience has been that the dogs and cats ignore each other, but this one case has been a very sweet exception.
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