Niece number 3’s stories about her pet-children, Coco the dog and Zupa the cat, made me smile and go awww. My husband also smiled when I related the antics of these two animal species that are not usually friends or friendly.

I especially liked the photo of Zupa waiting for Coco to return to the dog-and-cat bed they both share. Yes, seriously. Coco had woken up in the night and left her bed. Zupa woke up as well, went to look for Coco and waited for Coco to come back to sleep. They occupy their own little corners of the bed. Zupa also looks out for Coco when she is out for her walks. If Coco takes longer than usual, Zupa ‘alerts’ niece number 3. Expectedly, the younger Zupa is playful and gets into mischief. Amusingly, the much older Coco reprimands her. I’ve known Coco almost as long as niece number 3, bar a few years. The old girl, Coco I mean, is with us today, all thanks to niece number 3’s admirable love and care.

Are Coco and Zupa the exception or could it just be the confrontational images/perceptions created, and reinforced by people and media over the years? Hmm. I had three dogs whilst I was in Alor Setar. Ranger was the oldest. Jippy and Krypto were latter additions, and much younger. Ranger was not enamoured with cats. He barked at the mere smell of felines in the vicinity. To be fair, he barked at other dogs as well. And, they barked back at him. I’m not sure but I think the younger two joined in the yelping chorus more to show support and/or camaraderie. Ranger used to run like a mad dog along the front fence, barking and growling. The commotion was enough to scare most cats away. Occasionally, a few stood their ground. They hissed and arched their backs, and hissed some more, almost itching for a fight. Thankfully, the fence kept the warring parties apart, and there were no real, physical dog-cat fights.  

The brawling image I had fitted in with the phrase, ‘Fighting like cats and dogs.’ It also made it easy to accept the hostile relationship in the popular cartoon series, ‘Tom and Jerry.’ And, Spike. Not so much between Tom the cat, and Jerry the mouse but between Tom and Spike, the bulldog. Tom and Spike were at each other all the time. Spike even sidled up to Jerry to get back at Tom. Further reinforcing the image about the dog-cat friendship or lack of it.

‘Dogs and cats have different personalities, training, or experiences. So, whatever the reason, the fact remains that some dogs and cats do not get along and are likely to fight when they are left together.’[1]‘ 

Agreed. The two are quite different from the outset. Particularly the dogs I knew rather well to the dogs and cats that I became familiar with over the years. Dogs are friendly. Sometimes too friendly as they jump at you, and slobber all over you. Ready or not. This greeting, can sometimes be a little off-putting, when the dogs are large. They are also generally noisy, energetic, and want/need attention. They enjoy contact, cuddles, playing, and running all over the place. They are happy and comfortable being amongst people.

Cats, on the other hand, are not friendly. No greeting. No acknowledgment. They just walk past or around you like you are invisible, which you probably are in their world. They are loners. They move stealthily. The only noise you hear is from the bell from their collar, if they wear one. For me, cats are ‘the boss of you.’ They meow if they want something, usually food and water. They don’t want nor need your attention. They decide when they want to allow you the pleasure of their company. Then they are off, whenever and wherever. Instead of the key to the house, cats have cat-flaps to come and go as they please. 

So how? 

‘The main thing getting in the way of a harmonious friendship is that cat and dog body language often means different things. With a dog a high tail and head means that they’re challenging the other individual, while in cats this is often a signal that they want to be friends. A wagging tail also means the opposite thing in the two species, as the swishing back and forth of a tail can indicate a happy and excitable dog, but a very angry cat’[2]. Dogs and cats are also territorial. They compete for food, water, and toys. Their inherent instinct is to hunt and catch prey which is enough reason to trigger fights.   

While the debate goes on, Coco and Zupa are a wonderful example of how a dog and a cat can get along and even care for each other. A takeaway for people all over the world?