Understanding Why Cats and Dogs Often Clash: A Pet Owner's Guide

‘Why does my cat hate my dog?’ is a question which has bothered pet owners throughout the ages. If we take a look at the relationship between man and his two friends, a lot can be learned. And no, it is not because “cats rule and dogs drool.” (Best cat line in a movie ever!) Although if you could ask your cat, that would be the answer you’d get. Anyway, the answer is not quite so simple. So, if you are asking yourself, “why do my cat and dog hate each other?” I think I have the answer for you.

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Which came first, the cat or the dog?

Dogs were domesticated more than 15,000 years ago. They were easy to train and found feeding off the scraps of man easier than hunting in the wild.

As for cats, National Geographic says there is evidence to support the theory that cats domesticated themselves by following the rodent populations to farming communities around 8,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent.

After that, the two species were linked to man, and that may have been when the earliest expression, “fight like cats and dogs” was born. Dogs went hunting with man. They chased prey down for man and even protected him from dangerous animals. The cat most likely lurked in the shadows and hunted mice which kept crops and food stuff safe. I doubt early man really cared much about making cats and dogs get along, because both served different purposes and were not in the house like today’s canine and feline friends. However, once they were, it wasn’t long before pet owners become confused when their cats hissed and their dogs.

However, cats and dogs getting along is an important issue for us, isn’t it? So, why do cats and dogs hate each other? Let’s get after it.

Cats and dogs hate each other because . . .

In the wild, both cats and dogs are apex predators. The former is generally the lone hunter which requires stealth and skill to take down its prey. It must have silence so it may stalk and pounce when the time is right, preferably without its prey knowing it until it’s too late. The latter will doggedly chase down its prey working in groups by barking and taking nips at its prey as it wait until it’s too tired to fight anymore. For a cat to hunt, it must find, stalk and then kill. For dog, it must find then kill. These strategies differ greatly, but is reflective on how both live their lives.

The cat being the quiet hunter has his own set or rules which your dog, will never understand. And visa versa. One might say, cats don’t speak dog and dogs don’t speak cat. Let’s take a look at how each species greets others.