Pet Bytes: Cats and Dogs—Best Friends or Frenemies?
It’s a tale as old as time: cats and dogs under one roof. But are they really natural enemies?
According to researchers, not quite. While dogs are known for their sociability and cats for their independence, most cat–dog households are actually peaceful. Even though they speak very different “languages,” dogs and cats often learn to read each other’s signals surprisingly well.
Dogs have been human companions the longest—domesticated between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago. Selective breeding over millennia has made them highly social and responsive to human (and interspecies) communication. Cats, on the other hand, joined humans more recently—around 10,000 to 12,000 years ago—and evolved primarily through natural selection, which may explain their more solitary nature.
That doesn’t mean harmony is out of reach. With mutual respect and an understanding of species-specific behaviors, cats and dogs can absolutely coexist—and sometimes even become best friends.
So, before you believe the hype, remember—peace between pets starts with informed, caring guardians.