I have never been a cat person, probably because I’m highly allergic to them and can’t have them in my home. If I touch one I have to wash my hands immediately. If I’m in a room with one, in no time at all, I can’t breathe. I’ve always thought they were cute, but I don’t know a lot about them.

Recently, a couple of semi-feral young cats have decided to adopt me. I started by feeding the male, an orange tabby, and pretty soon, his friend, a tortoise shell female started accompanying him and sharing the food.

Both are fixed, so I know that by feeding them, I’m not contributing to the cat overpopulation.

The male will let me touch him, the female will not.

But what I find so fascinating about them is their interest in my dog Yankee, especially the male. He will follow us on walks, rub against Yankee, wants to touch noses, and more. He’ll also sit at my glass exterior door and just stare in at Yankee.

It all started me wondering “can dogs and cats talk to each other?”

Is there any communication between cats and dogs and if so, what is it?

I’m becoming pretty familiar with dog / dog signals and communication, because I see it all the time as our daycare and boarding dogs interact. Dogs use their body, tail, ears, mouths, tongue, and voice to communicate with other dogs, and to try to communicate with humans.

Often these signals are very subtle and can easily be missed if we’re not paying attention. Signals can also have different meanings depending on the situation.

So if you have both a cat and dog, wouldn’t it be great to think they are talking with each other?

According to a recent study, they do appear to have some understanding of each other’s signals, even though there are differences in those signals.

• They understand certain vocalizations each species makes, such as yelps and growls which may indicate pain, fear or aggression.

• Their eye signals are similar, for example, blinking often and softly to indicate they want to be friendly, or staring intently to represent a challenge.

• They both tense their mouths and bring their whiskers forward when they feel threatened or are trying to be aggressive.

That being said, often the differences in how they signal can lead to the signal being misinterpreted by the other species.

Plus dogs by nature like to chase things that run away, and cats are great at running away.

As a result, their natural instinct is to be antagonistic toward each other.

But dogs and cats who live together can learn to peacefully coexist and actually enjoy each other’s company. In some cases, it depends on who came into the house first.

So when I think about my feral kitty’s interest in Yankee, I can only guess that perhaps he may have lived with a dog at one point in his life.

And although I know Yankee might rather chase him and his friend, he has become very tolerant and seems to enjoy seeing and interacting with them.

I like that.

We are the only Orlando dog boarding and Orlando doggie day care center that has an indoor heated pool for dogs. See it for yourself by scheduling a tour!

Rocky's Retreat | 2826 Shader Rd. Orlando FL 32808 | info@rockysretreat.com | (407) 295-3888