The people that have both a cat and a dog in their life know that they are pretty different. There are many contrasts in their overall personality. Sometimes cats and dogs don’t get along at all, partly because of these differences. Cats and dogs may seem entirely different at a glance. However, there are also many things that cats and dogs have in common.
Similarities
Some of the similarities between cats and dogs are given below:
Territorial instincts
Cats and dogs both have territorial instincts. These instincts cause cats and dogs to defend things essential to them, like their home or food. Although dogs and cats have the same territorial instincts, these instincts cause different behaviors in each species. For instance, dogs are naturally more social animals that form packs for hunting and companionship. cats, on the other hand, mark their territory by rubbing against or urinating on it. They tend to be loners and try to drive off another cat that comes into their space. Dogs don’t show the rubbing behavior that cats use to mark their territory.
Show affection
Cats have a reputation for being remote, but they are just more subtle about showing their love. They show their affection to humans by sitting beside them, grooming them, and sending snuggle signals with their tails, that is what they do to each other. Whereas, dogs show their affection by covering their owner’s face with licks.
Hunting instincts
Cats and dogs both have hunting instincts for their survival. There is no need to teach them hunting skills because they have a strong hunting instinct without ever needing to be taught how to hunt. In the wild, dogs and cats hunt and scavenge to find food. Cats prey on smaller animals like mice and birds, whereas dogs prey on slightly larger animals like rabbits and squirrels.
Though humans like it when cats kill pests, these outdoor felines can have an adverse effect on birds and reptiles.
Communicate
One of the similarities between cats and dogs is that both species use body language to communicate. Although, dogs bark and cats meow, body language is still an important means of communication for them.
Though cats and dogs communicate through body language, their body language signals are quite different. For instance, if a cat wags its tail and opens its mouth, it would be communicating anger. Whereas if a dog wags his tail and opens his mouth, means that he is probably happy.
Eat meat
Both are meat-eating carnivores. The difference is that cats are considered obligatory carnivores, which means they need animal protein to survive. Whereas dogs are scavenging carnivores, so they could be vegetarian if they had to.
Intestinal parasites
There are some health-related similarities between cats and dogs. They both can get intestinal parasites, also called worms. The most common intestinal parasites in cats and dogs are whipworms, hookworms, giardia, tapeworms, and roundworms. The intestinal parasites can make cats and dogs sick. Intestinal parasites can cause quick and unexplained weight loss, diarrhea, vomiting, coughing, or scooting behavior.
Treating and preventing parasites in dogs and cats is also a similar process. If your cat or dog develops intestinal parasites then you should visit a vet. The vet will do a stool sample to determine the presence of species and will prescribe an appropriate treatment.
Sense of smell
Both cats and dogs have a much stronger sense of smell than humans. While dogs may have more sniffing receptors than cats, cats may have a more discriminatory sense of smell.
Fleas and ticks
Fleas and ticks infest both cats and dogs. Keep your pets on an important flea and tick prevention, it is an important part of pet health care. Since fleas can spread between species, so if you have both cats and dogs in your house, then treat all the pets. Make sure that the product you are using for the prevention of fleas and ticks is safe for your pet because some products that are safe for dogs may be toxic for cats. Your vet can recommend prevention that is safe for all of your pets.
Heartworms
Both pets are susceptible to heartworms. Heartworms are foot-long worms spread by mosquitoes that can live in the animal’s lungs, heart, and nearby blood vessels. Preventing medication is the best method for preventing both animals from heartworms.
Humans can get allergies to both
Both cats and dogs can cause allergies in humans. People are allergic to cats at about twice the rate of dogs.
Send signals with their ears
Both cats and dogs send signals through their ears, although they do it in different ways. A dog with upright ears is letting others know that they are willing to stand its ground. They will move their ears back when showing friendliness. A cat will hold its ears up when greeting someone. If the back or twitch, then something is amiss.
Ears increase hearing accuracy
Cats can hear at a higher frequency than dogs and both of them have more accurate hearing frequency than humans. They have muscles that allow for independent control of their ears, which helps to catch more sound.
